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Dales High Way - Shipley to Skipton (★★★★☆)

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In recent weeks the weather has pretty much limited me to canal walks , as I have been forced to seek out paths that don't sink beneath you when you step on them - but aided by a mix of sunshine and frozen ground, I have decided that today is the day to head back into the hills. More specifically, I plan to walk over Ikley Moor and Skipton Moor, following the Dales High Way between Saltaire and Skipton. The Dales High Way  in it's entirety runs between Saltaire and Appleby-in-Westmorland, along a route that generally runs over the Yorkshire Dales. But today's section sits outside the Yorkshire Dales - with the trail not entering the national park until after it passes through Skipton. Trains to Saltaire are, however, fairly infrequent, whilst trains to Shipley are more common - and so our walk begins as we get off the train at Shipley train station - and head down to the  Liverpool & Leeds Canal , which we follow round to Saltaire, and to the start of the Dales High Wa...
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Liverpool & Leeds Canal - Burnley to Blackburn (★★★☆☆)

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Today we are walking the Liverpool & Leeds Canal from Burnley round to Blackburn, having walked from Gargrave to Burnley on the previous day. This section of the canal is fairly urban, and it does spend a long time running parallel to the M65 - and so I'm not entirely sure what to expect from this section of the canal, but heading out from Burnley things get off to a good start. Although it is pretty windy today, it is a nice walk out along Burnley Embankment - which is a raised section of canal running in a straight line across town. Burnley Embankment This embankment is one of the Seven Wonders of the Waterways - although with this list dating back to 1946, there have been suggestions of replacing some of those on the list with more modern wonders (and I suspect this would be a prime candidate to be replaced). But the embankment was built between 1796 and 1801, and was put in to avoid having to install lock flights at either end of the Calder valley  - with the embankment a...
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Liverpool & Leeds Canal - Gargrave to Burnley (★★★★☆)

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Today we are back walking the Liverpool & Leeds Canal  - and today will be walking from Gargrave to Burnley, via Colne - and the following day we will continue on to Blackburn, before heading home. Gargrave itself sits just below the Yorkshire Dales, and is a charming small town that sits in rural countryside.  And by this point, this is my third visit, having previously come to walk the Liverpool & Leeds Canal from Gargrave to Keighley , and the Pennine Way  from  Hebden Bridge to Gargrave , and from  Gargrave to Horton-in-Ribblesdale . Gargrave also sits in the centre of what is thought to be the very best of the Liverpool & Leeds Canal  - the stretch between Colne and Skipton. Although I personally do also have a soft spot for the area around Bingley and Saltaire. This suggests a good start to our day - but after heading past Colne, I'm not entirely sure what to expect as we continue on down the canal. One of the things about ...
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