Lancaster Canal near Galgate

 Seems a while since I have posted as we have been staying locally to avoid spreading or getting Covid 19. We had intended to stay in Lancaster and visit Emily and also meet with my family nearby but as the virus spread with the Delta variant, the family wasn't allowed to meet and we decided to cancel the Lancaster booking and find somewhere closer to Emily's boat and also in the country so as to avoid crowds. In fact the change worked out very well as we had two weeks at a cottage on a dairy farm which was only 10 minutes walk to Galgate and the canal and only a further 15 minutes walk along the tow path to the boat.

Sellerley farm where we stayed between Galgate and Glasson.

Galgate is a small village outside Lancaster city consisting of mainly residential housing with a chippy (closed), a small store and a good pub "The Plough". The store and pub served us well. The pub had a large area outside for eating and the weather was mostly dry so we had a few enjoyable lunches there. The cottage itself was adequate and has lots of space outside and of course it is well situated close to Lancaster and Morecambe. There is a footpath to the canal and another just down the road to Glasson that goes to the Glasson Arm of the canal. If you don't like farm odours of the dairy type, then this won't be the place for you but as we were brought up in the country, it wasn't a problem and we enjoyed the rural location.

This was our first time away from home for ages, it was to be a mixture of jobs for Emily at the boat  and some recreation time to enjoy the countryside. Most of our time was spent on the canal between Galgate and Potters Brook to the south towards Preston. This is a scenic part of the canal with the mariner at Galgate near the skew bridge passing the offshoot of the branch of the canal to the Lune estuary at Glasson (incidentally where Emily and I finished the Morecambe Bay cycle ride mentioned in an earlier post), and then through fields and woods to Potters Brook. Most of the time the boat was moored between Galgate and Potters Brook.

The private mariner at Galgate with the tow path on the right of the photo. 

We got to know the walk very well as we had come prepared with a trolley to move heavy items to or from the boat to our car as moving loads is difficult by cycle and trailer. There has been a shortage of  Calor gas cylinders in England recently, so our first job was to locate some of the larger 13 kg cylinders.  We were lucky to find a couple of places each with one cylinder, one in Morecambe and the other further north in Carnforth. After this, the boat needed new leisure batteries so we found a good source on the internet and got four delivered to our cottage over the next few days ready for installing. Emily and I also discovered that the solar panel wasn't working because of a bad connection and also that the solar panel controller wasn't working either so we soon fixed that and got the electrics into a good state. At the same time Helen and Emily were designing and making some window cushions to help insulate the windows in the colder winter weather and also to eventually make new curtains from recycled material. We had got some recycled material for the covers from a "Restore" shop in Dartington and also from various places, some old pillows with wadding for the insulation. We also took a short trip to Garstang about 8 km to the south on the canal where we found some material off-cuts for some of the curtains. We also visited the boat yards in Garstang and Glasson to get other supplies that will be needed in the future.

An old Ferguson 20 tractor on show at the farm with pictures of it being used in the winter in the 1960s to collect mangels for cattle fodder. This is something we used to do on the farm when I was a child so it all looked familiar.

The view down the Glasson Arm of the canal. This makes a pleasant walk to Glasson.

This a the bridge along side the main canal with the first lock in view that starts the Glasson Arm of the canal.

On our walks by the canal we saw some unfamiliar flowers and also lots of Chiffchaff with their distinctive call but never actually seen as the border hedge was thick and wide. Also a few swans with cygnets either on the canal or the canal bank.

Giant Bellflower near Galgate

On route down the canal; ideal conditions in the sunshine without wind!

Typical part of the tow path in the rural areas.

When we visited, the canal boats were active but not as much as we expected.  I think the majority were hired boats with people enjoying the tranquility of the farmland and villages or town on route. We certainly enjoyed the scenery and seeing Emily after a long time. Also, most of our visits have been in autumn and winter at locations further north on the canal, so this made a pleasant change to see more southern reaches of the canal and in the summer time.

Near Potters Brook in the morning sunshine