Brockholes Nature Reserve & Visitor Centre
Brockholes Nature Reserve near Preston, is about 3 miles away from Walton le Dale and can be walked to along the Ribble Way, which shares the route with the Guild Wheel for that section. Brockholes Nature Reserve is just off Junction 31 of the M6 motorway. It is owned by the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside. The reserve is situated on the flood-plain of the river Ribble and it has a floating visitor village.
Brockholes is situated on what was once a major quarry extraction site. The land was bought by the Trust in January 2007, and the reserve opened to the public in 2011. It has been regenerated as a mosaic of key habitats such as pools, reedbeds and woodland.
Visitor Village
An architectural design competition, managed by RIBA Competitions in 2007,a invited architects and architect-led multidisciplinary design teams to design the new visitor facilities for the Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Nature Reserve. A design by Adam Khan Architects, working with Price & Myers, was selected by the wildlife trust and its partners. Work commenced in 2009.
Brockholes Visitor Village houses shops, an exhibition area, an activity room for schools and community groups, a restaurant and a conference centre.