Bike Rides along the canal
 

Reece and i went for a lovely bike ride the other day along the canal, we got on at the Hare and Hounds at Westend and cycled all the way back to the Range at Blackburn, it only took us just over an hour and the sites we saw where gorgeous.

We where going to have another bike ride along the canal this evening, we where going to go from The Range (old B&Q) to the Infirmary, but ive just been told that you cant get all the way to the Infirmary on the canal, apparently it stops just after Eanam Warf because of the boat yard and you cant get back on it till the locks at the Infirmary, i was gutted :(

I've even got my Bike permits sorted too :( lol

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Bike permit? what they for?

Me and the family went for a walk once on the canal...started at ossy, and walked all the way to blackburn past the warf......

It took us over 4 hours!!!!, luckily my fellas family lived in blackburn so they took us home:rolleyes:

Poor kids where knackered!!...LOL

But it was a good day :)

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you have ALWAYS needed a permit for cycling on the canal lol, they dont cost anything, you just print them off the net, you have to carry them with you whenever you cycle along the canal

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Cycling on the water, eh. That's going one better than jesus:alright: ... poor sod had to walk.

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I remember that back in the day, you could hop onto a barge and take a free ride on the canal ... I used to get on at the Whalley Rd. bridge ... the guy on the barge sometimes got a little p. o'd ... but most of the bargees were decent enough to let us ride along.

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Well i never knew that:eek:

good job ya told me.....thinking of doing that this summer!!...LOL

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It is still actually illegal to either walk/run/cycle on the canalside paths/towpaths. British Waterways do turn a blind eye to most things but strictly speaking you do need a permit to access any part of the canalside paths/towpaths.

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I had a set to tonight with 2 couples who had set up table and chairs, dinner and wine and were having a dinner party in the middle of the canal path - next to their canal boats...I had stop,get off my bike walk round them along the keystone and back onto the canal path much to the annoyance of them, they told me to be more careful and that I shouldnt be going so fast, I said that they shouldnt really set up a cafe on the public canal path as its narrow enough...they then said I shouldnt be on it anyway and that I was breaking the law...I asked them had they seen this before and pulled out my cycle permit for the canal path...they just sat there and said nothing so I explained what it was...told them if they are going to talk law at least have some brain cells to back up what they are on about...got on my bike and off I went...
first time I have had abuse from canal boaters as they are all normally lovely friendly peeps...

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like you say GG, they are usually nice and polite...bloody ignorant gits lol, i love going along the canal, its soooooooo peaceful, i hope its nice tomorrow, thats where we will be going again :D

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We always cycled from the back of tesco's to cherrytree and then took to the roads on the way back, the only part near the infermary that we couldnt cycle along was the locks but you just get off cross the bridge onto the otherside of the road then down the side of the pub then back onto the bike, i would love to do it again its been a while, take a ride up there sometime you will love it

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aye i did ste

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so can we ride through eanam then Jack?

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Im going back 7yrs ago, but a canal being a canal i would imagine nowts changed since, we used to ride through eanam warf past the pub it was near the infermary that you had to get off yer bike and cross the road

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ahhhh Kev said its now blocked off because of the boat yard, maybe its changed since you last went on it

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Just a little wonder on this thread, but still on cycling, now that the kids are on holiday they are using the footpaths around where I live as race track, not so much just the paths, but cutting accross the grass corner and taking blind corners. There are a lot of elderly people live on the estate and I can see some one getting very badly hurt if they are hit with one of these youngsters Only last week a bloke was up in court for killing a young girl by hitting her whilst cycling, an elderly person won't stand a chance if they are hit. I don't know what the answer is but yongsters using these footpaths is very dangerous an I would hate to see someone badly hurt before something is done

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Last time I went on the canal, you could go round the back of the wharf pub, and pick up the towpath there and off into Blackburn (or even Chorley) Another good route is from Barrow, just past the golf club and there is a cycle route all the way to Downham, reasonably flat and comparativly traffic free.

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As I work next to the canal at Eanam flashy I can tell you that when you get to the wharf from the Range direction you can walk behind the pub and through the car park towards the bridge that goes over the canal and then back on to the tow path again...

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went to investigate earlier and we went straight through the wharf and there was no boat yard there lol we got as far as Bennington street the it started pouring down, so we cycled into town instead, next time we'll go further (probably tomorrow if its nice) just been down to Kev's to tell him that he was wrong and he said it was about 4/5 years ago since he last went that way lol

caught some little toerag graffiti-ing on the red bridge, he'd climbed over it and was dangling from it whilst doing his 'tag', Reece was gobsmacked, i hope he fell in, he deserved to, he wasnt a kid either, he must have been at least 26/27

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Just got back from yet another bike ride, this time there where 4 of us who went, Me, Haworth, Reece and Haworths son Jack....what a laugh we had...

We set off at 7.40pm, got onto the canal at The Range and didnt stop till we got to The Moorings pub near the Infirmary (well we had to stop there didnt we:D) 2 halves of lager for me and 2 malibu and cokes for Haworth and we set back off again, had a nosey around tesco on the way back.

what a nice evening we had, giggling to ourselves on the way back and whistling at nice looking fella's, i dont know how the hell we managed to get back in one piece :D;):D

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How lovely Flashy .. good to hear you were giggling. What happy memories Reece will have of his mum .. x

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Seriously? Ive never needed one at any time on the canal. Cant think of any use for one either really.

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http://www.waterscape.com/media/docu...n_towpaths.pdf
There ya go aleks, top of page, you must display a permit when cycling on the towpath!

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Kate, i think me and Haworth where giggling cos we'd had a drink, you are right about memories though, thats why i take Reece to as many different places as possible, so he will have memories of me when i'm gone, my mum died when i was 15 and i dont really have many memories of her and i dont want that to be the case with Reece

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100% seriously shaz that is nice and the lad is lucky you put so much time into that.

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well what a lovely day we have had :D on our bikes yet again...

got on the canal this afternoon at the Hare and Hounds pub at Westend, decided to go towards Church and come off at Jacksons Farm....huh...how awful is that canal around Church now?? its dismal and the paths are atrotious(sp?) the so called paths(well the bit that isnt covered in grass) are extremely narrow even for a bike to ride along, there's that many pot holes i thought i would end up in the canal more than once, when we eventually got to the swing bridge at the bottom of Jacksons farm i looked to the top of the farm and thought 'it didnt look like that when i was a kid, what the hells happened to it?' it was all over grown and now there is a fence all the way up next to the so called path, its about 17 years ago since i was last up there but it has changed so much...anyway we eventually got to the top and crossed over the road to the cemetary, nipped in to the cemetary to say 'hi' to mi mother then went off to Thorneyholme road to see mi mate

set off back from my mates at 9pm and got back to Intack on our bikes at 9.50pm (plus we where accosted at church traffic lights for 10 minutes talking to chav) so 40 minutes from Thorneyholme Road back to Intack, not bad eh ;)

at least the weathers been fine


ok waffling over for now :D


oh and if theres any spelling mistakes please forgive me, i'm knackered :D

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Used to pedal out of Blackburn on the canal paths. I found it alot safer than pedalling on the roads at 8:00AM in the morning. I had a flat right in the middle behind Asda where the little stone bridge is. 7-8 years ago I used to pedal everyday the other way towards Preston to work. I had a spell of abot 3months last year doing it. In the summer you can't beat it. If you carry on along past Ewood and about a mile past Feniscowles you come to a proper "Boatyard" pub where you can stop for pints and foods (don't be confused with another "boatyard" - which is about 5-6 barges in a row where people are living on them - it is another 10-15mins past this). Would probably be a 10-15 mile bike ride from Accy though - a round trip and you'd be ready for the London Olympics!

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yeah you also need a permit for fishing (not that everyone abides by these rules though) dad had to get one when he took Reece fishing on the canal the other month, but saying that WHO would want to get ANYTHING from the canal? i know i wouldnt, i remember my dad saying that you have to throw all the fish back in the canal that you catch, i wouldnt wanna be eating them anyway ewwwwwwww not from the smelly canal

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Ride upto Clayton and pop in for a brew:p
I'll pm ya my number so ya can txt me when ya about:D

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I used to work with a bloke a few years ago, he used to go on bike rides with his wife on a tandem. They were on the canal towpath once and some bushes were growing other the path. She leant away from them towards the canal so they would not hit her in the face, this almost made them fall into the canal so he had to lean into the bushes to balance them getting the full bush in his face ( not a problem when your not on a push bike ;) ).

At this point she jumped off and he ended up in the canal with the tandem on top of him :D:D:D

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Forget about permits for riding your bike on the towpath - we need to start issuing licences for dog walkers. Anyone who has had the unfortunate experiance of attempting to walk on the path at Church recently will know what I mean. You have to jump and stride your way over and around turd after turd. At the point west of the swingbridge the path is simply lost under a carpet of cannine waste. Maybe the cops, PCSOs or council officials should get up there and start dishing out fixed penalty notices. They could make a fortune over a typical weekend.

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Now who'd 'ave thowt it - have I found my soulmate?:rolleyes::D

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I used to cycle to work from Burnley to Nelson on the towpath, much, much safer than on the roads and despite those saying not to bother with them, a waterboard license is a very handy thing to have, to be able to pull it out and wave it in the face of those that complain.
It is also a requirement, because remember that the towpath is actually private property
owned by the water board.

The dog walkers IMO were the worst, the walk the dog on & within 20 foot of the entrance we had to play "dodge the poo" because they were too lazy to pick it up or take the dog to the side. It's a great feeling being able to get back at them when they complain & say that they are the ones that ought not to be there letting the dogs doodoo all over the place.

The canal was pleasant, fresh air & peaceful, just dont go too fast - its not a race track.

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lol its owned by british waterways not the water board

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just been out for an 8 mile bike ride on mi own, well i say on mi own, i had mi bike and mi mp3 player with me, ya cant beat a bit of the old rock music to get you pedling faster ;)

i feel so energised now, think i'll have to do it again when Reece gets home from school :D

only problem is, i havent lost any weight through all this bike riding, my bottom and my legs and tummy are firming up nicely and look very good BUT my fat is turning to muscle and i now weigh 3lb more than i did when i started :( typical aint it lol

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I'm gonna start cycling on the canal with my daughter now she can ride a bike properly, but didn't know till now you needed a permit.

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yeah, all you need to do is download it on here and print it off

Download a British Waterways cycling permit | Cycling | Things to do | Waterscape.com

ive never been asked for it yet but i carry it with me all the time

just be careful where you take your daughter on the canal though, some of the paths are very dodgy, especially through church and dill hall

the bit where you can cycle is very narrow and often very bumpy, if she has only just learnt to ride her bike i would avoid the canal really

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Short news bulletin announcing a survey that concluded women are reluctant to ride their bikes to work because of the mess the helmet would make of their hair, and they don't want to get to work all hot and sweaty !

Well, that's another survey we could have saved them money on eh girls :rolleyes:

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pmsfl

i have to admit, and i know i should but...ive never worn a helmet in my whole entire life...Reece has one but it never even crossed my mind to wear one

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you should always wear one as you never know when it may come in handy...that and your little one may think if mums not wearing one why should I ?
I have one and dont go out on my bike without it & my shades...whether it be on the canal or the road..
I have now got my time from my accy road burnley to my house in clayton down to 24 minutes!..and I must admit I do go pretty fast on some parts of the canal as there is nothing better than zipping through the mud and puddles at speed - but only when there is no one else on that bit..as I am not an aggressive cyclist..although it does bug me when you get a group of cyclists who cycle 2/3 or even 4 wide and wont let me go by them/leave enough room for me to get by, even though they know I am behind them..and that goes for the same on the road also...leaving me to cut out onto a lane of traffic to get by..and dont get me started about cars creeping into cycle lanes..the amount of times I get this is unreal - that and car drivers who dont use their mirrors at junctions thus not seeing me and nearly putting me on their bonnet/through their window AND cars who park next to cycle lanes and open their doors without checking whats comeing up behind them, I had a woman do this to me last week - she opened her door, I had to swerve out into the road and had a car nearly hit me - if I hadnt of swerved I would have hit her and her car at about 26 miles an hour...probably have broken every bone in my body if contact had been made...

and in regards to the poster going on about dogs on the canal, I see both sides of the coin being a dog owner and a cyclist and I have to agree that some folk dont give a hoots about there dogs and the fact I may be coming along behind them, and when I am on the canal with my dogs I always call them into the side when I see some lucky sods on their bikes coming towards me...nice to be nice and all that...
I have never been towards church way on my bike along the canal as my journey is always from clayton to burnley so I may have to give it a bash one morning...

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hmmm vanity over common sense and staying alive..


bit of a no brainer to me...

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Whilst I was at the hairdressers once I watched in amazement as a woman pulled her crash helmet on straight after getting her hair done. What a waste of the hairdressers time and her money:rolleyes:

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Not really Bernie, I have my hair cut at my gym, and go swimming after ...it's in the cut basically ... haven't found a hairdresser yet that can 'dress' my annoyingly curly hair ... hairdressing is only geared to wonderful straight hair :(

Whoops sorry, Flashy digressing from your lovely thread .. but you understand the curly hair syndrome I know :o

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But she had hers done all curly, sorry was a waste of money.

Sorry flashy for thread wander:)

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Right ... see what you mean .. :D:D Still would be protected from the wind I suppose, blowing it straight again.

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Agree totally, everyone should wear helmets.

Should make it law, as they have with seat belts in cars.

My son (18) was riding home on his bike the other day, and got laughed at by the scummy morons round here for wearing one.

It only takes one bad fall, or a bump with a car, and you'll wish you'd worn one.:)

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Exactly Cazzer .. tell son to ignore them completely .. cretins. :mad:

Worry every day 'bout my 26 year old son cycling to work from Didsbury into the centre of Manchester every day ! He has all the gear, but still moron motorists behave badly thinking their four-wheeled vehicle has priority over other vehicular traffic

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just curious , first are there any laws in the UK about youngsters on bicycles having to wear helmets ? and secondly how " active" are the Police in enforcing them........
We have local by-laws in my area but have yet to see the local sheriffs deputies enforcing them , but they seem have no problems with 'ticketing' the kids using skateboards , the perception being that skateboarders are (wrongfully or rightly) are seen as potential graffti 'artists'

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i dont think there are any laws on cyclist wearing helmets yet SJ

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He needs a stab vest not a helmet