Components of exploration

Thursday 21st March 2013

At the start of an outdoor trip I suppose I hanker after the unexpected, barring outright catastrophe.

There are numerous possibilities. Weather or time may compel plan modification. Interesting highlights may occur worthy of pleasurable Googling back home. Entertaining, objectionable, or bizarre people can be encountered, and then there are miscellaneous unexpectednesses; all these combine with the satisfaction of traveling through an aesthetically pleasing environment and create a unique experience for every outing.

Today we arrived at the Ribble Link on the Lancaster Canal which enables connection with the River Ribble and thereby, after a possibly perilous downriver journey, connection with the Leeds Liverpool Canal, and the UK canal network.

The Ribble Link branches right into a mini marina leading to descending locks, and then a mystery. At the bottom of the locks a shallow, unnavigable stream partly blocked by a tree runs off into the distance.

At home Internet failed to enlighten, and a phone call to the number displayed (see photo) was answered by an office in North Wales, and Ruth, my potential source of information only works Mondays and Wednesdays, so anticipation will be prolonged, unless some enthusiastic commenter intervenes.

Pete and I both value our after walk debriefing in a café, and now, driving further, walking time or café time has to be sacrificed. A conference resulted in a shortcut on the walk (see map), so we could indulge in our new discovery, Café Ambio at the recently built livestock mart near Junction  36 on the M6.

A public footpath took us by concrete steps to a road. I was three steps off the horizontal concrete leading onto the road when a workman across the adjacent railway line bellowed a fortissimo warning not to proceed. The concrete platform had been severed eight feet from the road - the unwary would likely take a painful fall if proceeding. We had to divert over a wire fence into a field and over another wire fence onto the road - no diversion had been fixed.

There is a bit of previous orange route from last time top left corner. Our shortcut is indicated by the pink route

Chacun à son goût

I quite like some of this stuff when it's done well

The Ribble Link going off left (from the south), difficult to photograph...

...leading to this marina...

...and to these locks

At the bottom of the locks there was just a shallow, unnavigable stream?

We wondered which sign came first?

The steps leading to oblivion, taken from the road. We exited field left