Simple Pleasures

After living for the last 25 years over 25 miles from the nearest navigable waterway how nice it is to be in Lancaster and have the Lancaster Canal a five-minute walk from the house. I made the most of it at the weekend when I went on what is becoming one of my favourite walks.

I join the canal at this footbridge. The path from my house comes over the hill to the right from the top of which are marvellous views over the city and to Morecambe Bay and the Lake District fells beyond.
The walk then takes me into the city and through what must be very pleasant and convenient visitor moorings right in the city centre.

The cut then swings right and passes along the edge of the central area past some wonderful old warehouses and factories. Lancaster's traditional industry was the production of linoleum, but there were also silk mills, some of which survive.

After a few miles my walk ended at the well-known aqueduct over the River Lune, which over the winter has had a few million quid's worth of Heritage Lottery Fund money thrown at it including replacing some of the damaged or missing stone work and towpath and access improvements. 

There is another aqueduct nearby - the less celebrated one over the Caton Road, which has also had its towpath upgraded.

From here it's a short walk up to the main road and a bus back to the city. A number 49 or, preferably a number 50 as that might be a double-decker -  as indeed it was!