TITANIC TOUR

COLNE    7 - 8 Miles

WALKERS :- John R, Harry, Danny, Vic.
                       John W, Anthony, Frank, Mike, Jim Drew.

Shhhh ! Say nothing to "them indoors" we went to "Boundary Mill".  Only to park you understand.

We left the cars in a shady part of the outlet's car park and set of into the centre of Colne. Many of the party were quite impressed by the high street which seemed to have much more to offer than one might expect in such a small town.

 

Here we are passing a "Flower Bed" ..... Really ?

 Not far up the hill we discovered the house where Wallace Hartley the band leader from the titanic used to live. 

 James examines Wallace Hartley's Blue Plaque (see below)

 Not much further up the high street and we arrived at the memorial to Mr Hartley and the "TITANIC"

Thought it would be bigger than that !

Soon after this we reached the top of the hill which appeared to be the centre of the town.  Here JW left the group briefly to seek out the market stalls run by his sister ("Country Lane Eggs") and his brother-in-law who separately ran a flower stall. Neither were in attendance at the market on this day (retired at last ?) 

  Onward in search of the towns cemetery wherein we intended to "Take Coffee".  As we continued down the High Street we passed this "Installation" -

 "BALLS !"  said John W.

So to the cemetery with it's rather wonderful centre-piece building.

Here the group were patiently indulgent enough to allow John W to recite one of his favourite "Titanic" poems, "Have You Any News of the Iceberg ?" a sadly amusing monologue purporting to be spoken by a Polar Bear.  ( Les Barker - Monologue writer). (I think we've now had enough of J W for one walk !!!)

Coffee was taken on the benches and steps looking over the graves to the sunlit fields beyond. "A Tomb with a View" said Anthony.

Coffee over we ventured down the steeply sloping graveside path in search of  Wallace Hartley's grave and monument.

 It was modest enough for such a renowned local hero. Note the violin and the manuscript of the hymn "Nearer My God to Thee" which legend has it was the tune played by the band as the ship went down.

Back up the steep slope and through the ecclesiastical archway then crossing the busy road and dropping almost as steeply down a side street.  At the bottom of this side street with it's handsome stone built properties we arrived at a modern by-pass road flanked by a more modern and distinctly less attractive housing estate. We were not done quite with Victoriana as we now turned up a cobbled street. Here, as we were passing the backs of a row of terraced houses, we saw the blocked up hatches which we supposed were the means of access for the "Night Soil " to be shovelled out of the "Soil Closets" and taken away by horse and cart. 

 Towards the end of this street we came across an old cotton (?) mill which was now a hive of activity, manufacturing what appeared to be precision engineered metal parts.

Our road now took us up past the edges of the housing estate along a further broad road until a footpath sign pointed our way to the Foulridge reservoirs which looked very low and in need of some serious rainfall.

Fields, roads and farm tracks lay before us as we headed for our planned  lunch site 

One of the farms we passed through presented something of an enigma. The buildings and gardens looked untidy, dishevelled and down at heel. But this farmer drove a Lambourghini,

WELL SORT OF !

The rest of his (oops ... or her.) equipment was rather more mundane.

  Lunchtime and as often happens a churchyard was the obvious choice and much to our surprise it was revealed that some of our members actually have heavenly  bodies !

This "generous" church had multiple benches  which we gratefully used.  The benches also gave us a wonderful view of the way ahead as it led around further reservoirs.

The church was high on a hill and we now needed to leave the churchyard and drop back to the highway till another footpath sign led us further down to the reservoir we had seen as we lunched.

 As we left this reservoir we followed a path that without us knowing it had a long tunnel beneath it. Before we came to this discovery , however, Mike pointed out that we were also following one of England's long distance cycleways.

 

The day was hot and sticky and as we arrived at a small wall beyond which the Leeds/Liverpool canal emerged from the Foulridge Tunnel we opted to take our final flask finishing coffee break.

As we sat with our coffees a rumbling noise emanated from the tunnel mouth below.  "It's a boat coming through the tunnel"  someone realised. and so it was.

Something's coming.......

don't know what......

but it is.......

 gonna be great !

(a nod to  West Side Story )

.....and great it was. A 60ft narrow boat. 

On previous visits to this tunnel we have been fooled into thinking that the towpath we wanted to follow was that clearly visible on the left. Not so ! This is just a Quayside where boats can tie up and wait their turn to enter the tunnel. It soon ends. The path was a grassy one on the right which gradually descended until it met the canal several hundred yards further on.

From here on our route was at it's busiest with ramblers, dog walkers and cyclists passing at frequent intervals. One wonders if the "Navvies" who built these watery commercial "motorways" ever envisaged their future use as superb leisure facilities ?

The sun continued to shine warmly down upon as we reached Barrowford locks and subsequently it's reservoir.

Was it a bird ? Was it a plane ?  What was it Danny ?

Leaving the canal, we circled the edge of Barrowford reservoir before dropping down it's steep bank, crossing the road and approaching the roaring motorway.

Just like all the other reservoirs in the area this one looked alarmingly low.

As we walked along the banks some of us remembered that reservoirs was often pronounced reser--VOYS by older people and we pondered that perhaps "Voy" was a corruption of the french word for water "Eau" ??? i.e "reserve eau" a place where water was reserved.

The motorway was the signal that our walk was near it's end and once we had passed under it we soon found ourselves back in Boundary Mill's car park.

At this point it looked as if someone was about to throw in the towel..... it had been a long hot and sticky walk.

....but NO ! We're made of tougher stuff than that.   Or are we ?

A good and historically interesting walk. Well done A.D.


More Photos :-

"GUNNERA" giant rhubarb like plant which is edible (with caution) and has medicinal properties.

From the southern hemisphere. Many varieties.

Flowering Gunnera.

I wouldn't go too near the tunnel fellas. There's a very large and fierce looking frog just inside