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Location The reserve lies between the Leeds-Liverpool canal and the Wigan - Southport railway. The surrounding land is privately owned with no public rights of way, making the reserve inaccessible without the owner's consent. A location and habitat map will be supplied with the permit. Car parking is available by the station at Gathurst. |
Access By permit only, please apply to the Trust office. Parts of the reserve can be seen from the towpath on the opposite side of the canal. A clay bank separates the wharves from the canal. This bank is very slippery and it is advised that visitors to the site are accompanied for their own safety. Status The Trust manages this 3 ha reserve under a lease agreement from British Waterways. |
Gathurst Wharves
Nearest town: Wigan, Grid reference: SD 532 078, Landranger 108, Explorer 285
Gathurst Wharves is a striking example of nature taking over where humans left off. Having been isolated by the canal and the railway, it has remained relatively undisturbed for 100 years, developing an extraordinary number of habitats and species including plants locally uncommon in Wigan.
A refuge for wildlife, the grassland, woodland, Alder carr, clay pits and wharves are arranged into a complex mosaic. The first clay pit displays a wealth of plants in spring with Marsh-orchids, Mint and various sedges. Twayblades, found here as one of only two sites in Wigan, have flourished following the control of scrub.
The grasslands which surround the top of the pit contain anthills which are indicative of an old meadow, a rare habitat in the Wigan area. It is also habitat for Lousewort, once a very common plant and recorded by local naturalists in the 1860's now known in only two sites in Wigan.
On the other side of the first pit, you can see Alder carr in the swamp, which is carpeted with Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage. If you visit in winter, the wooded areas are more open with the bare trees exposing the culvert beneath the railway. This displays the fronds of Black Spleenwort, an uncommon fern in Wigan. Look out for the excellent fungi that fruit in these wooded areas around early autumn.
The larger, second pit continues into the wharves themselves where sunken barges are outlined by the vegetation that has taken a foothold in the sides. WARNING: the wharves are unstable and it is dangerous to venture onto them.
More than 80 species of bird have been recorded here, 40 breeding on or adjacent to the site. Willow Tit breeds here, along with a Great Spotted Woodpecker and Kingfisher are occasionally seen, as are Woodcock and Snipe.
