Anglezarke Reservoir

The weather has been unexpectedly lovely, this weekend, and this morning we decided to take a walk down by the canal, along to Fredericks. However, just after we'd crossed the bridge over the M61, the Minx suggested that instead we might take a walk up Healey Nab. Well, I'm always - nearly always - up for an adventure, so we headed along the road that the Minx's phone informed us was taking us in the right direction and then up into the hills.

Around my way, fields drain fairly quickly, but maybe there's more clay in the soil around Chorley. Either way, we had a bit of a time getting across one steep yet muddy field, before finding ourselves in the wood where it was a little easier to make our way upwards. With the Minx navigating, we made our way to the top of the woods before striking out along the side of the reservoir.

It was only after we got back that I discovered the name of the reservoir was Anglezarke, which seemed curiously at odds with other place names in the area. According to Wikipedia it is "derived from the Old Norse name Anlaf and the Old Norse erg, a 'hill pasture or shieling'. The elements together mean 'Anlaf's hill pasture'. The earliest spelling of the name was in 1202 when it was recorded as 'Andelevesarewe'. By 1225 this had become 'Anlavesargh', in 1351 'Anlasargh', and by 1559 'Anlazarghe'." (God love you, Wikipedia.)

Back to our walk, though, we enjoyed a long stroll following a path above the reservoir before cutting down and back into Chorley, where we very much enjoyed a late breakfast at Massa's (which is part of Fredericks).