Lancaster Canal: Bridge  26 to Bridge 30 (and back)

With a beautiful section of the Lancaster Canal just 5 minutes along  the road from our village, we often find ourselves there at all seasons of the year (unless the towpath is just TOO muddy).

Now that I’ve found a map of the canal in its entirety, I’m very keen to walk the whole of it in manageable short stretches.

The Lancaster Canal is Britain’s longest lock-free waterway. It is navigable for about 42 miles. So lots of short walks required !

The canal begins in the city of Preston and winds its way north through some amazing countryside past Garstang, Lancaster and Carnforth to Bridge 138 at Tewitfield Turnpike which is the end of the fully navigable section.

The first walk of this Herculean undertaking starts at Bridge 26 as this is our nearest point of access.

The order of our walks will be dictated by both time available and weather, and not numerical order. The pictures of each walk, however, will be in order. (Well, that’s the plan !)…….

Lancaster Canal: Around Salwick © Lockmaster Maps

We joined the canal at the Hand & Dagger:

Hand & Dagger: Bridge 26 ©HelenBushe

 Canal Towpath Signpost. Which Way?

Salwick Signpost ©HelenBushe

A short walk and we’re at Bridge 27 and we are 6 miles from Preston (the signposts tell you how far you’ve come: you’ve to look on the other side to see how many miles to where you’re going)

Bridge 27 ©HelenBushe

This “work boat” had a wheelbarrow and bags of cement on it. The bridge ahead is 28A (the “A” is because it’s an additional one built to take the motorway over the canal):

Towards Bridge 28A ©HelenBushe

Towpath Traffic:

Cyclists on Towpath ©HelenBushe

I love the skull some joker has stuck on this:

Anglers Beware ©HelenBushe

Looking across to the other side:

Striped Grass ©HelenBushe

Somewhere to rest at Bridge 30, before doing an about-turn and heading back:

Bridge no.30

How could I not love the canal with views like this:

Tranquillity ©HelenBushe

Along the way we saw lots of wildflowers and wildlife; a few narrowboats; a couple of dog-walkers and that was it really.

In the course of these walks we’ll see a bit of canal-side living in the city of Preston; we should get some spectacular views of the Bowland Fells; we’ll visit the market town of Garstang and the county town of Lancaster; and when we get further north we’ll be following the coastline of Morecambe Bay.

Oh, Weather, please be kind!

For more Which Way? posts from bloggers around the world click on Cee’s icon below: