Preston to Burnley. Day 2.

Hello. My feet are throbbing a bit tonight, I've walked 22 miles, and finished up in another Holiday Inn, this one is at Burnley. It's £10 cheaper, at £55 for bed and breakfast, and another lovely room. 

Not so warm today so I had to keep my jacket on. No rain though so that's a blessing. I set off along the A59 out of Preston, this is going over the River Ribble close to the M62 junction.

With the motorway ahead I was pleased to see a dedicated cycle and pedestrian path which goes off to the left there, and underneath the motorway junction.

Only another 17 miles to go. I'm going to bypass Blackburn by taking a straightish line across, a few miles north of it.

From a distance I saw a church with two clock faces, and went down the lane to investigate. St Leonards is at Samlesbury, it has a junior school just behind it.

The two clock faces.

Then I walked all the way around it, and found a third clock face. Most unusual.

I found a footpath which runs almost parallel to the road so I took that to get away from the traffic. On the map it indicates that there is a Methodist church. It looks as if it is now a private residence, but they have put this statue in place on a pedestal to keep it's links with the past.

Back onto the A59 again, I passed Salmesbury Airport. BAE Systems are also on the sight. They design, manufacture, and upgrade and support combat and trainer aircraft.

Time to get off the main road, and take a minor road through Mellor Brook, and Mellor. I seemed to be plodding along uphill at a slow rate for ever. Views over Blackburn.

This is the railway station near the A666.

I crossed over the A666 on the outskirts of Blackburn, and continued on the minor road.

What do you do with a redundant pub? The Bulls Head has been turned into a Co op shop.

A couple of miles further on I went over the Parsonage Reservoir. It was a bit chilly.

Fed up with being high up, and in the wind, I headed for Rishton. Just before the A678 I picked up the canal towpath to get off road for a while.

Coming back onto the road again I saw this decorative stainless steel panel across the footpath. It's a pity it hasn't been cleaned up a bit. Needs a bit of spit and polish.

Now this was interesting, a place that sells palm trees, but parts of it looked in a bit of a mess. Some of the plants had fallen over and were too big for their pots, and some looked half dead. What a shame.

These didn't look too bad.

The front gate was locked, nobody about. I wonder if they are still trading. If they are having a closing down sale I wouldn't mind some of them. Nothing on their web site.

I plodded on, Clayton le Moors, Altham, and into Padiham.

I stopped to make a phone call to the Holiday Inn, yes they have beds, so that's where I'll make for. I picked up some food at a Spar shop. It was half past six when I staggered through the door, ha ha, only kidding, but I couldn't have walked much further. It's close to Junction 10 of the M65, so a good place to start from in the morning.

I'm heading for Haworth tomorrow, a trek across the moors. The weather is supposed to be better, with sunshine. I'm going to inspect my feet now, I suspect I have a couple of blisters which need attention. My leg muscles are a bit achey, but they will be alright after a good nights sleep. I'm a bit worried about my throat though, it's a bit sore, and I have been sneezing, don't tell me I am going to get a cold, I never have a cold. I shall blooming well curse if I do.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip