Sunday, 3 September 2017

Day: 267 28/8/03 Preston to Tarleton

Weather:  Warm but dull.

Distance:  16 km (10 miles)    Total Distance:   3479 miles

This would be the last walk I would do as part of a trip back from our Lancaster factory as it would be closing down in September.  This was a sad event because the workforce had put in a lot of effort but in the end a slump in demand for camera film put pay to their efforts. 

After my meeting was over I changed and drove down to Preston, parked the car in a park just across the river from where I was to start and then walked over the bridge to where I stopped last time.  I retraced my steps, past the car and along the riverbank.  The park slowly dwindled out into a path through farmland and the number of people around became a lot less.

There was quite a nasty smell at one stage from the rubbish heap on the other side of the river.  Apart from that, it was far from a momentous walk.  It was signposted the Ribble Way, not that I had ever heard of it and I can understand why its not one of the more famous long distance walks!  I stopped for a pub lunch at Longton,  The beer was pretty average. 

The path got harder to follow after that but I managed it.  Towards the end there was no longer a right of way along the river bank and I was forced to go up onto the main road which was none too pleasant given it was a very busy road.  There wasn’t much to see apart from signs to Bank Hall which was appearing on the TV series Restoration where viewers voted which crumbling building they thought most worthy of restoration.  

Once across the river I managed to find a pretty unused path up the river bank and into Tarleton.  There was confusion over where to catch the bus back to Preston as buses appeared to go both ways around the village. I had my doubts that the man who had claimed to help me had told me the truth when a bus going the other way had Preston on the front but one did eventually come and all was OK in life again.



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