retiredmartin

August 2024. Buckshaw. Chorley.

An early start on Friday morning, driving Matt the short hop from our luxury Travelodge to Buckshaw Hospital for an NHS contacted out nose job under general anaesthetic.

I helpfully reminded Matt there was a 99%+ chance of survival as he booked into Ramsay Health’s swish facility (free parking, WiFi, cheery staff) at half-seven. Buckshaw Parkway is actually only 40 minutes on the Manchester-Blackpool route, but how confident would YOU feel about Northern Rail reliability in 2024 ?

I reckoned Matt (if he survived, obvs) would be in till mid afternoon, time to explore Buckshaw Village after an astonishingly overpriced and rubbish toastie at Starbucks.

Buckshaw is one of the vast 21st century brownfield housing developments that the UK hopes will see house prices plummet back to a level affordable on one white collar salary, allowing the married mum to concentrate on growing the population to the level required to pay my pension.

It’s on the site of the old Royal Ordnance Factory (No.1),

though you’d never know.

A helpful info board takes you on an hour’s stroll around Buckshaw’s mild attractions, starting with a Green Man (top) that you’d miss from the B5248 towards Leyland,

an attractive trail to a viewpoint of, well, nothing much,

and then down to an attractive housing development reminiscent of Cambourne.

Attractive, but I’d never live there, with the goldfish the highlight of a dull community “hub”,

a stark church,

and a trio of chain pubs (Marston, Greene King and Harvester) that might appeal to Stafford Paul.

But possibly not. I’d expect a “craft” bar there in time for GBG2, perhaps mirroring the Garstang model.

Still, an enjoyable hour admiring modern housing,

and searching for Buckshaw’s two (2) ancient survivors.

Buckshaw Hall stands at the end of a cul-de-sac behind an electronic gate, thwarting Mrs RM’s attempt at interior shots,

but Old Worden Hall evaded us completely, seemingly now only the name of a bus stop.

We trudged back to the hospital for an update on Matt, defeated.