2009 Walk Day 6 - Colne - Skipton

Sunday was a glorious day and the first that I left all my waterproof gear at home, which meant a much lighter load for which I was grateful. In terms of getting there by public transport, Colne is the furthest journey for me and if I were getting there by train I'd be copping for two expensive single fares. Instead, I opted for a return to Skipton and a bus onwards to Colne and arrived there 3.5 hours later.

Leaving the bus station, I headed downhill catching a glimpse of Holt House - the former home of one of the most-feared teams in non-league football Colne Dynamoes. Having passed the massive Boundary Mills complex and down a leafy lane I was back on the canal at long last.





Passing through Barrowford locks, the canal rises to its peak here and with its fantastic views across Lancashire it looks to be very popular with boaters, cyclists, dog-walkers and even curious sheep.




A mile further along comes the Foulridge Tunnel, which is for boats only, diverting walkers over the top and past the reservoir. Thankfully there is no 200-metre climb that Stanedge Tunnel entails and the Reservoir was busy with people sailing, fishing and even building sand-castles.





Walking through the village of Foulridge (the name doesn't do it justice), I passed the Hole in The Wall pub (yes - closed) which commemorates the most famous local resident. You can just see the light of a boat passing through the tunnel and the old warehouse at the wharf is in the process of being restored.





Leaving Foulridge behind it was open fields all the way with little in the way of shelter, so the gentle breeze was quite welcome even if the cows thought it too hot for walking around.






Soon afterwards, word had clearly got out I was in the area and the muck-spreaders soon swung into action, thankfully the grass-cutters were out in the following field which smelt much better.




Next up was Barnoldswick, the last outpost of Lancashire, which I have always liked despite having never visited because the name just feels right. I was not disappointed with what I saw, a nice tidy-looking place and plenty of pride in its appearance. I also learnt that the Rolls Royce Plant was also the design centre for their jet engines and the engines which power Tornadoes, 747s & 757s amongst others carry the initials RB (Rolls Barnoldswick).



On the way out of Barnoldswick were Greenberfield Locks where the canal starts its long descent towards Leeds. Plenty of people out enjoying the day and the Yorkshire Dales ice-cream on offer, proper stuff too not the modern draught rubbish. Needless to say, I had to indulge.





Next up was the Lancs/Yorks border, where Pendle gives way to Craven. Disappointingly there was no mark to commemorate the spot but I took a picture regardless.


Moving on, a few sights that caught my eye were a disco-barge, a cow that I seemed to have shrunk and some black lambs at play, before the canal becomes one with the Pennine Way for a while. I was now retracing the same path I had taken a year earlier and this stretch of the canal had sold me on the idea of doing this walk.





Next up was East Marton which has its double-arched bridge as a fairly famous landmark, carrying the A59 overhead. The best explanation I have found for it is that a second arch was added to eliminate the dip in the road above. Having stopped for a quick drink here, the canal then twists and turns sharply through the hills before arriving at the locks of Gargrave.





At the locks, I witnessed two boats double-locking, which is encouraged as it saves a lot of water for the canal.


Passing over the River Aire, which is a lot more modest this far north and then under the rail line from Settle, I arrived in Gargrave itself with time for a quick drink before the final push onwards to Skipton.





For the final 4.5 miles, I had set myself a target time to Skipton station of 90 minutes which promised a good connection back home and with the sun heading lower the canal wound its way alongside the A65 towards my goal.




Acroos the water, I spotted what I think is a young heron. In the sky above a couple were flying in circles above occasionally going after any birds of prey who flew too close. Unfortunately the glare of the late afternoon stopped me capturing the action.



The canal eventually swung to the south to shadow the railway line into Skipton which was encouraging to my flagging legs at this point, as did this cheeky lamb.





Final sight of note was a pair of unpretty Muscovy Ducks, apparantly they are good to eat. After that came the outskirts of Skipton, followed closely by the rail station and the opportunity to put my feet up. Eighteen more miles for the day, 97 in total and 30 to go now.