LEJOG blog

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.

It’s day 45 of the End to End and I’m on my way to the Anderton Boat Lift, north of Northwich. I started south of Winsford where a Road Closed notice was somewhat off putting but I persevered and found out it wasn’t really closed, just some contractors trying to keep out extra traffic.
I joined the Weaver Way at Bottom Flash and stayed on it most of the day. It was a lovely walk in Spring sunshine. There was lots of wildflowers. In little marshy sections and other ‘flashes’ the yellow iris were beginning to flower; in shady spots violets still flower. I saw 4 Herons along the Weaver Navigational and a Swan on her nest.

The waterway weaves its way through Winsford which was once a more industrial town and even had boat building yards. Today I spotted what looked like a ‘dirty British coaster with a salt caked smoke stack’ that didn’t look as if it was going anywhere anytime soon.

At one time the banks of the Weaver from here into Northwich would have been busy with Salt extraction. Now only the Salt Union plant continues working

I met Bob in Northwich town centre and we had a fish and chip lunch before setting off on the final section to the Anderton Boat Lift. This feat of engineering is over 125 years old and has been fully restored so that boats can still make the link between the Weaver Navigational and Trent and Mersey canals.

Urged to eat more ice cream we got some at the visitors centre and ate it while we watched the lift working. 

At the beginning of this walk I couldn’t have imagined how many days I would spend walking along waterways. But the waterways network of England has so far proved very useful for this, and I hope it will continue to do so for a while yet. These green corridors built in the days before motor transport came to dominate our society have been reinvented as havens for wildlife and people.

From Psalm 65
The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.
You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly

In the morning we remembered you with praise. As evening fades we ask that you grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 20.05.2019
Day 45 of the End to End, along the Weaver Way to the Anderton Boat Lift.

Day 44 and I’m getting a bit attached to this canal. It is now my third day on The Shroppie (Bob coined the phrase not me).
We got to Nantwich marina in time for second breakfast. I joined the canal just at the point where the milepost says it is zero miles to Nantwich. However the canal goes on and after a lot of discussion we had decided to stick with it rather than go on a route march across country (which might have been a mile and a half shorter) because you can’t get lost on a canal towpath.
At the junction with the Llangollen canal (or more correctly the Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal) there was a bit of a backlog of boats waiting to go up the locks due to a water shortage at the bottom.

Bridge 100 was my last on the main branch as I turned right up the Middlewich branch at Barbridge junction. At the lock by the Venetian marina I met Bob who’d just come from the cafe. So we went back and had an ice cream.
I then carried on while Bob moved the car round to the end point for today and started walking back. The sun came out and the warm afternoon encouraged many Butterflies and insects to appear.

Boats passed me or I passed them. There seems to be a bit of a utopian culture operating on these waterways. The names of the boats reflect the aspirations folks have for a calmer, quieter life. Names like Dreamcatcher and Dunslavin or Moor to life. You don’t tend to see boats named Hell Hole or I want my job back or Too slow for comfort.
Some boats provide a thought to ponder: ‘Not all souls that wander are lost’, for example.

Just as the energy of the walking team was flagging a canalside notice announced the availability of more ice cream. It was a short walk through a lovely garden to a small shop in a farm yard. Having got our daily Snugburys we were encouraged to sit in the garden and eat them. Bliss.
Before long the West Coast Main Line came in sight, and it was a not too lengthy path from bridge 23 on the canal to the car on the road into Winsford.

From Psalm 145

God is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and generous in love.

We wonder how slow is slow?

We who speed along (after all twenty minutes a mile is faster than I used to go);
Who can’t even wait for ice cream to melt,
Or see the grass growing,
Who yearn for the slow lane,
As long as it’s not that slow,
We wonder at you God,
Your slow emotions, your limitless love.
As one step gives way to the next,
Keep me in step with you,
Generous Companion.

For tonight, God grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 19.05.2019
Day 44 of the End to End, Nantwich Marina to near Mole House Farm.

Day 43 of the End to End was highly sociable. It was the second day on The Shroppie (the nick name for the Shropshire Union Canal) and also involved Bob moving Bambo to another campsite, so I was walking on my own for the day, or so I thought.
The whole day had been sponsored by the Everingham family from Leeds, and they were certainly with me in Spirit, with encouraging texts. So was Gwen in Sheffield, who has broken her arm but still manages to send texts.
It was a grey morning at bridge 69 at Adderley. Immediately after the bridge were the first locks of the day, not too surprisingly named the Adderley Locks. I made good single minded progress for a couple of miles. The tree lined banks of the canal made a glorious canopy. Then my first distraction was a little ice cream ‘honesty’ fridge by the canal side. It was very well stocked with local ice cream in various flavours and it seemed churlish not to sample some. So I selected Raspberry sorbet and left my money and took my little tub to a picnic table at the next lock to consume it in the calm and quiet surroundings.

I carried on to Audlem described as ‘an award winning Cheshire village’. It was a hub of activity as a local wedding was causing a ding dong and had managed to block the High Street. I got a sandwich in the Co op. Before getting back on the canal path I was distracted by the Audlem Mill craft shop, the most frustrating aspect of which was the self imposed restrictions on what I could carry with me.

I thought I’d best press on but no sooner had lock 15 come into view than there was another distraction. Audlem has 15 locks, each one making an important contribution to bridging the height between the Shropshire plain and the Cheshire plain. There was a water bus stop at lock 15. Another walker explained it to me: it’s a local voluntary community water bus which runs from the Marina. The staff are all volunteers (he was one but on a day off) and it raises money for the RNLI. It was due in the next couple of minutes.
It seemed only right to give it a try, and so I hopped aboard and we chugged slowly down to the Marina. On the way I heard all about it and how more volunteer crew members were sought (blog readers take note).

At the Marina I was dropped off at the community cafe where I sample the Mango sorbet ice cream before taking the path to rejoin the canal at bridge 80 (Bob later worked out that I’d only missed 0.3 miles and so with calculated errors being what they are we agreed to disregard that).
Concerned I was falling a bit behind my schedule I pressed on. A canal boat caught me up and we had a boat to shore conversation for a while

Me: How fast are you going?
Boat: About as fast as you.

Me: Yes, but how fast is that?
Boat: I don’t know. I don’t have any way of telling.

Me: I thought perhaps there was a speed limit.
Boat: There is. It’s 4 miles an hour but I never go as fast as that.
Then another walker caught me up and we talked for a while as we walked. When we got to his moored canal boat we parted company near Holt Green Lock. It was his first boat trip without his wife who died a year ago this week. He thought he’d find the locks difficult but folks continually offered to help.
I was almost on the final mile or so, just around Nantwich. I admired Telford’s aqueduct and walked under the bridge to the yard of the Nantwich Marina where I’d left the car. It had been a very good walk. Not far along the road to the campsite a giant rabbit in a field announced the Snugglberry ice cream farm. It would have been churlish not to stop for my third ice cream of the day.

For the unexpected encounters:
The refreshment providers,
The craft shop proprietors,
The community volunteers,
The bell ringers and cafe servers,
For the lost, the bereaved and the lonely,
For families on days out,
And for all who offer support and encouragement,

We give thanks.
For today, God grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 18.05.2019
Day 43 of the End to End, Apperley Locks to Nantwich marina on The Shroppie.