MONDAY. Lancaster canal, Bilborrow.
The 2008 trip thus far: 330 Locks; 612.5 Miles; 64 Swing\Lift Bridges. Bus pass journeys 21
This morning, as I waited for the kettle to whistle I looked out of the window at the herd of heifers
in the opposite field. They had started to move quickly towards the edge of the canal; yes, one of the older calves was swimming towards them from our side. Myra did not need to tell me to leave it to its own devices; I could see that the edge was not piled and should prove no problem for climbing out. This proved to be the case; the calf regained the dry ground and was immediately mobbed by the herd that moved off with the ex swimmer in the centre.
The canal was very shallow, but the countryside was opening up nicely, with distant views of the hills. It would have been perfect had it not been for the pylons and the cables. At every road or canal crossing, scaffolding and netting had been erected owing to the renewal of some of the cables, with lots of interesting looking plant machinery, winches and drums all around.
We stopped at Bilborrow to fill with water, waiting in a queue for two boats before us to do the same. We had met the crew of the first boat twice this year; the first time at Selby, then at Gargrave. We chatted and compared journeys since we had last met. The second boat was a new one on a good looking shell from Barry Hawkins. They will be moving it to Church Minshull next year, for ease of access to the main system.
We wandered around Bilborrow which is a ribbon village on the A6, which was the trunk route into Scotland before the motorway was constructed. There is a beautifully maintained war memorial, and lovely solid family homes along the road. The church of St. Hilda is an early 20th century building constructed of stone under a slate roof. The interior has some intricate decorative carving and Oregon pine pews of a nice colour. The peal of eight bells was hung in memory of those of the village who fell in the Second World War, a pleasing thought.
The church grounds were probably the best maintained that we had seen; flower borders, the grass kept short throughout the churchyard and around all of the gravestones. A leaflet in the church informs us that a team of parishioners keep the grounds looking neat; they certainly do and we appreciated the results of their effort.
Weather – Overcast, showers most of the day.
