Saturday 11 January 2014

Leeds & Liverpool Canal walk, 11 January 2014, Chorley to Wigan




The forecast for our canal walk had been for a bright and sunny day, so I was

decidedly miffed to throw open the curtains on Saturday morning to discover

that it was pouring with rain. By the time I was due to leave for the station, it

had eased off but was still wet and murky.




I met up with the ‘gang’, Linda, Tracy and Sue in Manchester and we proceeded

by train to Chorley, where, lo and behold, the rain had cleared to give a bright

and sunny morning. We made our way through the environs of Chorley to the

canal and enjoyed a leisurely walk towards Wigan.

After all the rain recently, the towpath was rather muddy in places but not

excessively so.

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 The canal runs through pleasant countryside with good views

over the hills towards the Horwich and Bolton direction.

One problem we did encounter was a distinct lack of pubs along the way.

We passed various boarded up and closed down establishments (truly a sign

of the times).



 Enquiring with various locals only elicited much head shaking

and convoluted directions to distant hostelleries; we decided to press on and

were rewarded with a most welcome stop at a well appointed pub at the top

of the locks at Wigan.




From here it was a comfortable walk down the flight of locks (past yet more

boarded up pubs) to Wigan, just in time to catch the train back to Manchester; All this with no running or sprinting to make train connections !

An enjoyable day out after all; and thanks to Linda for various (very) sweet treats and

Sue for yummy Xmas cake (plenty more for future walks, so do come along and

try some).

John H