Earth First! Wintermoot – 22-24 Feb, Lancashire
This year’s moot will take place at the Hesketh with Becconsall Village Community Centre.
The address is Station Rd, Hesketh Bank, Lancashire, PR4 6SR
Hesketh Bank is about 10miles west of Preston.
When you look at google maps using the post code, it directs you further up the road.
Follow these directions instead:
Find the Spar in Hesketh Bank on the junction of Chapel Rd and Station Road. Walk north along Station Road for about 30 yards, passing Southview Lodge and it is on your right behind some metal gates. There is a sign that says Hesketh with Becconsall Village Community Centre. Go through the gates and head for the main building.
If you get lost on the day of arrival you can ring the following number for help: 07564 710 952 (Please don’t ring it before Friday, but contact us by email instead with any questions)
When to arrive/leave
You are welcome to arrive from 5.30pm onwards on the Friday. There will be food, fun and a pub quiz on Friday night, which you don’t want to miss as well as an introductory workshop about Earth First! for those who are new to it. The main programme starts on Sat at 9.15am. You can also come for specific workshops/discussions or the evening fun only.
The programme finishes 4pm on Sun, and we need to be out of the building pretty sharpish.
For details of the programme see the programme page.
Getting there by train
The nearest mainline train station is Preston, on the West Coast Main Line, with direct trains from many places, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, London, Birmingham, Bristol. From Preston it’s easiest to get the number 2 bus, see below.
If you are coming from Liverpool, then you could get the train to Southport and catch the number 2 bus from Southport to Hesketh Bank, see below
Getting there by bus
The number 2 bus runs between Preston and Southport via Hesketh Bank. It stops by the Spar, on the corner of Station Road and Chapel Road and from there it is a two minute walk up Station Road (30yards heading north, passing Southview Lodge on the way).
From Preston bus no 2 goes roughly every half hour from the main bus station or outside from outside Preston Fishergate Centre.
Last bus leaves Preston bus station at 11pm on Friday and Saturday.
Journey time 35 mins.
On Sunday buses from Hesketh Bank back to Preston are once an hour at 18min past, getting in on the full hour, journey time 42 min.
Download the bus time table here: http://www.stagecoachbus.com/PdfUploads/Timetable_34070_2,%202A,%2012A%20(Preston).pdf
By car
We’d love it if people could make it to the moot by public transport or by the power of their own legs, as the moot is about protecting the environment and all that. However, if getting there by car is the realistic option for you, then coming from most parts of the country you’ll arrive in Preston on the M6 (or from the East on the M65, incidentally the site of a big road protest site in 1994/95 to stop construction.) From the M6 you want the A59 heading from Preston to Southport. After about 8miles you cross a river, take the first right. This is Coe Lane, follow it for about 600 to a T junction, turn left, then immediately right again. Now you’re on Hesketh Lane, follow this along north until eventually this turns into Station Road. Look out for the sign for the community centre on your right.
By bike
Coming by bike from Preston it’s pretty much the same as by car. There is a bike path along the A59 road that is on the pavement for most of the way. You can get cycling directions on googlemaps.com, click on ‘directions’ and type in Preston – Hesketh Bank and click ‘cycling’. It should take about an hour.
You could avoid the A road by catching a train out of Preston to either Mawdesley or Southport, and then cycling along country roads from there. It’s all pretty flat, so the cycling is quite easy.