Onto the summit and into Lancashire

After spending Christmas in Skipton I moved on to Gargrave with my friends Mac & Helen Cook as trainee crew.  It turned out to be a difficult trip due to gale force winds which made extremely hard work of navigating the swing bridges an really wasn't much fun. Thankfully the wind eased overnight  and I headed up the canal to Bank Newton which is possibly one of the prettiest stretches of the canal system - particularly as the weather was bright. A keen frost overnight left its white tint the following morning but thankfully the canal wasn't frozen.

Yesterday I continued through the beautiful dales and over the border into Lancashire and moored up above Barrowford locks.  Overnight the temperature fell to -3 and this morning the canal was frozen solid.  While the  boat is capable of breaking through the ice it's not something I enjoy so I chose to stay put and have a days walking.  

As a result I must revise my opinion of Lancashire which I've previously regarded as OK provided you don't stray off the M62.  The area around the canal below Pendle hill is lovely.  I thin Richard III made a mistake and should have kept this bit.  Below is the canal curving around one of the feeder reservoirs which supply water to the canal. 

My mooring above the locks with fantastic views across the valley.

I had a walk to the Pendle Heritage centre and then into Barrowford which is a charming little town with a superb old packhorse bridge.  It looks like another chilly night tonight so I expect I'll be doing more local exploring tomorrow.