Liverpool & Leeds Canal - Aintree to Appley Bridge (★★★☆☆)

Today is the second of two days spend walking the Liverpool & Leeds Canal, having walked from Albert Dock to Aintree on the previous day.

The walk today will finish off the stretch through Liverpool (by this point heading through Aintree) - and then through the suburb of Maghull - before the canal will be a mostly urban affair, all the way round to Appley Bridge.

And so, after an early start, I'm soon back along the river - and making my way through Aintree, and walking to the north of Aintree Racecourse (which lies on the far side of the river).

And with this stretch done, we head under the M57 - and start heading across the fields towards Maghull.

Heading across the fields to Maghull

This section between Aintree and Maghull is a nice stretch of the canal - and it is remarkable how quickly the more urban character of the city gets replaced with open fields, which stretch out towards the horizon.

Closing in on Maghull

But we do eventually return to a more built-up environment as we reach Maghull - and then make our way through this suburb.

Here I turn off to visit the shops to buy some supplies for the day - and what we find is a very car-centric suburb - but where all the old people seem to be out and about with their dogs, and where every shop has a dog bowl, and a sign saying that they are indeed dog friendly.

Having got back to the canal with enough food and drink to last the day, we make our way through the rest of the suburb - before breaking out into the rural countryside beyond.

Back in rural country

But what I find, as I continue heading out along the canal, is a stretch of canal that doesn't change much, no matter how far I seem to travel through it. 

This area that lies to the north of Liverpool proves to be very flat (think Norfolk without the sugar beet) - and this means no locks, a lot of very similar countryside, and not a lot to comment on - as I continue on up the canal.

And given that I am here trying to do a writeup of this walk, this presents something of a challenge for me.

But I have a solution to this problem - and here we will merely skip over quite a few hours of walking - and pick back up the story as we come towards Burscough.

And by this point the canal has started to get more interesting again - with Burscough itself being a fairly pretty sort of place, with signs of it's heritage on display, as we pass through.

Men doing work on one of the old chimneys at Ainscough Flour Mill

It is at Burscough that we meet up with the turn off for the Rufford Branch of this canal - and this branch was built around seven years after the construction of the main canal.

Heading over the turn for the Rufford branch

This branch provided a route up towards the River Ribble (which flows into Preston) - and at some point I will come back and walk that stretch of the canal (bending round to finish that particular walk in Southport).

But having passed through Burscough, we start to get views of some hills in the distance - as we start to leave behind the very flat plains, and enter more varied countryside.

By now passing Newburgh

This stretch of the canal is one I do enjoy once again - although at Newburgh we do pass by a rather smelly sewerage works.

But this smell is gone by the time we reach Parbold - which proves to be the prettiest spot along this stretch of the canal.

An old photo of the windmill at Parbold

These days Parbold is a more modern village, full of cafes, restaurants and people, but it would have once been a quieter, more rural village along the canal - albeit one that sat on the edge of coal mining country.

But in any case, it is certainly pretty to walk through - and having made it through, we continue on up the canal - on the final run towards Appley Bridge.

On the way out of Parbold

Here the vegetation has got somewhat out of hand - and there is an awful lot of Himalayan Balsam about - but it's not a bad stretch of canal - as we continue on towards a rare lock on today's walk.

The locks themselves, prove to be large ones (that are perhaps in need of a bit of maintenance) - and then it is a short run into Appley Bridge - where we have by now completed the full length of the canal.

With this being a rural stretch of the canal, I had expected a bit more, and it would have been nice to have completed the canal on a bit more of a high.

But in any case, it is nice to have completed this longest of Britain's canals - and to have also completed all three of the Trans-Pennine Canals, that opened up Britain during the great canal age.

Total Distance: 22.2 miles (21.7 miles along the Liverpool & Leeds Canal)

Total Ascent: 377 feet (344 feet along the Liverpool & Leeds Canal)

Enjoyment Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ ★ ★ / 5

Click for a writeup of the next section of the Liverpool & Leeds Canal, walked in the other direction from Chorley to Appley Bridge.

Click for a writeup of the previous section of the Liverpool & Leeds Canal, walking from Albert Dock to Aintree.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 108 OS Landranger map (links redirect to Amazon). Once you have found the canal it is very easy to follow