Lancaster Canal by Bike | North to south | Inc Glasson Branch
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- For this trip I headed to Oxenholme to cycle the Lancaster canal from near Stainton down to Preston, also taking in the Glasson Branch and a wild camp along the way.
No rushing about, just a gentle ride along this beautiful canal taking in all its glory.
Lancaster Canal the history
Promoted by wealthy local merchants in the late 18th century, the Lancaster Canal was originally envisaged as a line from the Bridgewater Canal at Worsley through to Kendal. The plans were torn up and redrawn several times, and the final incarnation as seen today bears little resemblance to the original proposals.
Cargo - the Black and White Canal
The canal's principal purpose was to transport coal north from the Lancashire Coalfields, and limestone south from Cumbria. The nature of these cargoes gave the waterway its local nickname - the Black and White Canal. The Glasson branch (1820) allowed cargo transfer from sea going vessels that could not navigate the increasingly shallow Lune Estuary into Lancaster.
The canal was built in two sections, north and south of the River Ribble. John Rennie designed major two aqueducts, one over the Lune at Lancaster, and one over the Ribble at Preston. Due to problems with the foundations of the Lune Aqueduct, the company ran out of sufficient money to build the Ribble aqueduct to connect the two sections. Instead, a tramway was built from Walton Summit to Preston. This worked adequately, and so the two sections were never connected.
Subsequently, in 1816 a branch was opened from the southern section to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Johnsons Hillock. The section south of Preston became part of the much-delayed Leeds & Liverpool, who leased it in 1863: and the tramway from Walton Summit to Preston eventually closed in the 1880s.
North of Preston, though, the waterway was fairly successful. Because of the lack of locks, the daily Packet Boat passenger service really was 'express' - Kendal could be reached from Preston in an unheard of 10 hours. In fact the service was so comfortable that passengers on the daily runs between Preston and Kendal remained loyal to the waterway for several years after the arrival of the trains.
Roads posed a more serious threat and after a general decline (the last cargo sailing in 1947) the construction of the M6 motorway through the line of the canal finally saw the 14 miles of the Northern Reaches isolated at Tewitfield Locks. The isolated, largely unnavigable section to the north is home to the only tunnel on the Lancaster Canal at Hincaster.
Boating to and from the Lancaster Canal
However, the modern age has benefited the Lancaster Canal in one way: the new Millennium Ribble Link. Opened in 2002 as the first new canal for 97 years, this connects the Lancaster to the national network via the River Ribble, the River Douglas and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal's Rufford Branch.
Help me fuel my next rides and trips by following the ko-fi link below or in my channel description.
ko-fi.com/solo...
Chapters
00:00:22 - Oxenholme
00:00:42 - intro
00:01:42 - Canal Starts
00:07:32 - Tewitfield Marina
00:08:44 - Carnforth
00:10:19 - Lune Aquaduct
00:10:38 - Lancaster
00:12:15 - Galgate
00:13:27 - Glasson Basin
00:14:32 - Garstang
00:15:20 - Camp
00:18:30 - Good Morning
00:19:55 - Puncture #2
00:21:00 - Brock Marina
00:23:15 - Ribble Link
00:23:14 - Canal end
Music used from the TH-cam audio library
Please consider subscribing to my channel
/ @davesolobiker5601
#lancastercanal #biketouring #bikecamping
Great video 👍🏿👍🏿
Thank you atb Dave ⛺️🚲👍
I did this last year, stunning canal, although the terminus at Preston was a bit of an anti climax.
After over 2000 miles of towpaths, Schwalbe Marathon Plus are the only tyres for me, you still get punctures, but far fewer than any other tyre.
Thanks since that trip , I now use sealant in my tubes and so far all good, yeah the end at Preston is non event lol atb Dave 🚲👍
That is some bicycle set up Sir, I enjoyed this upload. A proper mini adventure.
Thank you atb Dave 🚲👍🏻
Just found you and bing watched four of your videos back to back on the tv. The shots where the drone follows you are outstanding. Great content and I especially like the camping side of it and titles of where you are visiting.
Great stuff , more content to come as the better weather kicks in . Tfw atb Dave 🚲⛺️👍
Thoroughly enjoyed this. I know much of this route as live in Lancaster. Done a good few rides out on parts of your route. Thanks for the video.
Thanks , I really enjoyed the trip cycling through all the towns and villages along the route .lucky to have in your doorstep 👍
Great video, you've cut/edited it very nicely. A route I definitely will be taking in the future thanks to you.
Glad it was helpful, thanks for watching atb Dave 🚲⛺️👍
Great video mate cracking trip!! Thanks for sharing 👍
Glad you enjoyed it atb Dave 🚲⛺️👍
The train holds four bikes easily, once their owners have removed all the bags from them! 😉
Yes but they are designed around drop bar bikes and not wider flat type bars , panniers have gone these days I prefer a rucksack which I attach to my rack 👍
Great stuff Dave, good to see what the Lancaster is like, looked tough in places, good effort, especially with the puncture fairy visiting🧚👀😩, camp looked spot on, invisible from 10ft I bet👌🏻⛺️👍🏻, catch you soon mate 🙂👍🏻
Cheers Ian , from tewitfield it’s a steady uphill towards Kendal 😂 as we will be tackling south to north . Inevitable to pick up puncture as some stage .
The top boat is the Waterwitch run by the Lancaster Canal Trust.
Thanks 👍
Hi Dave, just a few words, fantastic, brilliant, entertaining. I'll maybe try the route one day but I don't think I'm brave enough to sleep in the woods 😮
Thanks for the kind words, the woods weren’t too bad just the noise of the M6 and the railway 😂
🚲👍👍👍👍🎥
Thank you ⛺️🚲👍
I have walked the whole of the canal in both directions and I always wondered (worried) what would happen if I met a cyclist coming the other way at the blind corners of the many bridges. I am pretty sure it would be me stepping towards the underside of the bridge and not towards the edge of the towpath.
I thought about walking it too , but opted for the bike option. My bell is in constant use and always respectful to other canal path users, but sometimes I come across people with headphones on and they don’t hear me . So I just pass slowly , but yeah always safer to stay on the hedge side . Atb Dave
Great video Dave loved it, thinking of cycling this canal from Preston to Lancaster centre have you any idea pal how far it is pal cheers Dave
Thanks mate , it’s roughly 34 miles obviously it’s not in a straight line ! hence the distance. roughly 3-5 hours at canal pace atb Dave 🚲👍
@@davesolobiker5601 Cheers Dave.
Thanks for sharing your videos and advice - very helpful for anyone thinking of taking on similar trips in unfamiliar territory. Are you happy to share your camera set up: what you use and how you use it? If so, thanks. Keep on riding.
Glad it was helpful, when I was researching there was very little video wise or of any decent quality . So I made one lol . I use 2 GoPros one hand held for talking shots etc and one attached to the bike for the pov shots.
I find these work well for me , easy to operate , lightweight and waterproof .
with the odd iPhone shot into the mix . tfw atb Dave 🚲👍
Lovely video, were there any really muddy parts of the tow path?
I was quite lucky overall but hard to remember if any muddy parts, as it’s over a year since I did that ride. Atb Dave
Thanks for posting this Dave, as this is a route I've fancied doing but is a bit far from home.. The scenery looks more interesting than the South Yorkshire canals. What a pity it no longer runs all the way to Kendal as our architectural heritage gets destroyed by the road builders.
Thanks for watching , it was an interesting route and yeah a pity it doesn’t run to Kendal .. although plans are to revive it which will probably problematic. I believe they did try and get bridges over the canal where it met roads but was very costly . Atb Dave
You can get to Kendal along "the towpath", but the canal is missing.
Who the hell put the m6 through the route of the canal😂 could of done without the 2 bloody punctures😏some nice sights & sounds made up for it dave 👌🚴👍
Bloody road builders have no sense of heritage and the cost was just too much …. Inevitable riding along hawthorn hedgerows Geordie the they would bite 😂😂😂 still it was a good little trip 🚲⛺️👍
Hello mate, do touch have a gpx file of this ride?