NB AREandARE: Getting to the train on time

Another early start as Kim and Joe leave us today and have a train booked from Burnley. We had three locks to negotiate until we were at ‘Top Lock’ - it’s all downhill from now on!

Rolling rural countryside. Very similar to parts of New Zealand

No shortage of green grass for sheep & cows

The top of the canal - the outlet tunnels feed the canal water from reservoirs close by

Just after 11am we arrived at Foulridge Tunnel, 1640 yards long, and controlled by traffic lights. A boat was coming through as we approached, but once it had emerged the lights still didn’t turn green. We had to wait another ten minutes or so as apparently the lights just change automatically on the hour from the north and half hour from south, which is frustrating when you know the tunnel is empty!

Kim & Sandra peeking out in the tunnel

A strange photo creation by shooting up one of the ceiling vents as we passed under

Barry's map of his journey home from the pub .... or ... maybe a 20 second exposure of the end of the tunnel and the following boat's headlight while Barry twists and turns the camera

The angry tunnel monster spewed green slime after us as we left his home!!

Dr Who must have thought he was in a time warp when he landed here

We had the most dreadful weather conditions with pouring rain and driving wind, Joe and I did the locks together and got completely drenched. But we made really good time as we didn’t get held up waiting for other boats to go through and between the two of us we had a streamlined set-up.

Three boat pile-up
Probably happened speeding in fog!

It was a toss up whether Kim and Joe should get off at Colne and catch a train there to Burnley, but we took a gamble on getting to the train on time!

As we approached Burnley the canal became littered with debris of all shapes and sizes, it was even worse than that encountered on the approach to Coventry. Quite disgusting really, obviously the people here aren’t so proud of their canal which is very sad.

Must be getting closer to Burnley

We reached bridge 31, which is a short distance from the railway station, in the nick of time! In fact they had a half hour wait, but it could have been very different had we met a delay on our way. I had a visitor on the boat who came just as Kim and Joe were leaving with Barry, a six year old boy who was out walking and playing alone by the canal. He came on board and had a look around, as he said he’d never been on a boat before. Boy he could chatter bless him! Such a cute accent, a jolly little fella who was still there when Barry returned from the station 40 minutes later!

Little Jordan, quite a character

We had a fabulous six days with Kim and Joe, and it was very sad to say goodbye to them. We've learnt another valuable lesson though – assume that you’ll travel a much shorter distance than you think so that you allow for things like restricted lock opening times! Then we’d have been able to chill more and look at more places along the way with them. It’s a challenge to predict into the future on a narrowboat; so when people come to visit and have to plan their journeys we need to give them a starting and finishing point. I wonder if anyone has any ideas about doing it better??

Time to go

Two derelict pubs opposite the Burnley Central Railway Station

Sandra took Jordan back to where we found him after his little boat ride

Obviously nothing much on TV

We continued through Burnley, along the three quarter mile embankment that was basically built between two hills and literally cuts the town in half. The sun had decided to come out at this stage so the light was just perfect for Barry to get some wonderful shots of the sky-line.

The view towards Burnley from the aquaduct on the embankment

A series of shots from the top of the boat as we cruised along the embankment

How many chimneys ???

Some of the houses have been painted which has brightened the streets up a bit

Rows of terraces, with newer housing in the background

More typical northern terraced housing - the houses were originally built for the Mill workers

St Stephen's Church with Boulsworth Hill behind with a summit of 1696ft above sea level

Same church with Dales at rear

There's so much land - why cram so many people into such small housing areas?

The 'modern' development looks a bit greener

Lambert Howarth Mill - there's no shortage of disused factories and mills around here

Must say it's refreshing that we've seen more kids out and about recently

Burnley Town Hall

Last little puff of green

Although there was a place to moor in Burnley, there weren’t any other boats there and to be honest, nothing against anyone who may live there, we just didn’t feel terribly safe. So we continued on for a few miles and stayed at Hapton, with an impressive view of the hills in the distance, and watched a colourful sunset before retiring early – well I did; Barry stayed up doing the photos for Thursday’s blog!!