Liverpool to Goole via canal towpaths

[taximan]

Has anyone cycled this route along the Leeds Liverpool and Aire and Calder Canals? We are three blokes all on the wrong side of 65 and are looking for a cycle / camping break next year and would appreciate any useful information about the route, (Good food & Ale, Campsites etc)

 

[PaulSB]

I can vouch for the Liverpool Leeds section being perfectly doable. You'll encounter a wide range of surfaces from Tarmac to grass with a 6" wide "path" to fit your wheel into. I used a hybrid without any issues.

I don't do camping so can't help with that aspect

The Top Lock at Whittle-le-Woods, near Chorley has a good range of real ales. Tuesday night is curry night and Thursday live music. It's on the canalside. Unsure about food.

About 3 miles further you have The Boatyard, also on canal. Very popular but personally haven't been in years.

At same bridge as Boatyard turn left on main road. T junction turn right and 100 yards is Royal Oak. Good food and beer. My local of choice - I live in a small village on the canal equidistant between the three.

PS - I'm 61!!

 

[vernon]

You could try looking at OS maps, they have some but not all campsites marked.

 

[growingvegetables]

Leeds-Castleford - fine riding, apart from a silly footbridge at Thwaite Mills. Not much tarmacked - but pretty well surfaced.

Castleford-Knottingley - hmm. It can be done via the river bank, but it's NOT easy riding.

Knottingley-Goole - unridable by canal towpath. There is none. Only a few stretches of rough anglers' footpaths. I can vouch for fine riding Eggborough, Great Heck, Pollington, Rawcliffe Bridge, Rawcliffe, and Goole. Not very direct, but mostly on quiet country roads. Plenty of good village pubs.

 

[growingvegetables]

Just a thought - why on earth Goole? You and I may be the only people in the world who would have thought of Goole ...

.... as a destination worth arriving at!

Hey - it IS interesting. Pubs terrible. Night life scary. But I do like it.

 

[taximan]

Thanks for your input guys, The reason I asked about Camp-sites is because I have tried using the o/s maps in the past and in my experience there are many sites not shown and and on a couple of occasions sites had closed down. In any case I find that personal recommendations usually lead to the best places.
The same goes for places to eat & drink. what we enjoy after a days riding is a couple of pints of good ale and a tasty meal but we do not do scary pubs any more. As for Goole, I believe it is the terminus of the Aire & Calder canal. Our original idea was to head off from there to our homes in in Whitby but after reading the above post perhaps we would be better off leaving the canal at Castleford and head home from there.

 

[Pjays666]

When i did liverpool to leeds canal I struggled to find a campsite around chorley so stayed in a travelodge in withnell at side of canal. Second night stayed at eshton road campsite in gargrave, again at side of canal. Dont know about aire and calder but leeds liverpol is fine on hybrid, yes there are some areas around skipton and gargrave which could be better but all in all a nice ride. You could divert onto quiet lanes to navigate around the worst bits with ease. The most awkward part of the ll is the two tunnels around gannow and foulridge where you have to leave the canal but they are signposted. I would be happy to cycle that 15 miles with you and navigate as i live in burnley. When will you be doing this ride?

 

[taximan]

When i did liverpool to leeds canal I struggled to find a campsite around chorley so stayed in a travelodge in withnell at side of canal. Second night stayed at eshton road campsite in gargrave, again at side of canal. Dont know about aire and calder but leeds liverpol is fine on hybrid, yes there are some areas around skipton and gargrave which could be better but all in all a nice ride. You could divert onto quiet lanes to navigate around the worst bits with ease. The most awkward part of the ll is the two tunnels around gannow and foulridge where you have to leave the canal but they are signposted. I would be happy to cycle that 15 miles with you and navigate as i live in burnley. When will you be doing this ride?

Hi Pjays
Many thanks for your kind offer, however we have decided that instead of the Liverpool - Goole route we were thinking about, we would tackle the Way of the Roses instead. We have pencilled it in for early August next year and we plan to ride at a leasurly pace for about 4 hours per day pace and take in some sightseeing along the way. after arriving at Brid we hope to take an extra day to ride back to Whitby which will give us a total distance of abt 215 miles.

 

[Pjays666]

Hi Pjays
Many thanks for your kind offer, however we have decided that instead of the Liverpool - Goole route we were thinking about, we would tackle the Way of the Roses instead. We have pencilled it in for early August next year and we plan to ride at a leasurly pace for about 4 hours per day pace and take in some sightseeing along the way. after arriving at Brid we hope to take an extra day to ride back to Whitby which will give us a total distance of abt 215 miles.

I am sure you will enjoy it especially once you have passed brimham rock and the terrain is a little less hilly. I have done it twice from morecambe and thoroughly enjoyed it.