Right to the very End of the Lancaster Canal

Not only have we now cruised to Tewitfield, which is the present navigable limit of the Canal but yesterday we cycled the remaining 14 miles of the original course of the canal to Kendal, so we can truly say we have reached the end of the Canal.  However let's go back to where we left off.  On Thursday we walked into Morecombe along the sea front from Hest Bank where Leo was moored.

Here is Helen on the seafront at Morecombe doing 'Bring Me Sunshine' with Eric Morecombe.  His statue and little garden is very well designed and we thought it was just right as a memorial to the man.

On Stone Quay, where we patronised a good cafe, there is a series of plaques about birds with poems or jokes, like this one.

At the very end of Stone Quay is Trafalgar Quay which is the best Morecombe now has for a pier sticking out into the Bay with good views of the Lake District on the other side.









We caught a bus back from Morecombe and then cruised on just a short distance to Bolton le Sands which is another nice place right by the sea, though here a salt marsh prevents you getting up close to the water.  On Friday we carried on to Carnforth and moored overnight in the Capernwray Arm.

As you come through Hest Bank the canal comes round a bend and suddenly you are on an embankment with views of Morecombe Bay below you.

The section of canal to Carnforth continues to give excellent views of the sea.  Here we are looking across the bay to Grange over Sands with the Coniston Fells in the background to the right.

Carnforth Station is famous for its starring role in the film 'Brief Encounter'.  On the Station is a fine museum and information about the film and its director, David Lean.

This is the Refreshment Rooms at the Station which have been restored to the decor in the film.  So we had a tea and a coffee to pretend that we were Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson.

Capernwray Arm is a short branch off the canal which originally served a quarry.  It is now a delightful secluded stretch of water through the trees with a sizeable pond at the end.  There is even a pontoon to moor to.  In the picture you can just see Leo peeping into view.

This shot was taken where the Arm branches off the canal.  The red boat is on the canal and the blue one is just at the start of the Arm.











On Saturday we cautiously reversed past several other moored boats and then carried on along the canal.  Though the Arm was quite deep, the entrance, like most of this Canal, was rather shallow and reversing the last bit onto the Canal was pretty tricky.  Only a mile away we had to turn round at the navigable limit at Tewitfield.

Here is the end of the Canal.  Turning round for us was not easy as a couple of hire boats were moored at the Service Block restricting the winding hole.  By lifting the rear fender we just managed to turn round next to some private moorings.

The end of the Canal is right next to the M6.  When I say right next to the motorway  I really do mean it.  Here you can see that the coach is passing within 20 feet of the end of the Canal!

This boat was moored right at the end of the Canal.  I've called it the Clockwork Boat.  The effect of the reflection of the red painted top of the rudder makes it look as if it has a key at the stern to wind it up!!

Here is the signpost at the end.  Note that to the right it shows Burton and Kendal, the latter being fifteen and a half miles further.  Kendal is where the canal originally ended when it was completed in 1819.  A good path is signposted all the way so we decided to cycle this the following day.





So it was out with the Bromptons and a packed lunch in the cycle bag.

The Canal is blocked by the embankment of a road but the other side the Canal is in water and ascends 8 locks of the Tewitfield flight to climb 75 feet to its original summit level.  The stonework of the  locks is in fine condition though there are no gates.

Here we are looking south from Lock 5 and you can see the motorway on the right.

Even the mileposts are still there, this one saying 14 miles to Lancaster and, on the other side, 13 miles to Kendal.

It will be wonderful when this section of canal is restored to use.  The views and the scenery are first class.  Cycling along the first 8 miles which are in water, you would think it was a functioning canal.  That is until you come to the next major road crossing and find just an underground culvert connecting across.

This is the view of Holme Mills from the Canal.  In the distance are the mountains of the Lake District.

There was no wind for much of Sunday and the reflections were fantastic.

Here is one of the crossings of the  M6.  Just beyond Helen the canal comes to an end for fifty yards and then resumes on the other side.  Here the path steps sideways to use the pavement by a main road to cross under the motorway.

Under the next bridge we found a group of people waiting for a trip boat.  Water Witch is owned by the Lancaster Canal Trust which is working to restore this section of  canal and the trip boat acts as a fund raiser.

For half a mile or so the path leaves the canal.  This is because Stainton Aqueduct was damaged by the Christmas Floods and is now unsafe.  This view shows the problem and was taken from a distance on the diversion.  As if the restorers didn't have enough problems!

Soon after Stainton the water ends and the canal is just a ditch.  However its course is easily followed and soon we met the Hincaster Tunnel which takes the canal through a hill into the valley of the River Kent.  In the picture to the left of the Canal tunnel is a horse tunnel that led to a path over the hill for the barge horses and, now, for us.

Here is the horse path which has some fine stone bridges along it.  The hill rises 70 - 80 feet above the canal.

Soon after the tunnel we found this fairy house in a tree.  Some local person has been having fun.

Although some of the dry canal is obvious on the ground, for other sections we were following a path across a field with no sign of the canal until you come across a canal bridge in the middle of the field.

This bridge in particular stands in splendid isolation in the middle of a fairly flat field.  Where has the canal gone?

By contrast this section looks as if you could fill it with water and it would be instantly navigable.   Here you can see an old winding hole for turning boats just beyond the tree on the right.

The last 4 miles seemed to go on for ever and there were a lot of stiles to lift the bikes over.  Finally coming into Kendal the path becomes a recognised cycleway with a tarmac surface.

The Canal ended at 'Canal Head' where there was a wharf for unloading boats.  Today this has become the local council household refuse tip.  A bit sad really for our ride to finish at the local tip!

Having reached Kendal we looked in vain and asked a couple of locals for a tea shop to celebrate our successful 'navigation' of the Northern Reaches of the Lancaster Canal.  There being no prospect of tea we caught the bus back with our folded bikes wrapped in bin bags (we had been told that the bus company prefer them wrapped).  Instead of tea we had celebratory pints at the Longlands Inn at Tewitfield.  Incidentally we learned that 'Tewit' is the local name for the Lapwing which we know by the alternative name of 'Peewit'.

Tonight we are at Hest Bank and over the next few days we will be heading back south.  Our appointment with the Ribble Link to make our return to the rest of the canal system is a week today, Monday 23 May, so keep your fingers crossed.