Fairhaven Lake Visitor Centre

We’re excited to be re-opening with our new name, Fairhaven Lake Visitor Centre, on Thursday 29 April. Thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we’re delighted that the former Ribble Discovery Centre and shop has been completely refurbished, along with other facilities and activities at Fairhaven Lake, as part of a fantastic Fylde Council project. We can’t wait to welcome you back.

Address: RSPB Fairhaven Lake Visitor Centre, Inner Promenade, Lytham Saint Annes FY8 1BD

Grid ref: SD340273

What3Words: swells.grounding.abacus

See our reserves Covid-19 updates page for which sites are open and other important details.

Situated on the edge of popular Fairhaven Lake, the RSPB Fairhaven Lake Visitor Centre is run in partnership with Fylde Borough Council and is the gateway to exploring the Ribble Estuary - one of the most important wetlands in the country and home to more than 250,000 birds.

Plan your visit

Opening times from 29 April 2021:

Visitor Centre: Open daily, 10am-5pm (April-October)
Open Tuesday-Sunday (closed Monday), 10am-4pm (November-March)

School and youth group trips: closed at the moment, but bookings being taken for autumn 2021 onwards. To book, contact schoolbookings@rspb.org.uk or call 01603 697 504.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free, but donations are very welcome

Children: Free, but donations are very welcome

Car park cost

Parking is available very close by on Inner Promenade and at both ends of Fairhaven Lake at Stanner Bank and St Paul’s car parks. These car parks are available 24 hours.

These are not RSPB car park; they are run by Fylde Council. Please see their website for details.

There are also 3 electric vehicle charging points very close by the centre on Inner Promenade.

Facilities

Visitor centre is closed
Car park
Toilets
Accessible toilets
Baby changing
Pushchair friendly
Refreshments facilities are closed
Picnic area
Binocular hire is closed
Guided walks is closed
Viewing point
Nature trails
Shop is closed
Educational facilities are closed
Play area

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

Trains run from Ansdell and Fairhaven station on the half-hour to and from Preston and Blackpool South. Turn right outside the station onto Woodlands Road. Continue to the bottom of the hill. At the mini roundabout turn left onto Clifton Drive and them immediately right onto Marine Drive. After 50metres you reach and the Inner Promenade. Crosse the road into the Car Park and take the lake-side path to the right to reach the Centre after 50 metres. The walk takes about 10 minutes.

By bus

Buses run all year round every 20 minutes on Line 7 from Blackpool, St Annes and Lytham. The nearest stop is at Lake Road. Walk down Lake Road, cross the Inner Promenade and the Centre is next to Fairhaven Lake.

By road

From the south end of Blackpool, take the A584 Clifton Drive southbound towards Lytham. Continue straight on through St Annes. Turn right onto Lake Road; at the bottom, turn left onto the Inner Promenade. Parking is available on the roadside alongside the Lake or at the car parks at the opposite ends of the Lake opposite the Marine Drive and St. Paul’s Avenue turnings.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Get directions from Google Maps

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RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Dogs on leads are welcome at Fairhaven Lake Visitor Centre. Please keep your dog on a lead and under close, effective control at all times.

For more information on where you can walk dogs around Fairhaven Lake, please see Fylde Council's webpage.

We know that the countryside is a dog walking paradise. It’s important to remember the special surroundings here are wonderful havens for rare wildlife so we’ve created designated dog exercise areas / dog-friendly routes for you and your pooch to enjoy.

Even if dogs are very well behaved, wildlife / livestock can easily become startled by a loose dog they perceive as a predator. Disturbing wildlife does more than simply causing it to move away; it uses up their energy, decreasing their chance of survival regardless of season. Thank you for protecting the special wildlife here by keeping your dog on a lead and under close, effective control.

Dog water bowls are available at the back of the visitor centre.
Dogs can die in hot cars, please do not leave your dog in the car when visiting us.

We welcome groups, but please phone us to book prior to your visit.

Due to Covid-19 measures, and whilst we undergo our refurbishment, we have temporarily paused our school visits until autumn 2021.

For information on our exciting programme of curriculum-linked outdoor education sessions, visit our school trip information.

In the meantime, check out our fantastic range of resources for teachers, or take on the Schools’ Wild Challenge.

We offer a unique, hands-on and fun learning experience by the seaside, with opportunities for all key stages and abilities, including mud dipping which is exclusive to the Fairhaven Lake Visitor Centre. With a suite of curriculum-linked sessions on offer, our qualified, enthusiastic learning team will help you uncover the secrets of the Ribble Estuary and the creatures that call it home.

We have a large learning space which provides the perfect base for your visit. Within easy reach of the centre is a variety of interesting habitats, making a trip to Fairhaven Lake Visitor Centre a safe and exciting coastal visit.

For full details of our programmes and offer for schools, visit our school trip ideas page. To book, contact schoolbookings@rspb.org.uk or call 01603 697 504.

Contact Fairhaven Lake Visitor Centre

RSPB Fairhaven Lake Visitor Centre, Inner Promenade, Lytham Saint Annes FY8 1BD
ribble.reserves@rspb.org.uk
01253 796292
@RSPB_Ribble
Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

Curlew

In spring, you can hear their gorgeous, 'bubbling' song.

Mallard

Mallards are the commonest duck on Fairhaven Lake. From winter into spring, watch out for the males chasing females around, then later in the year, it's duckling time!

Redshank

Redshanks can be seen all year round and gather in tight-knit groups to roost at high tide.

Shelduck

You can see shelducks - big, black and white ducks - dabbling for food on the mudflats at any time of year.

Tufted duck

This diving duck is a breeding bird here. Look out for broods of brown ducklings in late spring and summer.

Nature spectacles

Take a stroll around Fairhaven Lake and spot a variety of familiar ducks and geese such as mallards, Canada geese, moorhens, coots and greylags. In winter you may also notice the arrival of pochards, scaup and tufted ducks. Cormorants can be spotted stretching out their wings, whilst a little grebe may plop below the surface in search of food. In spring, birdsong fills the air as robins, blackbirds, tits and finches tune up to impress a mate. Passage birds such as stonechat and wheatear stop off, using the estuary as re-fuelling points, and the aerial displays of meadow pipits are unmissable. In summer, minibeasts crawl and flit among the flowerbeds whilst an evening stroll brings the chance of spotting pipistrelle bats feeding overhead.

On the far side of the lake, the sea defence wall and promenade give rise to a fabulous vista over the whole estruary. With its vast mudflats, saltmarsh and sand dune network, it is one of the most important areas in the country for birds. Some stay all year round, whilst others stop off to refuel on migration in spring and autumn. Swirling flocks of knot, great numbers of redshanks, curlews, dunlins and black-tailed godwits are among the distinctive birds you can see here. In winter, watch for the pink-footed geese flying in V-formation and the shelduck dabbling on the mudflats.

On the lake, look out for the first ducklings of the season. Bird-song can be heard in the trees as robins, blackbirds and a variety of tits and finches are in full tune. Linnets feed in the gorse bushes in the sand dunes, you can’t miss their noisy twittering. On the estuary, you'll see huge flocks of wading birds on migration, including black-tailed godwits, knots, dunlins, sanderlings, ringed and grey plovers, whilst wheatear and stonechat refuel on their way through.

Ducklings and goslings are on the lake and newly-fledged blackbirds and tits and finches are exploring the gardens. There may be fewer birds out on the estuary, plenty are passing through as well as those that nest here – look out for redshanks, oystercatchers, shelducks and eiders.

The dunes are a hive of activity with swallows and martins streaming over and blackcap, chiff chaff and whitethroat all nesting. Lookout for dragonflies over the ponds in the Japanese Garden and a variety of butterflies flitting around the bushes around the lake and promenade.

The estuary is alive with flocks of wading birds returning to spend the colder months here or passing through on their way to Africa. Curlew and godwit numbers increase dramatically and skeins of pink footed geese fly over regularly. On the lake, wintering ducks arrive, with tufted ducks and pochards joining the more familiar mallards and coots.

Noisy flocks of geese fly overhead and the calls of curlews and redshanks can be heard on the mudflats. Elegant pintails can often be seen up-close when tides are high. The lake hosts winter visitors like cormorants, great crested grebe and kingfisher. You may also spot peregrines, sparrowhawks and kestrels hunting along the shoreline.

About Fairhaven Lake Visitor Centre

Habitat

The Ribble Estuary is vast, stretching from Lytham St Annes’ on the north side, down to Southport on the south side. Between the two, the great expanse of marvellous mudflats are a vital home for nature.

Mud might not sound particularly appealing to us, but it is this which draws in more than a quarter of a million birds to the estuary at any one time. It's a restaurant for them - packed full of shellfish, worms and other tiny creatures that provide an endless supply of food. Wading birds like curlew, redshank, godwits, knot, dunlin and oystercatcher occur in abundance here, alongside colourful ducks like wigeon, shelduck and pintail. Thousands of pink-footed geese spend the long winter nights resting here too.

The nearby sand dunes and saltmarsh are also home to a variety of unusual plants and small creatures. They can be explored on a school trip or one of our family events.

Fairhaven Lake itself, is a popular destination for locals and tourists and is also a great place to spot a range of different ducks and geese. Tufted ducks dive under the water for their food while mallards, coots and mute swans glide serenely across the surface.

Conservation

Many of the birds here have flown thousands of miles from their breeding grounds in the Arctic and may continue their journeys as far as Africa. At high tide, wading birds need to rest in order to conserve energy while they are unable to feed on the mudflats. Winter is the most risky time for them, as some may have lost up to half their body weight during migration. They need to put on enough weight to survive winter and migrate in spring.

Other passage birds such as stonechat, wheatear and redstart may only stop on the marshes and dunes for a short time on their migratory journeys in autumn and spring, but that time is precious as they are refuelling ahead of their continuing journey to their breeding grounds.

Unfortunately, the birds are often unintentionally disturbed by human activities such as dog walking, model airplanes and kites which the birds perceive to be predators. This does more than simply causing them to fly away. It uses up their energy reserves and reduces the time they have available to feed. Birds take a long time to settle and remain alert afterwards. This makes them less able to rest effectively or feed intensively after a disturbance event which can significantly decrease their chances of surviving the winter.

You can really help the birds in a few simple ways to avoid disturbing them:

Look out for any flocks of birds at high tide and keep a significant distance from them.
Keep your dog on a lead when you are near high tide bird ‘roosts’ so there is less danger of alarming the birds.
Keep well away from the water’s edge at any state of the tide because this is the area where the birds will do most of their feeding.
Don’t fly model aircraft or kites over the saltmarsh.

Partners

Thanks to our partner-sponsor Fylde Borough Council.

Site information

The Ribble Estuary is one of the most important places for birds in Europe and so has been designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under European legislation. It is also designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in UK law and much of the estuary is part of the Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve (NNR). The NNR was extended in 2017 to incorporate the RSPB reserves at Marshside and Hesketh Out Marsh on the south side of the estuary.

We work in partnership with Natural England to ensure the best management for the wildlife of the estuary.

Latest blog posts

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Activities and events

Activities for children and families

We love to welcome families to the RSPB Fairhaven Lake Visitor Centre! With our new interactive displays and free downloadable app, there’s loads to do. You can even grab a coffee and snack before or after you explore.

There’s the Arts Council-funded trail sculptures all around the lake too, see if you can spot them all. The trail will help you discover more about the wonderful wildlife of the Ribble Estuary.

Seaside and park activity backpacks are available all year round, to really make the most out of exploring the area.Taking a walk down the new sea wall promenade is rewarded with the panoramic view across the estuary, seeing Southport where our sister site Marshside is based and on clear days all the way to North Wales.

Themed activities, interactive displays and badge-making are available and we offer a programme of fun, nature-themed, family events in the holidays. Keep up to date with our events programme.

Leisure activities

Come along to one of our seasonal events, where our friendly, knowledgeable team will help you learn more about the rich variety of wildlife on the estuary and around the lake.

Marshside

Lytchett Fields

Arne

Fairhaven Lake Visitor Centre