leeds - liverpool canal - full lot in a day or two?

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

hi all,

just read joe90's canal ride and i fancy doing the full lot. either in one day with a hotel overnighter at the end, or a hotel overnighter at the start.

i just think that getting dropped off at the start, riding it, then being picked up would be too long a day.

of course the 3rd oprion is to b&b in the middle.

anyone fancy it?

 

[BenScoobert]

there are sections that cant be cycled I believe, like brighouse to mirfield I found the other day

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

oh according to this website it's all rideable apart from some branches off.

http://www.towpathtreks.co.uk/llc/canal_map_low.html

 

[BenScoobert]

brighouse is calder and hebble :-)

leeds liverpool goes by skipton

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

just sussed that out when i was looking for it on google maps, kept me on my toes tho.

 

[BenScoobert]

I'd love to do it, but as my longest ride yet is 20 miles, I dont think Im ready.

That said, canals are flat :-) 'cept for the ramps next to the locks :-)

 

[sgw]

I did it a fortnight ago. I am a dawdler and took all week camping overnights in some great spots. Visited museums, nature reserves and industrial sites on the way. I know some of you like to cover the ground when you tour but you will miss a lot if you do it in two days.

It can, and often is done in two days though. As I was entering Liverpool on Saturday morning a dozen or so very determined and fast riders where just setting of in the other direction. They were most surprised to see me the next day 20 mls or so outside Leeds! I started in the middle you see. Cycled Skipton - Liverpool, Liverpool to Leeds on train then cycled Leeds to Skipton.

I ride a pretty basic hybrid and despite almost 30kg of kit found the going variable to "interesting" but ok, even on 28/32 road tyres.

I am away again (unemployment does have some good points to the Northern Dales so won't be around for a week or two but I will look in before I set of in the morning if you have any questions.

Might seem overkill for a canal but there is a good map of the whole length available. There are a couple of branches off. that are not so clearly marked. I would suggest puncture resistant tyres and watch out for the barriers around Wigan. Should be ok if lightly laden.

Plenty of great camping spots along the way for anyone fancying a leisurely and easy 127 mile tour (although I did 220mls with detours).

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I did it a fortnight ago. I am a dawdler and took all week camping overnights in some great spots. Visited museums, nature reserves and industrial sites on the way. I know some of you like to cover the ground when you tour but you will miss a lot if you do it in two days.

It can, and often is done in two days though. As I was entering Liverpool on Saturday morning a dozen or so very determined and fast riders where just setting of in the other direction. They were most surprised to see me the next day 20 mls or so outside Leeds! I started in the middle you see. Cycled Skipton - Liverpool, Liverpool to Leeds on train then cycled Leeds to Skipton.

I ride a pretty basic hybrid and despite almost 30kg of kit found the going variable to "interesting" but ok, even on 28/32 road tyres.

I am away again (unemployment does have some good points to the Northern Dales so won't be around for a week or two but I will look in before I set of in the morning if you have any questions.

Might seem overkill for a canal but there is a good map of the whole length available. There are a couple of branches off. that are not so clearly marked. I would suggest puncture resistant tyres and watch out for the barriers around Wigan. Should be ok if lightly laden.

Plenty of great camping spots along the way for anyone fancying a leisurely and easy 127 mile tour (although I did 220mls with detours).

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

thanks for that sgw. is it all open and cyclable? the bwb site says some bits are closed. tbh i have cycled it from blackburn to gargrave in bits during my life.

i might do it next week.

 

[PaulB]

thanks for that sgw. is it all open and cyclable? the bwb site says some bits are closed. tbh i have cycled it from blackburn to gargrave in bits during my life.

i might do it next week.

If doing it FROM Liverpool, the section from Whitebirk (Blackburn) through Rishton, Hapton and to Rosegrove (Burnley) are bloody awful. Filthy, thick, clinging mud, derelict dark crumbling satanic mills, lots of steep steps requiring you to cross sides as the track switches canal banks several times. The section through Burnley town centre is alright but then you hit another awful section again through Daneshouse (Burnley) to Brierfield. Oh yes, there's a section in Nelson (near to Seedhill athletics track) that has some particularly nasty 'canal bouncers' who will take offence to your presence and you may (probably will) be required to dismount, go off the canal and have a small detour around these offensive bouncers before coming back on. These bouncers have wings and are actually guard geese!

If doing it FROM Leeds, please beware of things from Nelson onwards which are in reverse of the above.

The other annoyance are the number of gates on the bank. Fine for walking or running through but an MTB's handlebars are nearly always too big and require a shifty, twisty, turny manoevre to get through. Again and again and again.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

like i said, i know them bits quite well. getting the bromptons bars thru is easy. last time i cycled from gannow to colne, most of the steel gates alongside the anti motorbike gates were missing, assumed stolen, so it was even easier.

 

[Globalti]

Keep moving in Burnley, don't even think about locking up your bike while you go to get a drink. Burnley however does have the Burnley Embankment, one of the seven wonders of the canal world. Last time I rode along there I came across a young bloke standing right on the edge facing away from me; pushing his pelvis towards two approaching women walkers in a strange way. It wasn't until both did a smart about-turn that I realised he was flashing; by then I was past him and had missed my opportunity to push him into the canal.

 

[PaulB]

Keep moving in Burnley, don't even think about locking up your bike while you go to get a drink. Burnley however does have the Burnley Embankment, one of the seven wonders of the canal world. Last time I rode along there I came across a young bloke standing right on the edge facing away from me; pushing his pelvis towards two approaching women walkers in a strange way. It wasn't until both did a smart about-turn that I realised he was flashing; by then I was past him and had missed my opportunity to push him into the canal.

Hey, I wasn't flashing. I was merely showing off.

 

[Paul_L]

i've done most of the Yorkshire bits.

It can be done in a full day. I've not done it myself, but know few who have. It's a bloody hard slog though and wouldn't be my idea of fun.

The path is much better on the East, which is perfectly understandable as it's the section in Yorkshire

You'd also be be better tackling it west to east to take advantage of the prevailing winds.

 

[sgw]

My apologies to bromptonfb for not getting back sooner, you may be away yourself by now anyway.

For anyone else considering doing the canal I would just like to clarify a few things that may be misleading in this thread.

The recent closures relate only to the locks to reduce water losses. Obviously this doesn't affect bikes or walkers on the towpath.

The gates are mostly of the wiggle the bars through type and are wide enough at the bottom to let panniers through. Narrow, low, or drop bars may not even need to wiggle. The worse types are the anti - motorcycle barriers around the Wigan area. These look like they could stop a tank, never mind a motorbike. Most of these can be negotiated with a forward in, swing the gate and reverse out action even with a loaded bike. There are a couple that will only allow you through by wheelying the bike vertical though. Not practical with a laden bike but there are usually sensibly "modified" fences bypassing these gates. I was only reduced to consider unloading the bike at one gate but was rescued by 3 bargees who helped me lift the bike over, fully loaded.

The many and various reports of dangerous or unfriendly locals are I think greatly exaggerated and primarily based on local prejudices. I lost count of the dire warnings regarding the inevitable theft of my wheels in Liverpool. In an almost medieval way it seems that residents in any one area tend to perpetuate myths relating to their counterparts further up or down the cut. A microcosm of prejudice in general. Sometimes disturbing, sometimes amusing, but primarily irrelevant.

The "dark satanic mills" may not be to everyones taste but I consider them far more historically, architecturally and socially interesting than the twee waterside yuppie ghettos that are replacing them in some areas. One of the defining aspects of this ride is the contrast between the industrial and the rural, the canal takes you through some of the best of both anywhere in the country.

 

[piedwagtail91]

the section from blackburn to just beyond rishton is a good quality surface, it does get a bit muddy in places after that but was quite rideable yesterday even after all the heavy rain.
through burnley is good surface all the way to salterforth, i've never had a problem anywhere between blackburn and gargrave and the locals are quite friendly. some sections between blackburn and burnley may not be the most scenic but they're not as bad as some people think.