--- In [email protected], Anne Coleman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > >. Not sure whether we'll bother with the Ribble link > >and Lancaster yet, it would be nice to do it but I'm not sure how time > >will pan out. > > Hi Graham, > We're planning to do the Ribble link and Lancaster on Serenity the > last week in May and First week in June if you'll be around then? > Anne C > NB Serenity >
Ahhhhhh, my old stomping ground, you will LOVE The Lancaster, stop at Hest Bank a couple of nights, stop at Galgate, and if you have time, go down the locks to Glasson for a couple of nights and have a wander round the village and up to the top of the hill to look over Morcambe Bay. It's still a working dock so you'll see coasters and all sorts close up, it's cracking. Preston Dock is nice if you have the time, and if you are not sure about anything ask Harry at Tarleton, he knows EVERYTHING about that river, listen to him and do what he says. Also, if you don't fancy doing it in one go, a night on the pontoons at Hesketh Bank is very interesting, you dry out on the mud and it's quite surreal, costs you about £5 a night, and you'll wake up in the night as you float when the tide comes in then dry out again. Wonderful part of the world up here, MAKE time for it. By the way the length of The Leeds Liverpool from Wigan to Burscough is very pretty too once you clear the outskirts of Wigan and the Kids Swimming Pool, sorry Hell Meadow Lock. Stop over night just below the derelict two locks at Appley Bridge on the offside, there are some convenient posts to tie to that were the lock waiting posts, its very rural with the added bonus of the feel of being on a derelict canal when you look at the gates which were restored in the 1970s on the cheap so lasted about 10 years. Cracking spot. Tarleton is good for supplies before you head out on the river, and have a wander through the yard the night before before he closes to the lock to see where you are going. Everyone is very friendly at Tarleton and it's a proper boatyard, still working after 100 years or so. Free moorings are just before and only a short walk to the village to the shops etc. You get the odd boy racer hanging about but I've NEVER known them cause any trouble and people leave boats there for weeks which are never touched (or even bothered by BW!!). The Rufford arm is like going back to a gentler time, before canal boating became the stressful hot head of politics it is today. The Lanky is busy, but very pretty with very few trouble spots. Even the centre of Lancaster by The Waterwitch is a good place to moor over night, but that IS a long way to walk for supplies from Sainsburys, wait till Carnforth, there is a Tesco a couple of hundred yards from the canal, and take time to view the station where 'Brief Encounter' was filmed. If you have the time you can take the train to Grange over Sands for a day out and stop on the way back at Arnside for chips. Above Carnforth it becomes even more beautiful, with the haunting Capernwray Arm a must stop over night place. Love it, how much I miss it.
