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.

2009 Walk Day 5 Blackburn - Colne

On Thursday, I arrived in Blackburn just before 9am on what was intended to be the longest walk of the challenge so far. Having completed 33 miles in the previous two days of walking I wanted to put that momentum to use and complete the 22 miles of canal to Colne. This would also work out well from a practical point of view as Colne marked the end of the East Lancashire Line, since the link to Skipton was cut in 1970. There is an active campaign for it to be re-opened, http://www.selrap.org.uk/, and I truly hope it succeeds.

Rejoining the canal at the nicely preserved Eanam Wharf, I had an early-morning greeting party.





The east side of the town was much easier on the eye, with the imposing Granada news-office (sadly closed in 2005) before the the north bank abruptly gave way to open country.





Although I hear many grumbles about the British weather, I find conditions like today give the country a unique beauty, particularly the way the clouds shroud the hill-tops and the temperature was perfect for brisk walking without ever feeling uncomfortably cold. The south bank was fringed with modern industrial units for another couple of miles, providing me with the sight of a mini-cow and, on the canal, my one and only sighting so far of this species of this bird so far.






With open fields on both sides, the canal here is a rich vein of wildlife to reward the passing walker.







Nearing the next town on, Rishton, I passed the first boat of the day which had attracted a couple of showboating gulls. There were some excellent views across the fields to the north and the canal crossed over the M65, which stalks the canal fairly closely from here onwards.





Passing some very chilled out cows, the town of Chruch soon followed and delighted to find these old ovens by the canal where coal would have been converted to coke which was critical in driving the industrial revolution firstly enabling iron smelting as well as fuelling the trains in later years.




Church is quite significant in the it marks the exact half-way mark of the canal, shortly followed by the never completed Peel Arm to Acrington to the south.






The second crossing of the motorway preceded Clayton-le-Moors which offered views across towards the distant Pendle Hill, before open country returned. As the canal picked its way through the low hills, I became the object of fascination to some cows across the water but less so to a couple of pigs.







Having got a feel for how best to pace my journeys now, I had today opted for a three stop strategy, with a longer 11 mile stint through to lunchtime, opting to stop for some refreshment at Hapton, with the map indicating a couple of pubs near the boatyard. However, I was unsurprised when yet again my choice of stop resulted in the sight of a pub that was no longer open. Thankfully there was a nearby chippy to save the day.



Crossing the motorway I was reaching the fringes of Burnley, and was unexpectedly evicted from the canal where the footpath ends at Gannow Tunnel. Having negotiated some sinister-looking subways under the motorway (though most subways seem dark places to me) I managed to find my way back onto the Canal near Burnley Barracks. First up in Burnley was the Weavers Triangle which for me was the best for examples of Victorian industrial buildings as well as having an excellent (and open) pub which was perfect for the second stop of the day at the 15 mile mark.








Next up was the Burnley Embankment, also known as the The Straight Mile which is listed as one the Seven Wonders of British Waterways. Rather than build a series of locks, engineers opted to build, by hand, a 60 foot high embankment to carry the canal across the centre of town. It offers fantatsic views of the rooftops as well as Turf Moor.







Thompson Park and crossing over the River Brun marked the north of the town as the west bank opened into more open country again, whilst the east featured Reedley Marina.





The distant mill chimney marked Brierfield, which I had chosen for my third and final break of the day. Unsuprisingly, the pub I'd picked was closed up and there was plenty of boarding up and demolition around but I eventually found one open on the main street.


From here, I had 3 more miles of canal to cover plus a further mile from there to the station in Colne. Consulting train times, there was an hourly service from Colne which gave me a target of 4 miles in 80 minutes which I felt I could manage. Pressing on, I passed by Nelson which was a much better-looking town and the geese cartainly agreed





As the town of Colne doesn't quite reach the canal-side it was open country up to the start of Barrowford Locks (the first since Blackburn) and the end of the M65 which was my cue to leave the canal for Colne and arrive at my waiting train with 10 minutes to spare.