Around Preston

I was a bit unsure what to call this; the walk was partly along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and partly in Colne and partly in Barrowford... and starts in Nelson. So we started in Cravendale Avenue, as we could park the car there. A narrow footpath, almost opposite Bevan Place, goes down to the canal. This is the view towards Liverpool, and the reflections are wonderful. I am cheating a bit here; I took this on the way back, as dusk was approaching. We headed the other way, towards Leeds, which took us over the Swinden Aqueduct, where the canal crosses Colne Water. There are a set of seven locks, the Barrowford Locks, which give this post its name. This is the first. Note the geese; they were still there when we came back. The second lock. At the back you can see the M65. The vans on the right were fixing a gas leak... This is the view of the old bridge from under the motorway; beyond is the third lock.  And above the lock, is another bridge; this is the B6247. The view looking b...

Parbold and Newburgh are a couple of villages to the west of Wigan. There is a nice walk between the two along the road one way and the canal the other. I started at Parbold, the bigger of the two. This is Stocks Tavern, which was built as a blacksmith in 1810, and is on the A5209, which skirts the south of the village. I followed the main road westwards, past the Warfarer, originally two cottages, one dating to the eighteenth century. It became a restaurant, the Parikuhn, in the 1960s. Just after the Warfarer, the road crosses the River Douglas. This is looking upsteam. At one time this was made navigable, but the canal made it superfluous. A bit further along, this is the view looking north. The bridge on the left is the Leeds-Liverpool Canal crossing the River Douglas. At the right you can see Parbold, including the remains of a windmill, more of that later. A short hill leads into the village of Newburgh. Another view showing the village green. And an old house. The post office. Th...