Galloway's
Society for the Blind		 Bringing the Leeds & Liverpool Canal Back to Life - A Heritage Lottery Project
About the Project

Johnson's Hillock

Salterforth to
Greenberfield

Salterforth to Greenberfield - Walk Guide - Section 07

A panel on Salterforth Wharf gives an overview of the walk, noting the features of interest between here and Greenberfield Locks. Salterforth was once a more important canal centre than it looks today, with several boatmen living in the village, and there was a boatyard towards Foulridge for repairing boats.

One of the many lime kilns alongside the canal was located at Salterforth Wharf, just next to the road below the present entrance to the wharf, though nothing remains today. A warehouse was built here in 1898 at a cost of just over £400. Similar to that at Barnoldswick, it was wood framed and sat on a stone wharf, recently covered by tarmac. It was demolished in 1937.

In the days of horse-drawn boats, there were vertical rollers on the bridge and around the sharp bend. Two have been restored. They acted as a guide for the cotton tow line, ensuring it did not catch and stop the boat. They also prevented wear, though it is possible to feel grooves worn into the wooden uprights carrying the rollers after the rollers were removed. Similar grooves can often be found in the stonework of bridges, tow lines often only lasting a few weeks because of the wear they had to endure. A tactile aluminium panel here helps to explain how the system worked.

When the canal bridge was built, the road had to be raised, and this affected the pub. Ask the landlord about his cellars which are actually the ground floor of the pub before the road was raised. You could finish your walk in the pub, or if you are just starting, continue along the towpath, under the Barnoldswick road bridge, no 151A, and on to the stone abutment for the old railway bridge.