river darwen parkway lnr

Size: 31 hectares

Ownership: Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

Declared a Local Nature Reserve in 2004

How to get there

On Foot: There are access points from Wolseley Street to the north off the A666 Bolton Road near the Aqueduct Pub and from the B6231 to the south.

Road: There is parking along the Bolton Rd and in the River Darwen Parkway car park. From junction 4 on the M65 follow the A666 towards Blackburn. Pass Ewood Stadium on the river and follow the one way system towards the town centre. On rejoining the main road there are car parks on the left hand side before the River Darwen.

Leeds & Liverpool Canal: Less than 500m south of the canal at Hollin Bank.

Nearest Town: Blackburn
Grid Ref: SD 682 254

River Darwen Parkway is a large open space within an urban setting. It is rich in industrial history and now a haven for wildlife with a mosaic of habitats including woodland, scrub, heath and grassland with ponds and marshes.

Surveys on the reserve have identified 56 bird species including 29 breeding species. These include peregrine, snipe and yellowhammer. Sand martin can be seen as one of the first migrants to arrive from Africa.

161 plants were identified on the reserve including heather, harebell, meadow cranesbill and great water dock.

The reserve has numerous ponds and wetland areas where smooth and palmate newts can be seen.

Regular volunteer days are held at River Darwen Parkway. A major task is managing the heath land to keep it in a favourable condition.

The Trust's Environmental Task Force regularly carries out work on the reserve to maintain the extensive network of footpaths.