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It is by Day 7 that they will be well beyond half way through the trek, heading north from Liverpool
and Manchester, Passing everybody's favourite seaside resort, Blackpool in the process.
They will depart Warrington by taking the A49, passing Winwick and then onto Wigan. Since 2003, Wigan's
facilities to accommodate tourism has been managed by a new body, elected by Wigan Council. This new body, aptly named Wigan
Leisure and Culture Trust, has been responsible for a great regeneration of Wigan in recent years. It now boasts some pretty
awesome stats - 8 libraries, 10 leisure centres inc. 8 swimming pools, 500 hectares of open space for playing fields, playparks
etc. as well as 3 public golf courses!
Continuing along the A49, they depart Wigan, pass Walton-le-Dale and arrive at England's newest city,
Preston. Preston is seen by many as the gateway to the north-west coast. It possesses some fabulous historic sites including
museums, castles and old houses. Preston is similar to their previous stop of Wigan in that their considerations for the tourism
influx is second to none and solely for July and August (ie. when Thomas and Andrena will be passing through), there will
be a total of three festivals parading through the city centre - Preston Farmers Market Festival, Carribbean Carnival and
Preston Riversway Festival. Preston is home to the oldest football stadium (Preston North End), the world's oldest mormon
church, the second largest bus station in Europe, the world's largest single span dock, the first stretch of motorway in the
UK and the first KFC in the UK. It was also the setting for Dicken's story 'Hard Times'.
They then begin to follow the A6, passing Garstang and laterally the Forest of Bowland on their right
hand side. Once passed, the depart Lancaster and pass close to Bolton. Continuing along the same road, they should arrive
in Carnforth, nearly 7 hours after departing for the day.
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