As long as there has been inland waterway navigation, there has been equine motive power. It makes sense; by water, the weight of the load is significantly reduced. In 1810 someone did the calculations and came to the conclusion that one horse and three men could move as much by water as sixty horses and ten men could by road. 

charitable walks by a canal wanderer

During 2018 I walked a considerable stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal during April and May for very good causes. Firstly (over two walks) for English in the Community, an ESOL project I run in East Leeds, and funds were also raised for Freedom4Girls, a charity which works with women and girls and tackles period poverty, and Leeds Conversation Club for Asylum Seekers and Refugees. Secondly in May, via work, for Candlelighters, a children’s cancer charity and part of the 'Just One Day' Lord Mayor (of Leeds) Charity Appeal.

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Welcome everyone, to my second article, and please remember that I'm not a professional writer, although I have been 'published' before and have had my photos published on the BBC (weather) 😉 I'm just a Lancashire lad, more in to having a fireside chat than writing a column or knowing it all!

Well, what a cracking summer it’s been!

Lots of lovely canal closures....loads of low water problems. The sunny weather ought to have been brilliant for ‘boat watching’ along the cut, but unfortunately where I’m based we had none to watch. The water level on the main canal dropped. Tempers rose. The locks got...locked. And those who did manage to get down found themselves stuck in the basin for weeks on end. Most abandoned boat and went home. So, there’s not much action to report from the towpath.

Introduction

Back in July 2016 our ambition was to walk the whole of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal (in stages of course). I also had planned to walk the Leigh, Rufford and Springs Branches. It was an exciting challenge to have had that opportunity to learn about the industrial and social heritage along the canal and be swept away with the beautiful Pennines countryside.

It may be a purely Black Country thing, but there are whales in the cut.

‘Surely not?’ I hear you cry, but yes, it’s true. I’ve seen them with my own eyes, beached on the towpath. Whales of all descriptions. Bicycle whales, car whales, pram whales, you get the picture. I know, I know, the old ones are the best.

But, at the risk of repeating myself, it’s true! In fact there’s all kinds of scrap iron accumulating down here by the banks of the Staffs and Worcs canal.