Lytham Hall parkrun takes place at 9 am on Saturdays in the grounds of the Lytham Hall; a Georgian house set in parkland. Lytham is on the north west coast, just south of Blackpool.

Getting There

Lytham Hall is 7 miles south of Blackpool, 12 miles west of Preston. From the M6, Junction 32, join the M55. At the end of the M55 (Junction 4), exit the roundabout at the first exit; A583. The A583 connects Lytham and Blackpool.

By public transport, Lytham Station is a five minute walk from the Hall. Buses No 7, 11 and 76 (from Blackpool) and 68 (Blackpool to Preston) stop at Lytham Square, a six minute walk from the Hall. There are very detailed instructions on how to get there on the parkrun website.

Parking

There is parking in the grounds of the Hall. This costs £1. Note that the car park is inside the parkrun course. Thus, cars are not permitted to leave the car park until the last runner has finished. If you want to leave before the slow runners have finished, you can park in a nearby road and walk to the start. Bear in mind that the Hall has a long driveway, so it will take a few minutes to reach the start.

Toilets

There are toilets at the Hall, close to the Tea Rooms.

Course

The course consists of 2.5 laps of the grounds, including Curtains Pond. The start is in front of the Hall and the finish is behind it.

Terrain

 The terrain is a mixture of trail paths and the Hall’s tarmac driveway. It is very flat.

Shoes

Trainers as there is a lot of tarmac.

Difficulty

Run Britain rankings for UK parkruns places Lytham Hall as 118th fastest out of 706. It has a total elevation of just 6 metres.

Fun Factor

When I ran Lytham parkrun, the weather was atrocious, which detracted from the fun somewhat. In addition, as one of the slowest runners, I didn’t enjoy the pressure of knowing that nobody could leave the car park until I finished. However, everyone was very friendly and welcoming. And it’s a pretty route, particularly the area around the pond, which is most picturesque.

Where We Stayed

We stayed at a B&B in Blackpool, which I’m not going to name because it’s not somewhere I would recommend staying. However, I will say that it was just round the corner from the Velvet Coaster (A Wetherspoons Pub), which does an excellent breakfast.

Nearby Attractions

Lytham Hall is an 18th Century Georgian Manor set in 78 acres of parkland. It is open to the public, although it is only open between 12 and 4 pm. And it only opens on Saturdays between January and Easter. The Tea Rooms, Parkland and Animal Hub (consisting of rescue pigs, goats, chickens and rabbits) are open from 10 am all year round.

Blackpool

Lytham Hall is just down the road from Blackpool. I’ll be honest, I hadn’t realised how seasonal Blackpool is. In my mind, we were visiting a place of illuminations, rollercoasters and donkeys. However, it was November and everything was shut (don’t believe everything you see on Strictly). So, we had a bracing walk along the seafront and retired to the pub…