Lancaster Canal Day 4, Across Preston, Lancashire Way Southern Loop, and Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
Distance today: 33.7 miles.
Total distance: 710.9 miles.
Accommodation: campsite.
After failing to make the most of the free breakfast (my belly still being full of curry), my first task was to finish walking the Lancaster Canal path. I only had about another mile to do and once again I was disappointed that a relatively well-known trail (I had walked) ended in a whimper. No plaque, no fanfare, no anything.
The next task was finding my way across town. When planning the trip I had split the journey into 26 sections. At 1 mile in length, Across Preston was my second shortest section. I knew it was only there to join 2 established trails but it still counted. It felt like the equivalent of making a list and including something you had already completed just so you could tick it off. After Across Preston came the slightly longer Lancashire Way Southern Loop. This was an LDWA trail and to be honest, I ended up walking a loose interpretation of it. It was easy to miss a turning – or in my case, a bridge – but as it was weaving its way through towns, it didn’t really matter that much because there was generally another path which would also get you to where you needed to go.
3 sections down, 1 to go. Time for another tow path. Once I reached Wheelton, I then had the simple task of following the Leeds & Liverpool Canal for the next 20 or so miles. Being day 4 of my canal plod I think I just zoned out. Apart from the occasional bird and the occasional change in backdrop – including a fair chunk of industrial landscape near Wigan – there was little else to report. My main concern became where was I going to sleep. As ever, there weren’t many campsites around. I’m sure hardcore hikers would wild camp anywhere but I still wasn’t comfortable doing it too close to civilization. And I wasn’t going to splash out on another hotel. In the end I chose to aim for the Laylands Farm campsite which was where the other Adam had stayed. Doing some rough calculations, I knew I would be arriving late and so when I rang to book, I asked them if they’d be okay with that. Ian, the guy who ran the place, pretty much said get here when you get here which took the pressure off.
When I reached Pennington Marina, that was theoretically the end of my walk along the Leeds & Liverpool canal. There were a couple of different ways I could get to the campsite from there so I rang Ian to get his recommendation. He reckoned I should continue along the canal until I got to Atherleigh Way. In hindsight, I don’t think it was the shortest route but it was possibly the most straightforward. In my head, the campsite was just a little way from the canal. The reality was it was 4 miles from the marina. After finding a token shortcut through some fields, I finally made it to the campsite around 9pm. God, I was knackered. Ian was there to meet me and as he showed me around the facilities, we chatted about my trip and my walk today.
Do you need anything else? he asked.
I don’t suppose I can buy a beer off you can I?
No. But I can give you a beer.
I followed him to his kitchen and when he opened the fridge it was absolutely full of beer which had apparently been given to him by appreciative customers. He pulled out 2 large bottles of San Miguel and said Are these okay? They certainly were. I asked him how much I owed him for the pitch and his response was Nothing. End of conversation. I was really, really touched. It was such a lovely gesture after a particularly long day.
As nondescript as the day might have been, it quietly takes the title of the furthest distance I have ever walked in one day.
