Catterall to Lancaster, part 1 - another long day!
 

Well, a long day for us should I say! There are no locks on the Lancaster Main Line. The only locks are down the Glasson Arm to the River Lune; but more of that when we have been down there!

We wanted to get to Lancaster, as we had some things to do there and also link up with Craig, our son. But I am ahead of myself ....

This was the evening view from our mooring at Catterall

The first main town is Garstang: a market town: somewhere we must visit when we return. Just before Garstang we crossed another of John Rennie's aqueducts

Crossing the River Wyre

Garstang is a mecca for what we call "noddy boats"

This is really a derogatory term, so I am trying to be more polite and call them cruisers. There is a preponderance of these on the Lancaster Canal and for many years narrowboats were not a common sight. Now we all have to "rub along" together, not literally we hope, as we could do a bit of damage if we hit one.

Because of this history there are speed limit notices of 4mph - particularly by moored boats. This amuses us, because if we passed at that speed we would cause havoc amongst moored cruisers. It is academic anyway, as the canal is only about 3 foot deep in most places and the "V" construction makes 4 mph almost impossible for us to do. We have a breaking wave if we go above 3mph on the Lanky.

Having said all that, when we were moored at Catterall we were passed by a narrowboat. Or should I say "buzzed" by a narrowboat! We have never, in all our time on canals, seen one going past so fast. He was about 45 foot at the most and we were moored on a wide bit. However almost immediately he had to go through a bridge and he had limited visibility. We waited for the noise of steel hitting something, but he got away with it!

Garstang also boasts what I think must be the most elaborate pipe bridge I have ever seen. This, and the next two bridges, make an attractive sight with the boats moored too.

Pipe Bridge, Cathouse bypass Bridge and Cathouse Bridge

The Fells, part of the Pennines, were much nearer now as we passed through some lovely countryside.

Bowland Fells and Nateby Hall Bridge

A closer view

At the end of a lovely rural section, through farmland and small canalside woods, is Double Bridge - so called as it had a dividing wall down the middle to separate two farms. Ellel Grange, at the bridge before, is worth a mention, if only because you cannot see it! Only the top of its spired Church and the parkland around it are visible from the canal. It is a private estate so no visits, unfortunately.

Double bridge

Emerging from Double Bridge we could see the bridge over the Glasson Junction. The first lock of 6 is just under the bridge.

Glasson Branch entrance

Signpost at Junction

Another half a mile and the canal reaches Galgate. This is sort of familiar territory for us, as the main road (A6 to Lancaster) from the M6 passes through the village and it is not long before we would then have turned off into Lancaster University to see Craig, when he was there.

I shall stop this blog here - a natural break as the approach and entry to Lancaster is worth a blog of its own!

Add comment

Name (required)

E-mail (required, but will not display)

Title (required)

Notify me of follow-up comments

Refresh

Send

Cancel