Walking 1000 miles from Lands end to John O'Groats in aid of The Air Ambulance (starts april 7th 2024)

Sunday 7 September 2014

Day-33 Canal desires! ;-)

A chilly night always means a sunny morning, today's no exception the sky is azure blue, perfect! And the sky dominates my horizon as I walk across the thick clay like surface of morecambe Bay, I've walked a curious number of surfaces on this walk and this is one of the more odd! But saying that it's a good walking surface and progress is good into Hest Bank,into the town and back to the canal that's leading me on through today, with the sun shining down and sparkling in the water progress is relaxed into Lancaster, taking the loop east the canal keeps a nice view of the city and the dominant castle in the cities north.
Leaving the canal briefly to go into the center for breakfast and snacks, I'm drawn to the impressive city hall and facing it a huge statue of Queen Victoria! Very stern visage!
A quick visit to Greggs again (not sponsoring me!) and a chat a bloke as I ate, nice how this impresses people! During this chat another guy sat quietly at the other end of the bench as I stood to go he thanked me for what I'm doing, turns out he was homeless! This won't help him personally but to be appreciated like this was incredible.
Humbled I move on back to the canal and out of this impressive city... Must return one day.
The canal wends it's way through the country with an avenue of trees, with the sun bright above dappling the water. the mood I'm walking in is blissful!
At lunch I pass a canal side cafe where I purchase a baked potato, always good for energy, then with the trees becoming fewer and the sun brighter, I'm walking amidst a flotilla of Butterflies and dragonflies! Beautiful, this day couldn't get any better!
But it does, stopping to chat to a group of people with border terriers.. Has to be done, they offer me a few beers to take with me and to up my water! How appropriate that their barge is called Plodder! Lol
Nicely loaded up I wander until I spot a good place to camp under a beech tree just north of Garstang.

Day-32 Half day n Rest

The camp on the wrong side of the sea defence worked out well without any tidal disturbance, a little drizzle was the worst I got, nothing in not used to!
To reduce the time spent walking today I opted to stick to the b road that the cycle track follows, very little difference in distance just simple to do.
The track went thru Dallam tower's deer park... No deer just sheep and on into Beetham.dodging in and out of woodland to Yealand storrs,uphill to Yealand Redmayne and then up a Hovis add steep hill through Yealand Conyers.... Wonder what Yealand means???
Passing through Warton and into Carnforth I find the first available cafe for a full English breakfast.. Can't get enough of these!
Out of town via the Lancaster canal my first on this trek! And the going is easy and flat... Also a first!
Into Bolton-le-sands for supplies and across to the coast at Morecambe Bay for my rest at Red bank farm camp site.
Pitched and chilling a well loaded cyclist pulls onto the site, unloads near me and we get chatting, seems he's here to attend a 60's - 80's festival where he'll be celebrating northern soul!
Great chap and some good company.