Towns & Country

The canal took us through the rundown outskirts of Chorley and back into rolling hills and woodlands.  We stopped at the top of Johnson's Hill Locks and enjoyed a house speciality, Indian curry, in the Top Lock pub.  The attractive countryside gave way to the suburbs of Blackburn and we continued passed derelict buildings and all sorts of floating debris.  We came up the Blackburn Locks with another couple who luckily had their strong grandson on board to help out.  

Away from the industrial towns there are spectacular views across open countryside to the distant fells.  We see the first ducklings of the year, a greylag gosling with it's protective parents and a foal on wobbly legs. 

A foal on wobbly legs with  fells in the background

 The canal wends it's way towards Burnley, curling round the hills as it follows the contours.   The M65 motorway runs alongside the canal and we crossed paths via bridges, aqueducts and the Gannow Tunnel which is 559 yards long. 

Travelling through the Gannow Tunnel which is about 10 feet wide.

At Burnley we passed through the Weavers Triangle, a conservation area for 19th Century industrial buildings.  Mill buildings with tall red brick chimneys and warehouses flank the canal.  Sadly many are in need of restoration.  

Turning the point of the Triangle we sail onto the Burnley Embankment also known as the Straight Mile and it's possibly the only straight section on the canal.  From here we had an interesting view of Burnley looking down on the town which is divided by the embankment.  On one side we had a bird's eye view of the busy bus station and on the other looked across the rooftops towards the football ground.  At ground level Burnley proved to be a good shopping centre.    

View from the embankment looking across the rooftops to the Burnley football ground. 

We continued to travel through industrial towns accompanied by the M65 until Barrowford.  Here a flight of 7 locks took us up into open countryside surrounded by distant hills.  This is the summit level (the highest stretch of the canal) and it's water supply comes from various reservoirs.  We were surprised to see the Barrowford Reservoir looked half empty but we aren't hoping for rain to fill it.  

Our journey from Adlington to Barrowford