Month: May 2019

Day 55 of the End to End was my fifth day on the Lancaster canal and I was heading to Carnforth. Again the day started overcast and there was occasional light rain as I began at bridge 111. However, the path was easy which was just as well as I wasn’t feeling 100%.
Near Belmount House I was looking over a hedge for evidence of St Patrick’s Well. Tradition has it that Patrick was shipwrecked off of the Lancashire coast near Heysham. There’s a chapel and well dedicated to him there. As Patrick was on his way north to Cumbria, or perhaps even Birdoswald on Hadrian’s Wall, he stopped to drink at what became known as St Patrick’s well. It was on private land so I was unable to check it out but I did see a fox.

As the canal came into Hest Bank I saw the sea for the first time, somewhat grey and cold looking. Bob met me and we stopped for soup at the Royal Hotel in Bolton le Sands as it was a soup sort of day.
Feeling like a short afternoon would be best, and with spare miles in the bank anyway, I decided to stop at bridge 128 in Carnforth.

We popped into Carnforth for a brief visit to the station and heritage centre, and to sample the toasted tea cakes.

From Psalm 139

You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know everything I do.
Even before I speak, you already know what I will say.
You are all around me and your power protects me.

All Knowing One,
Your knowledge of me is humbling.
I am grateful for your protection
And the power that flows through me.
Today your care has kept me in step.
Now it is time to rest:

God grant me a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 31.05.2019
Day 55 of the End to End from bridge 111 to bridge 128 on the Lancaster canal

Day 54 of the End to End was my fourth day on the Lancaster canal. It was also Ascension Day which meant everything was up in the air. It was a grey morning. Not a total wipe out but grey enough to obscure any long views of the hills. I was in the green canal corridor, a quiet and calm route winding its way under bridges up to Lancaster.

Once again the early start was designed to avoid the rain forecast for later in the afternoon and again it was mostly successful. Some light rain fell as I approached St Peter’s Catholic Cathedral which provided a welcome refuge. A large Victorian Gothic building it became the centre of the diocese in 1924.
The words from today’s Bible reading from the beginning of the book of Acts open there for me to read and that lodged in my brain were
‘Has the time come?’
It’s a question asked in different places by different people in diverse circumstances everyday.
I discovered that Lawrence Binyon was born in Lancaster in 1869. He had as an Anglican, most well known for his poem ‘To the fallen‘. It includes the stanza commonly used as the salutation at Remembrance:

They grow not old as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them nor the tears condemn,
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
With Ascension, Jesus moves in to ageless remembrance, no longer limited by time and place. The question ‘Has the time come‘ is one Jesus now transcends, coming to us in any time and place.
It means all our usual human understanding is up in the air.

So too was the Lancaster canal as it passed over the Lune Aqueduct. This grade 1 listed structure is over 200 years old and had a face lift a few years ago. It’s a most impressive achievement. We completed today’s walk at Hammerton Hall Bridge, number 111. On this canal it is amazing to realise that the main part of the 41 miles follows the same contour, making it unnecessary to build locks.
Not so impressive were the Roman baths we stopped to see by the river Lune later. One of the less memorable things the Romans did for us in Lancashire.

From Acts 1

Is it time yet?

Timeless God, we who are obsessed with time need your calm reassurance.
Help us to wait expectantly,
Neither anxious or too laid back.
Your promises are reliable
And you will not restrict the potential of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Tonight, grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 30.05.2019
Day 54 of the End to End, bridge 88 to bridge 111 via the Lune Aqueduct.

Day 53 of the End to End was a pleasant walk along the Lancaster canal from Garstang to Gallgate. We started early in an attempt to miss the rain that was promised by mid afternoon. The planning paid off and we didn’t get wet.

It was also very quiet with little boat traffic and few other walkers. There was a very persistent Heron who kept a few steps ahead of me round several bends in the path. The Lancaster canal is beautiful at this time of year. There are picnic tables and benches for snack stops.

The Glasson branch takes the Canal out to the dock at Glasson and is the only part of the canal to have locks.

It was quite early when we reached bridge 88, so there was plenty of time for a small side visit. We went to Knott End on Sea in the rain and enjoyed a late lunch at the cafe, which is just by the slipway to the ferry to Fleetwood.

From Psalm 107

Those that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
They see God’s works and wonders in the deep.

The tide rises and falls,
Commercial activity waxes and wanes,
The seasons flow one into another,
These rhythms are essential to our lives.
There is so much beyond these basics:
Further reaches of the planet,
The continuing expansion of the cosmos.
Praise the Maker for all that is created,
Who’s love is broad and who’s embrace keeps us secure.

God grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 29.05.2019
Day 53 of the End to End, from bridge 62 to bridge 88 on the Lancaster canal.

Day 52 of the End to End was my second day on the Lancaster canal. I joined it just after Cross Lane at bridge 32. The path was between some high cow parsley and lots of yellow irises. A sunny morning, there were butterflies out, including my favourite Orange-tip, looking a bit ragged but still on the wing.

There’s so much life along the canal. Trees offer plenty of shade from time to time as strips of woodland line the route: beech are elegant and birch striking. There are many water birds: Herons are more common and families of ducklings are numerous. But there are also Moorhen, geese and swans. A Buzzard perched on a post and Goldfinches played in the hedges. It was wonderful to walk through all of this. I had a gentle sense of well being that I hoped I’d be able to recall long after the walk has ended.

I was well fed by the natural world but also with ice cream. There was some Wallings ice cream at a riverside pub. This is Lancashire ice cream and is another excellent product to mention in my guide to British Ice Cream. When we got to Garstang we had a second round of different flavours.

There were three aquaducts on the route. These amazing feats of engineering were opened in 1797 and each one still carries the canal today. The route travles side by side with the A6, the West Coast Main Line and the M6, each one representing the main way of travelling long distances at different times in the last 200 years. Each one still functioning now, although the role of the canal has changed the most. Now a major wild life corridor, it is easy walking. Try some for yourself if you can during National Walking Month.

The walk ended today in Garstang which was the first Fairtrade Town, a movement that has spread across the whole country.

From Psalm 1
Happy are those who reject bad advice, who do not follow the wrong way or join those who say they have no use for God. Instead, they find joy in obedience of God, and they study God’s Way day and night. They are like trees that grow beside a stream, that bear fruit at the right time, and whose leaves do not dry up.

May the waterway refresh you, may it lull you gently to rest;
May the trees shade you, providing a haven from wind and rain;
May the green plants entrance you, each one a feast for your senses;
May the birds entertain you and the world around you give you strength;
May you respond responsibly and with care in partnership with people world wide;
And may God grant all a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL: 28.05.2019
Day 52 of the End to End; Cross Lane Methodist Church to Garstang.

Day 51 of the End to End and I pass the 500 miles mark. I’m as amazed as you are! I have walked all the way from Land’s End to Preston.
Now the only Preston I recall was the evil dog in Wallace and Gromit and The Close Shave. That was the one that starred Shaun the Sheep. In a conversation with Bob, he said he wasn’t surprised that the dog was called Preston as it was a Yorkshire film. This factor had not crossed my mind.
Today my friend Peter from the Lay Community of St Benedict was walking with me and it was good to have the company. He is a volunteer supporting a Sustrans route where he lives, so it was good that we were walking on Sustrans route 55. It was another green corridor along a disused railway with wide fringes of ponds and marshy areas. At this time of year the plant life is burgeoning particularly the yellow Iris now hanging out its yellow bunting on the edge of every pond and stream. Foxgloves are also beginning to come out and will soon be a common sight.

The disused railway path ended in Preston city centre which we crossed with the helpful incentive of a donut stop (Bob brought the donuts to us). Leading out of the city we joined the Lancaster Canal. This was mile 503 that had been sponsored by Renee. Plenty of ducklings and cygnets were swimming up and down the canal.

We left the canal at Quaker Bridge in order to take a shortcut, and stopped at the Sitting Goose. This pub did not have many customers for a bank holiday largely due to the road works that were making the car park inaccessible.
Cross Lane Methodist Church was the place were today’s walk ended, just before the Lancaster canal which I will join again tomorrow.

From Psalm 106

Praise God!
Give thanks: God is good and loves forever;
Who can tell all the great things God has done?
Who can praise God enough?

I cannot praise you enough, God:
You have kept me safe and walked with me.
Your love is communicated to me is so many ways:
I cannot give an adequate account of it.
I will continue to praise you.
I intend to walk your Way.

Tonight, God grant a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 27.05.2019
From Bamber Bridge retail park to Cross Lane Methodist Church

Day 50 of the End to End sounds like a glorious day. In fact it was somewhat overcast so we began with a Breakfast Barm at the Boatyard Bus Cafe to give the rain a little more time to clear.

It was my third day of walking on the Leeds to Liverpool Canal (see yesterday for alternative name). Just as I also walked for three days on the Shropshire Union Canal earlier in the walk and the three cathedrals of Truro, Gloucester and Worcester. This is down to the rule of threes. Three little pigs, the bears, three Billy Goats Gruff: when writing make it three. Except of course there was the 13 days on the Severn Way and the various one offs like a boat lift, a wetlands trust, a Boatyard bus cafe and a Red Bambo van. All of which supports the finding that it’s fine to write in threes or not.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal continued as the green corridor of calm to the Johnson’s Hillock Locks and then veered off towards the Cuerden Valley Park. Another beautiful green route this time busier as there was a community fair in progress. This made the route a bit confused and I came out on the A49 a bit further down the road. Bob had worked it out and was there to meet me. We walked up to the large Sainsbury store together and relaxed in the cafe. 

From Psalm 139
How precious to me are your thoughts God!
How huge the total of them!
Were I to count them, they would out number the grains of sand,
Yet when I wake up, I am still with you.

Lost or not, I am still in your company.
Counting grains of sand or leaves on trees,
You out number me every time.
Awake or asleep you keep me close.
Tonight I am tired and ask
God grant me a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 26.05.2019
From the Boatyard Bus Cafe to a random Sainsbury car park near Bamber Bridge.

After a rest day caused by the need to return the red van to Glossop, day 49 of the End to End began again at Wigan Pier on the Leeds to Liverpool Canal. This is called the Liverpool to Leeds canal by some people. A series of white markers set at intervals of a mile inform a walker how much closer to Leeds we are getting. Obviously the canal goes the long way round.

I’m not using the canal to get to Leeds. Rather I’m heading towards Preston, to eventually pick up the Lancaster canal.
But I’m rushing ahead here in the narrative.  ‘Take one step’ at a time is the only legitimate motto for an End to Ender. It’s also important to savour each step. This is probably a once in a life time journey: I’m unlikely to be doing this again.

The first part of the canal after Wigan is a long series of locks. I recognised it from a previous journey when I was supporting some friends who were doing a sponsored canoe trip. Because of the requirement to take canoes out of the water at locks there was a significant amount of portage to do on this section. This time round I’m a bit early in the year for the blackberries that sustained us last time.
I met Bob at bridge 60 where we had a picnic. Then we walked back to bridge 63 where I exchanged the canal tow path for a disused railway path numbered 55. It was a very quite route mostly through a fern lined cutting.  All the more disappointing to see ugly fly tipping at one point. Papers in the rubbish suggest it dates to 2006. I do see quite a bit of litter in the canals and along some paths and fly tipping from time to time. It’s a real shame that tippers don’t think about the environmental impact of their actions.

I get back on the canal path and soon meet Bob again. He has positive news of the Boatyard Bus Cafe near Adlington. We ended the walk there for the day with cake. And by the way, it’s just 84 and a quarter miles from Leeds.

From Psalm 139
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

All knowing God, who sees what we do in public and in secret,
Help us to face up to our responsibilities as residents of this planet.
It matters what we do with its resources and the rubbish we generate.
Hold us to account.

Lord have Mercy
And tonight, grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end.
JAL 25.05.2019

Day 49 of the End to End from Wigan Pier to the Boatyard Bus Cafe.

Day 48 of the End to End the target is Wigan Pier. I was doing my O levels when I read George Orwell ‘s book, which he had written in 1936 after travelling to Wigan. However today, 80 years later, the best road to Wigan Pier is a canal and first I had to get onto it.
The Vulcan Village where I started was, as Bob mentioned on his blog yesterday, the place where Vulcan engines were made, not a place related to a well know TV sci-fi franchise.
I walked into Wargrave. The Emmanuel church as open for visitors. In the corner of the churchyard is the CWGC headstone remembering a young man of just 19 who died as a result of wounds received at the Battle of Loos in 1915.

The next landmark was the Harrow Inn, marking the beginning of mile 473, one of my sponsored miles. We had a small picnic and then Bob came with me on the next bit as the path was not very clearly marked. It went across a common which was covered in wildflowers. On the other side of the railway it went through a small wood.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal came up and the path along the canal was as usual very good. It was covered in fluff, seeds from the goat willow and dandelions that were flowering. In some places it formed a deep blanket. The route was through the Wigan Flashes, a series of large areas of open water that now form a nature reserve.
Unfortunately just before the disused railway bridge the path was closed and I had to retrace my steps to the last footbridge and take the path on the other bank of the canal. This allowed me to see Scotsman’s Flash close up (and provided me the opportunity to write about it here).

Bob had met me on the path and as we walked up towards Wigan Pier we stopped at a pub for a cold drink.
Wigan Pier is a now restored coal wharf on the canal. Nearby there are other buildings from Wigan’s industrial past and new retail areas. Local news confirms that while time passes, child poverty rates in some Wards in Wigan affect more than a quarter of children. I wonder what Orwell would make of that?

It all seems a far cry from the Wigan Flashes. We returned to Delamere Forest campsite for double Snugburys on a hot afternoon.

From Psalm 137
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

The exiles are expected to sing happy songs in the place of their captivity. They remember the songs but don’t have the heart for them.
We do not always feel like singing happy songs.
As the years go by the divisions in our society seem to be as deep as ever:
Children grow up in poverty,
More families rely on foodbanks.
I cannot sing happy songs about these things.
Lord have Mercy.
Grant us justice for all and a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 23.05.2019
Day 48 of the End to End from Vulcan Village to Wigan Pier

Day 47 of the End to End was another example of the green corridor that seems to run even through industrial areas.
I started on the Bridgewater Canal at Moore Bridge. The local post office did some lovely little fresh sandwiches which came in handy later. I walked along to Walton and made a brief stop at St John’s Church. A few members of the congregation were there and I was introduced to the vicar, who turned out to be Revd Anita Raggett a former colleague of Bob’s in Huddersfield, whose husband was a former colleague of mine and taught Hannah A Level Maths at Silcoates.

I walked on the the Walton Hall Car Park and my friend Kate soon arrived. We were off up the canal but distracted by our conversation we missed our turning. A chance stop at a Chandlers for a toilet put us back on the right route which included a bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal. Luckily Bob was coming towards us by this point, on what was part of the Transpennine Trail. We crossed over the river Mersey, through a small memorial woodland and onto the St Helens canal.
Kate and I had been talking about Wilding Worship, something I hope to follow up when my walk is completed.

Bob gave Kate a lift back to her car and I ate my little sandwiches in the park. The Sankey canal is the oldest in England, and it has been turned into a walking and cycle route and leisure area. The old canal route is now much wilder with more mature trees, wetland areas and havens for all kinds of wildlife. What industry no longer uses has gone back to nature. After Bewsey Lock the canal is silted up forming a reed bed. Through Dallam and up to Vulcan Village there are signs of the course of the old waterway and it comes back again just where we took the footpath into Vulcan Village for the end of today’s walk.

It was a good route past Warrington: a green corridor bursting with life.

From Psalm 139

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; all that you have made is wonderful, as I know full well.

Today I give thanks:
For the diversity of creation from the smallest plant to the largest tree,
From scarlet pimpernel, such a tiny flowers, to the oak, sycamore and beech,
From the Ladybird to the Grey Heron:
All is wonderful.
For the support of friends and colleagues,
For shared visions and a shared journey,
For companions on the way:
All is wonderful.
Tonight I pray,

God grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 22.05.2019
Day 47 of the End to End, Moore bridge to Vulcan Close in Vulcan Village.

Day 46 of the End to End began at the Anderton boat lift. There was just time to pick up a lemon muffin from the cafe to take with me and I was off on the Trent and Mersey canal.
This muffin later turned out to be blackberry and apple but I haven’t returned it. There are readers who say this blog is mostly about food. It is.
The walk along the Trent and Mersey canal was very eventful with two tunnels to negotiate in the first two miles. Walkers take a footpath up over the top following the line of the tunnels. Other than the excitement caused by these features the path was very quiet and I met very few other walkers.

Bob met me and we had a picnic lunch by the site of the now repaired Dutton Breach, that occurred after heavy rain in September 2012.
After lunch I was pleased to encounter the Fudge Boat on the next stretch. A new batch of rum and raisin was in the making and I got a free sample. It did not disappoint such that I bought some further fudge and fed some to Bob when I next met him.

That was at the third and final tunnel, the longest of the three today. But also the straightest. I could just see the light at the end of the tunnel as I looked into the dark tunnel mouth.
After the tunnel the canal changed name and ownership. It was now the Bridgewater Canal, but also quite quiet. I saw five Herons today in total and even the first foxgloves of the summer coming into flower. The bridges on the Bridgewater Canal are named rather than numbered so it was at Moore Bridge that we stopped for the day.

After a quick Snugburys we made an arrangement to meet friends Kirsty and Martin for a meal. We reviewed the walk so far, retelling the highlights, which together with good food, made for an excellent end to the day.

From Psalm 139

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me”, even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

From the dark of the tunnel the boat emerges into the light of day;
Everyday has its contrasts.
The warmth of the sun and the cold wind;
The quiet canal and the noisy motorway;
Walking alone or together,
Eating alone or with others.
When we are yearning for the light at the end of the tunnel
We are looking for positive change,
To embrace the hope that comes with that moment of emergence.

May we who seek to change, embrace the possibilities that you offer us, the new life you hold out to us,
And for today, God grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 21.04.2019
Day 46 of the End to End, Anderton Boat Lift to Moore Bridge.