Through Burnley

Denise driving on the way to Burnley

Today we have moved 12 miles further up the Leeds & Liverpool canal to the east side of Burnley.

The journey was enjoyable alternately passing through interesting though often run-down mill villages and very attractive Pennine countryside with views across to Pendle Hill. The sun shone, and the absence of wind added to the pleasure. We met 3 swing bridges, of which we will see a lot more when we get onto Yorkshire. These are boater operated and so each requires the boat to be stopped and a crew member despatched to open the bridge and to close it again after the boat has passed through. The boat must then stop again to pick up the crew member. All-in-all they present nearly as much of an interruption to the journey as do locks.

We moored for lunch in Burnley fearing it would be similar to Blackburn. We were very pleasantly surprised as the city appears to have done much to improve itself after the collapse of the mills, which were of course its main source of employment. The town centre is bright, clean and bustling with a good indoor market where we bought some local delicacies of pressed lamb and Lancashire cheese. Like Manchester, there are plenty of the solid Victorian buildings which have been tastefully renovated.