Wet and windy as we head north

We took a day off cruising yesterday. The weather was not good, our mooring with fine views turned out to be very exposed to a south-westerly driving blustery showers in from the sea, so we chose to stay put.

Just as well, a cyclist pulled up outside a little before mid-day, I opened up the cratch cover to see if he needed help and it turned out to be Graham who runs a garage in Ingleton. He’s a regular blog reader, and, being at a loose end, drove to Garstang then got on his bike to come and find us. Good to see you again, Graham!

Graham the mechanic. The man to see if you’ve a car problem in Ingleton….

Last night’s sunset suggested a better morning, (red sky at night….?), but failed to fulfil it’s promise, it was still wet and windy when we woke up.

Sunday sunset.

But we decided to pull pins anyway, after all we’ve only got a month on this waterway, and at 5 miles a day that’s 16 days cruising….

A family picnic unaffected by the weather.

The canal runs through the coastal plain, with the sea to the west and the southern Pennines to the east. It’s very fertile, irrigated by countless streams running down from the hills, and is ideal for grazing.

Most farms seem to be dairy based, so mooring downwind of one can be an aromatic experience….

Large dairy farm.

There are moorings and water approaching Ratcliffe Bridge, even some “tin slugs” tied up here!

Approaching Ratcliffe Bridge

One widebeam is called Life of Brian…..

Lyrical.

I was humming the tune all afternoon after seeing this...

Also moored was this unusual boat.

Cara-Craft

I’ve found info on t’interweb for Caraboat and CaraCruiser, but not this one.

It does look like one of those vessels that do double duty as a boat and a caravan.

We pushed on with breaks in the cloud giving us the occasional glimmer of sunshine, but they were short-lived until later.

Just a bit of blue. Almost enough to make a sailor a pair of trousers?

We passed the end of the Glasson Branch, 2¾ miles and 6 locks down to the basin at Glasson Dock and access to the sea.

Glasson Branch, water road to the sea.

There are good 7 day moorings just past the junction, and we called it a day here. Meg and I had a walk down to Lock 4 on the branch, we’ll go down by boat on the way back. The water is crystal clear, which unfortunately encourages weed growth, but it’s very peaceful and the locks look in good condition. I don’t think many boats go down here.

The grass is so lush it even grows on the top of WWII pill boxes!

Tomorrow we head into Lancaster, swapping fields for urbanisation. We might catch up with NB Liberty Bell there.

Locks 0, miles 6½