#8 - Glasson Dock, Aldcliffe and Lancaster Canal
Lancaster, Lancashire, EnglandLength: 9.4 mi • Est. 4 h 20 m
The best starting point is at the Condor Green picnic spot where there are toilets and the 'Cafe 'd Lune' for refreshments. The old railway line from Glasson Dock into the centre of Lancaster is part of the linear 'River Lune Millennium Park' and is used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders. When Lancaster docks became increasingly silted-up a railway was constructed in 1883 to use Glasson as the port for Lancaster. The last passenger service was withdrawn in 1933 and the railway closed in 1964. The line passes Ashton Hall, now Lancaster Golf Club, which was the home of Sir James Williamson the Lancaster linolium magnate. After leaving the line and passing through the village of Aldcliffe the Lancaster Canal is followed south to Galgate. The towpath is initially tarmac but disintegrates into a wet grassy track which passes through a 2 mile long cutting to avoid the construction of locks. The bridges are fine elliptical arches designed by John Rennie. From the canal to Condor Green the going over pasture land, is in winter, of the usual sticky mud variety. Glasson Dock in its earliest days in the 1780's attracted trade from as far afield as the West Indies and The Baltic.
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