Thursday 21st November
This is the first outing in which public transport failed us. Getting a train to Gargrave from Wigan is not an option as a 4hr+ journey each way changing at Preston and Carnforth would have meant all day spent on the train. We went in the car.
We had the company of Connor on this walk who is one of Thomas's friends. He enjoyed the walk and wants to come on more in the future.
Gargrave looked like a nice place although we didn't spend any time here. We found somewhere to dump the car and started our walk at Higherland bridge, West Street.
As our last walk, this was also very scenic. The views were spectacular as the canal snaked its way through the hills and countryside.
After walking for about an hour, we met this wonderful couple from Lincolnshire. They took the time to explain to the lads how the locks worked. They then allowed them to open the locks so they could get a better understanding. Not content there, the lads closed the locks, had a ride on the narrow boat and as Connor said, "the grand finale was to steer the boat". How's that for kindness?
We met another nice couple from Yorkshire further along who overheard the lads talking about how hungry they were. They told us where we could get some food as well has having a good old natter about chips, Wigan Rugby, the canal and walking amongst other things. Connor cheekily asked could he have a look in the boat and the couple said "Yes, go in, have a wander and a good look around". They did.
We came off the canal at East Marton for a pub lunch at The Cross Keys. It was a nice old pub with good home cooked food, we all enjoyed a gammon steak with egg and chips before continuing with the trek.
The canal took so many turns and corners it made the walk much longer than it would have been. I'm convinced we walked an extra 2 or 3 miles because of the zig-zagging we did.
We left the canal a little after 4pm at Barnoldswick. Now we had to get back to the car at Gargrave. We had a short stroll into Barnoldswick with an ice-cream each where we went on the hunt for a taxi. We found one straight away and the 15 minute drive back through the countryside cost a mere £13 which was worth every penny!
