August Ramble – The Three Waters
The plan for this month’s walk was another attempt at Parlick, but as the fields surrounding the fell would probably have been saturated from the endless rain, we decided on “Plan B”, The Three Waters. The Three waters of the title are the rivers Brock and Calder and a stretch of the Lancaster Canal.
Starting at a lay-by close to a bridge where the Inglewhite – Garstang road crosses the Brock, we started walking along the riverside path, eastward. The owner of a large house here has landscaped the bank, making it very attractive. Eventually, we arrived at Walmsley Bridge and left the river. We next followed a pleasant narrow lane before entering fields, the long grass making walking hard work and exiting via a farm onto another stretch of road. The weather today was wonderful, warm, dry and sunny and as we continued along the lane, we passed Claughton School, little changed from its Victorian origins and a little further on we met what at first appeared to be a Canadian Black Bear on the loose, but turned out to be a Newfoundland Hound. The owner told us that he had two more in his van!
Our route now took us through more fields, following the River Calder, until we reached the railway, followed by a short bit of road to a canal bridge and then down to the canal towpath. Shortly, we arrived at a bridge with a seat and our lunch stop, soon to be joined by a family of ducks.
The next part of our walk consisted of a long, pleasant stretch of canal until it passed under the A6, where we climbed steps up to the road and started heading south. Across the road was the new Barton Grange Garden Centre. We resisted a tempting coffee stop here and walked down to the Land Rover dealership, spending a little time admiring the latest models and then starting along the path by the River Brock again. This path now has to cross the West Coast Main Line. The pedestrian crossing is now controlled by lights, but care is needed, as the Virgin trains travel at well over one hundred mph on this stretch.
The final part of the walk was along the Brock and back to the road. We stopped at the bridge and watched the fast flowing river, in full flood cascading over a weir and as this river drains the fells to the East, perhaps we made the right decision to change the walk.
This seven mile walk is an old favourite and is noted for good, easy paths and is an ideal one to fall back on when conditions are generally poor.
Linda & Eddie Grange