Canal Walk: Salterforth to Greenberfield

We parked Rocinante in the car park by the canal opposite the Anchor Inn by bridge #151. Sancho Panza and I set off in search of a lost canal, a lost flight of locks and as many mileposts as we could find.
A mile down the cut we came to the spot where the Rain Hall Rock Branch joined the main line. The rock cut was a short arm of the main canal which was simply a quarry which boats could enter and be loaded directly from the quarry-face. Limestone was quarried here and was a good source of income for the Leeds & Liverpool Canal Company. When the quarry was closed parts of it were filled in with rubbish. Photographs show that an arch remained next to one of the tunnels on the branch. On the canal the wall by the towpath rises at the point where the branch was. There is a tree-filled gap between a fence and the foundations of a demolished mill which marks the course of the first section of the rock cut. Walking up to Long Ing bridge and turning right we followed a path up the hill. When we were inline with the higher towpath wall we could look downhill along the line of the branch, the path goes over the first tunnel, behind us was a wall with the last remaining section of the quarry beyond. We continued up the path past the farm buildings on the right and along the embankment on the left. Further up the hill the embankment is lower and we could look over it and down a steep slope to the quarry cut. There is still water in the cut but the section is completely overgrown with trees and it was not safe to investigate further. The path turns left and crosses the cut again cross what was the second tunnel. There is no sign of there ever having been a quarry further up the hill, to the right of the path the cut has been completely filled in and grassed over. We retraced our steps and returned to the canal at Long Ing Bridge #153. There is on road parking here.
We continued along the canal. Past Coate’s bridge #154A on the left is the Rolls Royce factory; from the towpath you can see the zigzag roof with its skylights at canal level. A bit further on we found milepost 86 and were passed by a proper Liverpool barge, romantically named “A40”. Barges on the Leeds Liverpool were a development of the Mersey flatboats that were used on the rivers. At 14foot wide they are definitely not narrow boats.
Through Greenberfield Bridge #156 you can see the old canal office building, now a house and BWB station. Greenberfield Top Lock and the start of the canals descent to Leeds from the summit level is next to the house. The locks have a car-park and picnic area. Even the sandwichless visitor should take a diversion into the picnic area to see the old route of the locks marked most distinctly by a bridge in a field with no canal beneath it. On the uphill side of the bridge the ground level is now at road level, on the down hill side there is a drop down to a dry canal. The backgarden of Greenber Field Cottage is the old pound between locks. The old route runs along side the locks to the bottom lock where you can see a reedy stretch of former canal.
At Greenberfield Changeline bridge #158 we met a very friendly horse who posed for photographs with the canal as a background. The canal show its age after this point. In the earlier age of canal building engineers followed contours rather than using the tunnels and embankments of the later stages. This section of canal up to Gargrave has some of the most serpentine twists and bends of any canal I have seen.
Passing milepost 87 we walked up to bridge #159. Before the bridge there are a pair of stone buildings which I guess were for transhipping coal from canal to cart.
We turned around at the bridge and walked back to the Anchor Inn for lunch where we caught up with A40. A40 was one of Rank’s the millers boats carrying grain to Blackburn, before it passed to Henry Crosedale in the 1950’s who supplied Blackburn and Wigan power stations with coal.

Canal Walk: Foulridge to Barnoldswick

We parked at the wharf at the north end of Foulridge Tunnel. The area has a few things to interest the industrial archaeologist. First there is the tunnel itself. It is 1640yards long and dead straight. Unfortunately it has no towpath so walkers (and horses) have to take an alternative route. But today we were going north and away from the tunnel. The wharf has a number of stone warehouses, a quarter mile post and a cast iron boundary post which relates to the railway line which until recently crossed the canal at this point. The railway embankments can be seen either side of the canal while the metal rail bridge would have gone over what is now the toilet block.
Leaving the wharf we set off north through the rolling countryside. The canal passes through green farmland for most of this walk. Along the way we found quarter, half and full mileposts. The most picture-esque being the 83miles post which is next to Mill Hill Bridge. there was no sign of the old milestones on this stretch.


The next town on the canal is Salterforth, 84 miles from Liverpool and 43 and a quarter from Leeds (but still in Lancashire). As the canal turns a corner under bridge #151 walkers might notice a post which would have had a roller on it to help stop the tow ropes snagging on the bend. Next to the bridge is the Anchor Inn, a public houses with more to interest a visitor than just beer and spirits. We didnt enter to experience the pub first hand but sat in the picnic area by the canal side car park. Maybe next time we will park here and have time for a pint.



After drinks and sweets we had enough sugar in our systems to walk another mile.
A mile away from Salterforth is the town of Barnoldswick, at bridge 154A. Our visit was one of missed opportunities though. First we couldnt find the 85 mile milepost (or the mill it was once alongside). Without realising it we were at the point where a small branch was cut to quarry rock. I had been keen to see if there was anything remianing of the rock cut, its tunnels, and arched aquaduct but it was only when we had returned home that I saw how close we had been. Looking at the guides there seems to be some debate as to where the border between Lancashire and Yorkshire is. Some guides say that we crossed over and others suggest we were safely on home soil the whole trip. Barnoldswick is in Lancashire but is its canal?
We turned around as the sun was going behind the clouds and headed back. Back at the Foulridge wharf we had a look at the old lime kiln which is in the car park. It was designed so the top had easy access for the canal. It dates back to a time when lime and limestone were the main cargoes on the canal, more important than coal.


This is a very good section for walkers. The car parks at Foulridge and Salterforth are very useful. There were quite a few people out walking or cycling and the towpath is very good. This section also had a few boats on the move, though it is still quiet compared to other canals.