couple of hours on the northeren reaches of the lancaster canal

[johnr]

many many moons ago, the M6 motorway was being built, and it was decided that the lancaster canal was pretty much obselete north of carnforth. so, when they crossed the canal with the motorway, they didnt bridge it, they just blocked it off and left 2 small culverts underneath to allow the water levels to equalise. they also removed all the lock gates at the tewitfield ladder and made the locks a series of wiers. the entire northern end is now just used as a reservoir to collect water fot the main lengths of the canal. hence its waterlevel was reduced by probably 2 to 3 feet, and , although it still holds water, its not navigable to boats as, its mostly between 18 inches and 3 feet deep at most, over its entire length. making it ideal for canoes!!! i took my eldest daughter, becky to have a look and spend a couple of pleasant hours paddling along a shortish section, probably no more than 3 miles in length.



its a lovely area, right on the edge of the lakes district, with some great views from the banks. however, due to the lowered water levels, the view from the canal is mostly canal bank!

you can see how low the water level is from the height of the towpath under the bridges,



but becky seemed to enjoy the trip, not a single complaint about the cold weather all day!!





some of the houses that back onto the canal dont take such good care of their boats as i do with my canoe!!



there are a couple of short sections where the canal has been lined with concrete sections possibly due to breaches or other local problems,



also there are several of the bridges in pretty poor repair, like this one. im thinking that if the proposed plan to reinstate this end of the canal for leisure uses ever gets started, there are going to be some serious costs involved simply repairing the bridges! i wonder if the lowered water level is responsible for the settlement and cracking of several of the bridges in a similar way to this one?



this is as far as we went on the day, the 2 culverts being the only way through to the next section, next time we will park up here and do the more northerly bits, hopefully we will soon have paddled all the lancaster canal!!



anyway, it was going dark, so a quick turnround and we headed back, paddling the last half mile or so in almost complete dark. great fun!! the water in this stretch is absolutely crystal clear as it doesnt have to put up with any movement of boats, but, as i said its quite shallow, so, take a plastic bladed paddle with you, as it will spend some time scraping the bottom !!

not terribly exciting, but another bit of the lancaster ticked off my list!

[kharga]

Looks a nice day out!

[John]

Fine Blogg!!

[LAS247]

Looks like a good little trip, and as long as the young ones enjoy these trips it akes it all worth while. I would love to have a house backing onto a canal or other water, just right for an impromtu paddle.

[johnr]

it was very pleasant. we stopped by the culverts and got the kelly kettle on, made a brew and pased some time together. my daughter turned 18 only just over a week ago, and im quite touched that she wanted to spend her time messing in a canoe with her old man rather than playing computer games or watching the telly!! in fact whenever i mention the canoe, she wants to come with me, so i should use that as all the excuse i need i think!!

[Rockhopper]

Cracking blog - looks like a very interesting trip with lots of features en route. How fast did you paddle under that structurally compromised bridge??!!!

[KeithD]

I love to see details of these disused canals. I remember when the Kennet and Avon and Basingstoke Canal restorations looked as if they would never end and yet it now seems unimaginable that they was derelict for so long. Bit by bit these disused canals can be brought back to life.

there are several of the bridges in pretty poor repair, like this one. im thinking that if the proposed plan to reinstate this end of the canal for leisure uses ever gets started, there are going to be some serious costs involved simply repairing the bridges!

Presumably the bridges will need to be repaired whether there is 2 feet of water or 5 under them! It's what goes over them that matters not what goes under them. I think there is enough momentum for restoration to prevent more culverting as a short term fix.

Thanks for an interesting blog.

[johnr]

Cracking blog - looks like a very interesting trip with lots of features en route. How fast did you paddle under that structurally compromised bridge??!!!

pretty quick!! the disturbing thing is, there were many bridges in the same state as that one, and all of them still carry traffic over the canal. !!

[johnr]

I love to see details of these disused canals. I remember when the Kennet and Avon and Basingstoke Canal restorations looked as if they would never end and yet it now seems unimaginable that they was derelict for so long. Bit by bit these disused canals can be brought back to life.

Presumably the bridges will need to be repaired whether there is 2 feet of water or 5 under them! It's what goes over them that matters not what goes under them. I think there is enough momentum for restoration to prevent more culverting as a short term fix.

Thanks for an interesting blog.

i think the real problem is going to be the M6 motorway. it crosses the canal in 3 places and all of them have been culverted, so thats 3 new large scale motorway bridges, plus a large flight of locks, i forget how many but at tewitfield there are certainly more than half a dozen locks in a single straight ladder, add into this the many smaller bridges that have been culverted over the water, the rerpair of the existing bridges and for good measure, the budget problems of BW and i cant see this getting off the ground without several millions of lottery cash. it would mean however that you could go from the south coast of england right into the heart of the lake district without stepping on dry land except to open lock gates!!

[aslan]

Thanks for the blogg. One of those stretches that I have kept meaning to do but not got around to. What are the best access points?

[MagiKelly]

I could see me being a bit nervous paddling under those bridges

Nice looking section of canal. From a canoe point of view it might be better if it is not restored.

[KeithD]

There is a restoration plan,. They are realistic enough to know that the £60M needed for complete restoration will not be forthcoming in the near future and have therefore made a more modest start at the Kendal end. (see Lancaster Canal Restoration partnership).

From little acorns giant oaktrees grow!

[Mmarkk]

Thanks for the interesting blogg, nice photos>

Mark

[Hobgoblin]

I could see me being a bit nervous paddling under those bridges

.

Oh thats nothing, this one has been in this state for ages! Btw this is on a non-derelict canal that is frequently used by narrowboaters, including myself.




Great Blog,

I was intrigued buy those heavy duty chains fixed to the sloping concrete bank. I did wonder whether they were to do with industrial history, but given they must be fairly 'modern' I expect they were put in after the level was lowered to allow unfortunate people to climb out. Does anyone know for sure?

[TGB]

Are the upper reaches, as noisy to paddle, as it passes through and around Carnforth?

TGB

[Crocbait]

interesting blogg thanks for sharing

[johnr]

Thanks for the blogg. One of those stretches that I have kept meaning to do but not got around to. What are the best access points?

best access point is right after the tewitfield lock section, come off the M6 at junction 35, go down the sliproad to the roundabout, and turn right(away from carnforth) next big roundabout, follow the brown sign for tewitfield locks. go along this road, back over the canal and past tewitfield locks, till you se a little road on the left thats called cinderbarrow lane, ut it has no sign, its single track and goes uphill. fiollow this for about a half mile, and you cross the m6 again. immediately as you cross the motorway you will see an entrance on the rh side where service vehicles can get back onto the m6 through the (locked) metal gates. theres loads of room to park and the canal is immediately on your right hand side. i used the metal gantry of BW's culvert covers as a handy jetty to get in and out of the canoe.

[johnr]

Are the upper reaches, as noisy to paddle, as it passes through and around Carnforth?

TGB

no, not really, once you leave the bit near the m6, the canal goes round the other side of a hill, so you cant hear the traffic at all, till you get to the other end, but its never obtrusive noise, though theres also the west coast main line on the other side of the canal, so you hear the occasional train!!

[johnr]

Oh thats nothing, this one has been in this state for ages! Btw this is on a non-derelict canal that is frequently used by narrowboaters, including myself.




Great Blog,

I was intrigued buy those heavy duty chains fixed to the sloping concrete bank. I did wonder whether they were to do with industrial history, but given they must be fairly 'modern' I expect they were put in after the level was lowered to allow unfortunate people to climb out. Does anyone know for sure?

im guessing theyre to help you out of the water, as they are only on the towpath side