Stretch

Around forty miles west (in meandering canal miles) of my usual stretch of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal I found myself wandering the towpaths of Burnley in the rain, at least the bit between the Wharf at Manchester Road and the Whittlefield Aqueduct over the M65, and later a brief foray up onto that wonder of canal engineering, the Burnley Embankment.

Here we have a narrowboat passing beneath Sandygate Bridge (130), with the Pennines rising in the distance to the east. The bridge is listed, and has a "semi-elliptical arch with rusticated voussoirs", apparently. I think that will be a bit of Coal Clough Wind Farm on the horizon. Another image from a hundred yards further on helps put the spot in context next to the towering chimney Sandygate Mill.

After a wander back through town I headed up to Turf Moor where I took in Burnley's match against Crystal Palace, a game that Palace largely dominated but Burnley won. 

Then another hour or two of wandering before catching the train back home. Watching a Dipper in the River Calder under the massive Burnley Viaduct was a highlight.