The Route
Follow Jasper Winn's route along the Coast to Coast Canoe Trail that runs across the north of England - using the Leeds and Liverpool canal and the Aire and Calder canal covering 170 miles.
START - ALBERT DOCK
12 October 2016
We have a start date of Wed. 12th October at 14:00hrs from Liverpool Dock....
DAY 1 - THE LEAVING OF LIVERPOOL
13 October 2016
The plan was to be on the water at the start of the Leeds and Liverpool canal by 14.00. It seemed smart to have plenty of time to cover the ten plus...
DAY 2 - STILL WATERS RUN
14 October 2016
Up at dawn - not particularly early in mid-autumn - and skipped breakfast to get on the water. Round the first bend I had to limbo dance under one of...
DAY 3 - GOING WITH THE NO-FLOW
15 October 2016
Up at dawn. Tin-can spirits stove on for coffee whilst I packed up. When I was sea-kayaking around Ireland a perfect start to the day was getting...
DAY 4 - THERE'S ALWAYS THE WEATHER
16 October 2016
On every trip there's a day - usually around the third - when for no real reason morale dips and one wonders what one's doing. So it was this morning....
DAY 5 - CALYPSO, CURRY AND A COCKATOO
17 October 2016
My last post reported me bivi-ed out by a bridge deep in the country side, well before Blackburn, and falling into early but well earned...
DAY 6 - A BREAKFAST IN JAPANESE AND A TUNNEL TRIP TO THE EGG
18 October 2016
Rain at night, when I'm under my tarpaulin and warm and dry, then dried up and clear by dawn when i get up is perfect. And this morning was perfect....
DAY 7 - HERITAGE BOATS, TUNNELS AND CROSSING THE PENNINES
19 October 2016
Those days when the most happens get the shortest posts. It's obvious really. One can't be in two places at once. Not doing stuff and jotting it all...
DAY 8 - HIGH COUNTRY PADDLING WITH MONKS AND DIPPERS
20 October 2016
The perfect place to pull out and sleep appeared late last night. Tempting as it was to keep paddling ever deeper into the night, it was also...
DAY 9 - DAYS OF WINE AND HEATHER
21 October 2016
An early evening arrival in Skipton, and a hundred miles covered seemed cause for mild celebration. So have spent two days off the water and mostly...
DAY 10 - EXTENDED SHORE LEAVE
22 October 2016
I'd meant to get back on the water and be paddling eastwards again on Friday morning, but what with being up on the moors and striding around like...
DAY 11 - ON THE WATER ROAD AGAIN
23 October 2016
It's always hard to get back into expedition mind frame after a break. I was in Skipton early in the morning but then got sidetracked. A long...
DAY 12 - INTO THE HEART OF DARKNESS
24 October 2016
The alarm went off at 5.30. It was cold and clear outside by sleeping bag. And dark. I reckoned I'd been a bit austere with my six-on-the-water start...
Day 13 - BIG GETS BIGGER
25 October 2016
There were numerous reasons why I left Leeds late in the afternoon, rather than late in the morning as planned. Waking in a warm bed. A bathroom with...
DAY 14 - A PADDLE THROUGH PARADISE
26 October 2016
I woke on and off through the night as distant machinery across the waters pounded and whirred, not in a disturbing way but as in the whooshing of...
DAY 15 - LAST LEG
27 October 2016
I’ve learnt that there are few if any handy cafes for breakfast on this navigation, so heat coffee and make porridge as I’m packing up. I launch...
DAY 16 - RUNNING OUT OF LAND TO PADDLE ACROSS
28 October 2016
Another clear dawning. Traffic rushing across Rawcliffe Bridge. And down the gun barrel straight last few miles of the Aire and Calder Navigation I...
Updated: 30/10/16