Around Preston

This is a circular walk I did one cold, but bright January morning in Lancaster, following first the canal northwards, then the route of the North Western Railway back south, beside the river. Shaw Street is a small road of terraced housing that happens to give access to the canal, and a footbridge, which I assume has replaced an older stone bridge. This is the view looking towards Lancaster; the canal heads to Preston in this direction, but I went the other way, towards Kendal. This is looking towards Dolphin Lea Bridge. Another view, looking back: The canal crosses the A589 on an aqueduct: I then took a path down to the river, while the canal went over the Lune Aqueduct, undoubtedly the most impressive feature of the canal. This took me down to the course of a railway that ran from Yorkshire to Morecambe, originally owned by the North Western Railway - as opposed to the much bigger London North Western Railway. The railway was built in 1849, and passed under the first arch of the aqu

 I visited Cuerden Valley Park on two occasions, 23 November 2021 and 15 January 2022, so I have to acknowledge I was not seeing it at its finest. The north end of the park has been severely broken up by having both the M6 and M65 running through it, plus the junction between the two, and when I was there in January, with no leaves on the trees the noise of the cars was ever-present. It is well served by about six car parks dotted around. The two I used had plenty of space, but I can imagine that is not the case on warm summer days. There is a charge, £1.50 for 2 hours, but I felt that was quite reasonable. The River Lostock runs through the park. The river starts at the confluence of Slack Brook and Whave's Brook, near Withnell Fold, heads southeast towards Chorley, parallel to the Leeds Liverpool Canal, but just before it gets there, it heads north, after a mile or so going through the park, still heading north. It then heads west, skirting Bamber Bridge, and was presumably bridg

 Happy New Year! It was remarkably warm for January today and sunny too, and I took the opportunity to walk by the river and canal at Tarleton. The River Douglas flows from Winter hill, southeast of Preston, and heads west, then north, flowing into the River Ribble opposite Freckleton. A spur from the Leeds Liverpool Canal, called the Rufford Branch, joins the river at Tarleton. At one time the West Lancashire Railway crossed the river just north of Tarleton, at Hesketh Bank, and there was a short branch line running south beside the river that connected the station to a trans-shipment point at the end of the canal. Passenger services on the line to Tarleton Halt operated from 1912 to 1913 - just over a year! I guess it was not a success. There is a free car park at the bottom of Plox Brow, next to the canal. Above is the view along the canal, looking north. Below, we are looking south, and the swing bridge. You can walk beside the canal, but have to go around a boatyard. I think it is