Chorley, Lancashire

There's lots to see and do in Lancashire. A hot air balloon flight may be perfect for a birthday gift or special celebration.

The large market town of Chorley is located in a rural setting near the M6 motorway. In common with Preston to the north and Blackburn to the north-east, Chorley was once an important Cotton town. A few mills are used today to manufacture clothing. Local quarries are the remains of past open cast mining and are now attractive features of the environment. To the west of Chorley lies Euxton, once home to The Royal Ordnance Factory. Also in the west and close to the town centre is Astley House with its lake and gardens, being one of Chorley’s many parks and visitor attractions and said to have provided accommodation for Oliver Cromwell after the Battle of Preston. Miles Standish of the Mayflower was born 1.5 miles from Chorley and Henry Tate the sugar magnate and provider of London’s Tate Gallery was born at Chorley in 1819. Other parks such as Gillibrand Park, Yarrow Valley Park, and Duxbury Park and Golf Course are south of Chorley. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal lies close to the eastern edge of the town, and the River Yarrow flows around the south and west sides of the town. There are areas of beauty around the High Bullough Reservoir, Anglezark Reservoirs and the Rivington Pike Reservoirs near to the Winter Hill and Rivington Pike parts of the West Pennine Moors. Rivington Pike hosted the Manchester XV11 Commonwealth Games – Outdoor Cycling Event. The town is well known for its weekly indoor and outdoor weekly markets since the 12th century. Weekly markets are held at the covered market place and at the outdoor ‘Flat Iron’ Market in Union Street.

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