CHILDREN and dogs delight in Worden Park on the southern edge of Leyland. They run about Worden's 157 acres like things possessed, writes Doreen Crowther.

The park is also an ideal day out destination for families of all ages.

It has been described as a country park in the town, but as well as its appeal to the country-lover it has an impressive range of attractions that goes far beyond what you would expect a park to provide.

The Ffarington (later known as Farington or Farrington) family were the landed gentry in Leyland, and for more than 300 years Worden Hall and the surrounding parkland was part of the family's estate.

In 1941 a fire destroyed most of the hall, but what seemed at the time to be a disaster was turned to good use.

The then Leyland Urban District Council bought the park in 1950 and the following year officially opened it to the public as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations.

The buildings that survived the fire are Grade II listed and, from 1976, were restored and added to, becoming the Worden (pronounced Werden) Arts and Crafts Centre in 1984.

Local craftspeople occupy workshops in the courtyard beside the arts centre.

Arnold Lord was one of the first occupants of the workshop/studios, setting up his pyrography business there in December 1983.

Arnold, formerly a designer in the textile industry, now employs his artistic skills in pyrography, which effectively is pokerwork, in his case using electrical implements.

His studio is open five days a week (closed on Mondays and Tuesdays) between 11am and 4pm at this time of year.

He and the other craftspeople in this little community are happy to have visitors watch them at work. Interest aroused during such visits often leads to regular custom.

Arnold's neighbours are the bookbinder Peter Doyle; Tricia Knitwear, where you can watch knitting by machinery; Helen Hale, ceramics; and Peter Salter, Leyland Stained Glass Company.

Arnold is proud to be one of the added attractions at Worden Park, which shares with Longton Brickcroft, another excellent facility provided by the South Ribble Borough Council, the honour of being a Green Flag Park.

Parks have to meet a number of high-quality criteria to win this award, which is rarely given outside the London area.

The arts centre in the main building is a well-equipped venue for cultural events often involving local people. It is also available for hire for weddings, other celebrations, conferences and theatre productions, amateur and professional.

The Marsden Theatre has a resident company, C'est Tous Theatre Company, which tends to stage old favourites like An Inspector Calls, or Shakespeare plays, the latter a service much appreciated by the schools of South Ribble.

A production of Macbeth runs from January 14 to March 1, and there are evening productions of Ben Jonson's Volpone from March 19 to 22.

The arts centre can cater for up to 150 people, depending on the type of event. It has a colourful conservatory bar and lounge that is open during theatre nights and by arrangement for other bookings and functions. The dcor, based on cultural

themes, includes work by more than 20 artists and craftspeople.

The Lancashire branch of the Council for the Protection of Rural England has its headquarters in the Derby wing of the main building, and it contributes an exhibition area, which features a permanent display about Worden Hall Then and Now, a lecture theatre, gift shop and much else to the many facilities offered at Worden Park.

A coffee shop/restaurant provides a wide range of snacks and light meals at the main building, and there is a catering kiosk on the park selling ice cream, crisps and soft drinks at times during the summer.

An extensive programme of parks events is held all year round under the expert guidance of the parks ranger service. Some of them are held to be of use with the National Curriculum.

Visitors will often find themselves approached by park rangers keen to point out items of interest in the natural setting of the park.

There are nature rambles, history trails, croquet, lawn tennis, and horticultural demonstrations, though of course you would need to book for some of these.

The Leyland Society of Model Engineers owns and runs a miniature railway that has a five-inch gauge track 1,605ft long. Enthusiasts often visit it from overseas.

You may be lucky enough to find the railway in operation during your visit.

Rides on it are free, but there is a collection pot at the end of the line if you want to make a contribution to the upkeep of the railway.

The park also has a privately operated nine-hole, carpeted crazy golf course. A small charge is made for a round.

A large fenced area contains the park's adventure playground, which has more than 30 items of equipment and caters for a wide variety of ages and interests.

A barbeque area and several picnic tables are sited close to the main carpark. Wildlife, including squirrels and rabbits, is encountered in the natural landscape of the park, which is richly wooded.

An arboretum has several glades containing different types of tree, encouraging visits from such bird life as the Nuthatch, Jay, Spotted Flycatcher, and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

William Andrews Nesfield has been credited with the layout of the superb formal gardens built during the 1840s.

Nesfield was one of the great English landscape artists and was the designer of gardens at Alton Towers and Kew.

He is believed also to have been responsible for Worden's famous maze or puzzle garden, which uses hornbeam hedging. At present the maze is closed for restoration work and should reopen next year.

Other features of this remarkable park include an 18th century domed ice house (an early form of refrigerator); a garden for the partially sighted; a folly built as a romantic ruin with a water cascade; a ha-ha, which is a dry-ditch boundary concealed so as not to impede the view from the house, and a conservatory, which contains the magnificent King of Denmark Geranium display in full flower on the late-December day of my visit.

Give your dog a treat. Take it along to Worden Park -- you can hose it down if it indulges in too much mud larking. Among the services provided is a doggie bath beside the carpark!

HOW TO GET THERE:

Whether you go to Leyland via the motorways or the A6, head for the town centre and there you will find brown tourism signs directing you to Worden Arts and Crafts Centre.