Healey Nab, located between Chorley and Anglezarke reservoir, has been home to official mountain bike trails since 2008. After much success as a riding spot for 12 years, it was in 2020 that the trees were felled due to cases of Sudden Larch Death. This put an end to the trails that were once there. Since then, the council, volunteers from @idighealeynab and Dirt Factory have worked to bring Healey Nab back to the riding spot it once was. But what has actually been done and how has it turned out?
Community Dig Days
The mission to restore Healey Nab began with a meeting back in November ’24. Through which, the council and a group of riders and volunteers discussed the future of the hill. This turned out to be quite successful with talks of the council providing funding for contractors to work on the trails. From this, a sequence of monthly dig days arose from a group of riders whose aim was getting the trails into a workable state for the contractors to start. This involved clearing the trails of plants and grass, reworking the routes and improving drainage.
Dirt Factory
The end of March saw Dirt Factory start their work on Healey Nab. Their work exceeded expectations in relation to features and build quality. However, the dry spell that fell in April as well as difficulties to keep the trails out of use meant that progress plateaued towards the middle of the three weeks that Dirt Factory were digging for. Despite this, additional funding from the council and watering supplies allowed for the digging team to continue their work up to the end of the red route.
Results
Dirt Factory finished their work after a couple days of shaping and patting. This formed part of the final touches to the tracks and ensured they were ready for the heavy traffic that was to come the following few weeks. Healey Nab has since gained much attention from riders far and wide, with queues even forming on its busiest days. Despite the intense usage however, the trails have maintained themselves reasonably well, with only few repairs needed. The local dig team plan to make these ammendments in the coming weeks.
Many of us here at Merlin have already been to check out the new trails at Healey Nab and are loving it so far.
To keep in touch with all the latest updates, follow @idighealeynab on Instagram.
