Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
a moat. Behind it is a battery. The castle and a limestone quarry quay can be reached along
the Springs Branch from Belmont Wharf, which has the remains of a crane plus shops in old
canal warehouses.
The A65 comes alongside for a while, the border of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and
the canal's scenery of rolling moorland is at its best for the next 16km.
Gargrave is a grey limestone town with the 16th century St Andrew's church and fragments
of Saxon crosses, a Roman villa and a prehistoric camp. The Pennine Way crosses before
Gargrave House in an attractively groomed area of town and countryside. The A65 crosses
back below the lock at the Anchor Inn and leaves.
The six Bank Newton Locks are some of the most picturesque in the country, set in Pennine
scenery. They have iron hooks for towrope guides, the top lock with mason's marks visible.
Once the canal straightens out, it enters a wooded cutting and is followed by the Pennine
Way for a kilometre, during which it is crossed by a unique double-arched bridge at East Mar-
ton. The lower arch carried a packhorse bridge and a higher arch has been built on top to take
the A59. The Cross Keys Inn refers to St Peter's church, which has a battlemented Norman
tower, a fragment of an intricately carved Saxon cross and a Norman font.
The first Lancashire industrial town of Barnoldswick is entered past an array of nest boxes
and pirates. This small Pennine town would not be the expected place to find Rolls Royce
Aerospace but they have two factories here, the first in an old cotton mill by the B6252 cross-
ing. Indeed, in the RB engine series the 'B' refers to Barnoldswick. Silentnight have a bed
factory in an old textile mill. The 1920 Bancroft Mill Engine is marked by its chimney and
has steaming open days with tours as usual, every month.