Last night’s weather forecast indicated reasonable weather for Saturday but Sunday and Monday would be very wet and windy. Our usual plan is to avoid cruising on weekends but we woke this morning to blue skies and Jan suggested we move today and rest Sunday-Monday. The decision was given added impetus by the presence of “Harry of Hapton”. Harry had obviously taken exception to Waiouru being on his “patch” and he had become a serial pest constantly pecking at the gunwale. I wouldn’t have minded if the damned swan was eating the weed at the waterline but the constant tapping on the hull like a Jehovah’s Witness we becoming a major irritation.
After walking around Hapton yesterday evening it was obvious Jan wasn’t going to get a Sunday roast lunch. The Bridge was closed and that didn’t appear to have occurred yesterday!
Across the road The Railway Inn looked to be a “Lads” pub, no food and showing Sky Sports with Karaoke on Saturday night. Decision confirmed!
The plan was to stop for water on the CRT facilities at Gannow. Mooring proved to be difficult because a boat was moored on the water point. It’s the SAME boat that was moored on the CRT facilities at Blackburn <grrrrr>. We managed to squeeze in but during the operation caught a large number of plastic fish around the prop <double grrrr>.
One of the boater moored at the Gannow facilities told Jan Gannow Tunnel was very shallow so we went through on tickover. The entrance to the tunnel is on a bend and I was signtly disorientated transiting from bright daylight into gloom!
Wide beam boats go through here so there has to be plenty of width for us.
Interestingly the tunnel was lined in stone rather than brick.
Having heard stories we wanted to get through Burnley. However I must say everyone we saw was friendly! There are still signs of Lancashire’s industrial heritage albeit they are steadily being demolished. The Engine House and Water Tank of Woodfield Mill (1888) is still standing.
In the middle of Burnley the canal makes a sharp turn north onto a long embankment which bisects the town and cross the valley. It also crosses the River Calder.
Looking over Burnley rooftops
We found a very nice mooring in Nelson and after getting settled I went for a walk around the local area. Oops, several Palestinian flags flying across the streets or in windows. I only saw one other anglo-saxon and whilst no one was overtly hostile it was obvious I was the odd fellow! We made a decision to move to a more rural location. But not before Jan had picked all the wild raspberries and blackberries on the mooring! 
We hadn’t moved more than a kilometre when we noticed a boat moored on bollards. The penny dropped when we noticed the large yellow Morrisons sign over the hedge. Reversed back and went shopping for 40 minutes.
There is a refuse stop at Bradley however we hadn’t planned to stop having disposed of our rubbish at the CRT facilities earlier in the day. It wasn’t until we were passing that we noticed the sign stating they accepted waste oil. Going too fast to reverse and stop….. bugger..bugger! Oh well, another day!
It was starting to get more rural.
In the end we called it a day mooring short of the Barrowford flight of locks. Peter & Margaret we are within walking distance of Boundary Mill Stores.
It looks like there may be several folly’s to the north. They might be an interesting destination for a walk on Monday.
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The sale at Boundary Mill is now in full flow. Outdoor clothing and walking boots are available as well as the usual ladies designer gear, and of the Hobbs leather gear very cheap. You can also get a snack there if you like. They are open until late during the week. Just for interest, the business is owned by the family of Roger Bannister who was the first to complete the 4 minute mile.
We will probably go and have a look tomorrow!
We had heard all the stories about Burnley so went straight through going north. Heard different stories on the way south and stayed at The Wharf for three nights. No trouble and a great place to visit.
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