Rock, reeds railways and roads.

Our watch was a bit less than 5 miles so after a bite to eat we let go and headed south. The sun was still shining but the wind still had a right chill to it.

There is very little traffic up at the north end at the moment and it allows the heron to be uninterrupted for much of the time. The gently rolling hills leading up to the fells add interest to the scenery as do the stone farmhouses.

This is a short arm that was built to load limestone direct from Wegber Quarry. It was an important cargo as it was used to make lime for mortar and fertiliser. In 1884 when blasting a small cave was revealed and within it were a number of finds from the Early to Late Bronze age.

 There was a narrow gauge railway that ran round the quarry and to another loading wharf further south. Above are the remains of a crane that lifted the stone into the canal craft.

In this picture you can see that the crane is on a tower, and it seems as if the narrow gauge track ran between two towers so maybe there was another crane that loaded wheeled transport too.

There is a nice viaduct close to the canal round here and this is the Settle to Carlisle rail route that is famed for it's beautiful scenery of the Yorkshire Dales etc. When it arrives at Carnforth it is then able to travel onwards on the West Coast mainline.

Much of the upper reaches have puddle clay at the edges, as well as plenty of reeds and vegetation and this reduces the places to moor up. We are just about 2' draft and struggled in many spots.

The lambs are getting a bit bigger, and not quite so cute now, but like to see what is going on when we pass.

 Warton Crag is another limestone outcrop that has been quarried for many years, as can be seen. There is a big face to the left that will be the most modern workings but you can also see various levels running down the crag following the strata which will be older. The Crag is now a nature reserve with peregrine falcons nesting on the quarry faces. An Iron Age fort was found on the top as was another cave with Bronze age artifacts in it. The stone from the quarry was used in the first UK motorway, the Preston by pass.

The canal passes under the M6 and then the A601(M) that has the roundabout to join the motorway just next to the canal so there has to be two bridges, one for each direction.

We stopped for water just behind the camera and then passed through the 'wide' at Carnforth. There used to be a boat yard and pontoon moorings to the left that would have taken up much of the bay. I assume that it was a working dock at the beginning, I think the sale of the Nu-Way Acron yard and moorings is very recent. The signs say that the land has been 'bought' by Home England that is a Government thing that assist locla developers to purchase, design and build new homes. We moored up a little way past the garage in the sun and headed into Carnforth.