Walkies!

Here’s a picture of my dog, Holly, a 12 year-old border terrier. She is the main reason why I’m heading to Cumbria today (a journey brought forward a day in my impatience to get away). Nowadays, Holly’s ideal “walkies” would be for a distance of about a mile where, among other things, there’s an opportunity to cool down occasionally by getting wet on the outside. My preference would be for a longer route, where there’s the chance to cool down in comfort with something wet on the inside. So she’ll stay with family in Cumbria as I go for walkies on my own. Tomorrow, I travel by train to my start point - Leeds.

Considering where to walk and the time available it became clear that I fancied an easy walk; not too many ups and downs, minimum map reading and the time to stop and stare. My list of routes was whittled down to two; The Dales Way and a walk alongside The Leeds and Liverpool Canal. I’ve chosen the latter and set off from Leeds toward Liverpool on Wednesday.

Note the “toward Liverpool”. It’s not my aim to reach Liverpool although I may. The aim is to stroll along the canal path stopping off at suitable cooling-down points along the way.