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STAGE 1A

The Lancaster Link

Start	Lancaster station SD 472 617
Distance	5.3km/3.3 miles
Total ascent	25m/80ft
Ride	Almost entirely off-road, but with better surfaces than many main roads and, apart from the optional climb onto Castle Hill, almost totally flat
OS maps	Landranger 97 Kendal & Morecambe
Connections	Lancaster station, West Coast Main Line
Accommodation	B&Bs and several hotels within easy reach. Lancaster’s Tourist Information Centre is located in the Storey, a large building 150m down from the station on the main road (Meeting House Lane) towards the town centre: use the main station exit on the east side. The University of Cumbria’s Lancaster campus (formerly St Martin’s College) provides low-cost accommodation (student rooms) during the summer vacation.

This isn’t officially part of the Lancashire Cycleway, but it’s such a useful connection for those arriving by rail that it has to be included. Not only is Lancaster the nearest West Coast Main Line station to the Cycleway itself, but the connecting route out of town is almost entirely off-road (just 20m of back street to contend with), avoiding any tangles with traffic.

Lancaster is also the handsomest large town in the county (it’s officially a city, but feels more like a town – and a good thing too). The only drawback is that it would be easy to be seduced into exploring Lancaster and forget about the rest of the Cycleway.

Leave the station through a gate alongside Platform 1. You may have to cross the footbridge (lifts available) to get there. To visit Castle Hill, turn left and left again, over the railway. To get straight into the Cycleway, turn right and follow the cycle path across a field.

Meet Long Marsh Lane, turn right under the railway and then immediately left on another cycle path, joining a former railway line. This runs below the Priory, through trees, then behind houses before emerging just above the river. Continue along the old railway line, past the back of Sainsbury’s. Wiggle through an underpass beneath the busy Lancaster–Morecambe road. The underpass is ridable, given reasonable bike-handling skills, but the barriers could be tricky with panniers.

Continue past a small skate-park and under the roadway of Skerton Bridge. The imposing arches of the Lune Aqueduct are the next landmark. The next two bridges overhead carry a new link road and then the M6, after which you soon get glimpses of fine waterfront houses in Halton. Keep on to a small car park then turn left to cross the river on a narrow iron bridge. The official Cycleway route joins from the east here.

Riverside view of Halton: a few steps from the route but screened by trees

At the time of writing, the cycle path is re-routed around works on the new motorway junction/link road. Normal service may be resumed by the time this edition is published but, if not, the detour is obvious and easy to follow.

CASTLE HILL AND LANCASTER

This hilltop site, commanding the lowest feasible crossing of the River Lune, has been a strategic fortified site since Roman times, and may well have been occupied even earlier. Sporadic excavations, notably in the steep field north-west of the Priory, have yielded some evidence about Roman occupation, but the overall shape of the Roman fort and town is unclear: much must have been destroyed or covered by later buildings, especially the Castle. One small fragment of Roman masonry and the foundations of a bath house can be seen, but they will only excite the most dedicated antiquary.

The Castle we see today is built around a Norman keep, although its most distinctive feature is the 15th-century gatehouse. Although this is referred to locally as John O’Gaunt’s Gate it was actually built for his son, Henry IV, and it’s uncertain whether John O’Gaunt ever visited the town.

The Castle housed a prison for centuries, right up until 2011, and John O’Gaunt’s Gate finally opened to the public in 2013. Access remains limited: you can walk into the courtyard and visit the new café, and guided tours will take you further. Tour highlights include the Shire Hall, with hundreds of heraldic shields around the walls; the Crown Court; the original dungeons; and the Drop Room, where many condemned prisoners spent their last moments. Among famous trials which took place here were those of the supposed Pendle Witches, of whom more when we get to Pendle (Stage 7). Castle Hill also boasts many fine 18th-century houses, dating from the time when Lancaster was a major port.

Next door to the Castle is the Priory Church. The church is always open – although you can’t just wander round when there’s a service in progress – and it is exceptionally beautiful. The bulk of the building is 15th century. A particular treasure are the mediaeval wooden choir stalls.

There’s a fine view across the city from the top of the steps alongside the church. Prominent buildings include some 19th-century mills, the Town Hall, and St Peter’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, but lording it over everything on the hilltop opposite is the Ashton Memorial. Variously described as ‘England’s grandest folly’ and ‘the Taj Mahal of the North’, it was traditionally known locally just as ‘T’Structure’. The white Portland stone building, completed in 1909, was built for Lord Ashton, formerly ‘Lile Jimmy’ Williamson, as a memorial to his wife. He made a fortune from linoleum and oilcloth and in the late 19th century was the undisputed overlord of the town. Today the memorial houses displays and exhibitions and there are superb views from its balconies – but it’s a steep climb, and out of your way. Still, every passer-by wonders what it is, and now you know.

BY THE RIVER LUNE

The route runs behind St George’s Quay, the core of the former Port of Lancaster. In the mid-18th century it was, briefly, the second port of the nation. Many warehouses survive, now converted to other, mainly residential uses. Recent additions are very much in keeping, so the whole Quay retains a distinctly Georgian appearance. The centrepiece is the beautiful Customs House, dating from 1764, which now houses the Maritime Museum.

Part of St George’s Quay, with the Customs House on the left

Lancaster’s prosperity in this period was inextricably linked with the slave trade. This is now acknowledged by a small memorial, on the right after the first access ramp of the Millennium Bridge.

Almost exactly on the line of Roman and mediaeval bridges, the Millennium Bridge is dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists. The crossing links to another cycleway (yet another former railway line) which leads to Morecambe.

After the underpass, the grassy area known as Green Ayre was the site of Lancaster’s second railway station, closed and demolished in 1976. Just beyond is Skerton Bridge. Built in 1783, it was reputedly the first bridge of its size anywhere in the country to have a level roadway. The ride continues past the backs of several industrial estates. On the left are islands in the Lune, then the weirs which mark the upper limit of the tides. In winter you can usually spot cormorants here. Above the weir a broad and relatively straight reach of the river is popular with rowers.

The Lune Aqueduct dates from 1797 and carries the Lancaster Canal. Its construction was so expensive that the canal company was unable to build another bridge at Preston, which would have connected the Lancaster Canal to the national network. A connection was finally made in 2002 (Day Ride 16 visits this Ribble Link).

STAGE 1

Halton to Hornby

Start	Bridge over River Lune SD 504 646
Distance	42.2km/26.2 miles; Arnside Loop adds 5.4km/3.4 miles
Total ascent	336m/1100ft
Steepest climb	Approx 5% (Thrang Brow)
Ride	Mostly rolling lanes: a fairly steep climb out of Halton, and another at Thrang Brow. Elsewhere gradients are moderate. One footbridge, where you should defer to pedestrians.
OS maps	Landranger 97 Kendal & Morecambe
Connections	Regular trains to Manchester (airport), and Leeds and Barrow-in-Furness from Carnforth; for the West Coast Main Line, change at Lancaster. Silverdale and Arnside also have trains to Manchester and Barrow. Hornby’s nearest station is at Wennington (Lancaster–Leeds line).
Accommodation	Pubs, hotels and B&Bs in Silverdale, and in Arnside, which also has a Youth Hostel. The area has several camping/caravan sites. Thereafter little until the Lune Valley, where Hornby has two comfortable pubs and some B&B accommodation.
Intermediate distances	Carnforth 9.2km/5.7 miles; Silverdale 17.2km/10.7 miles; Borwick 30.5km/19 miles; Arkholme 38km/23.6 miles.

From Halton, usefully tied into the Lancaster Link, the route climbs onto a ridge which offers some great views, especially over Morecambe Bay. After Carnforth the way winds through the gentle scenery of the Arnside and Silverdale AONB.

Arnside, across the county boundary in Cumbria, is a useful and very pleasant place to stop. The views across the Kent estuary to the Lakeland Fells are superb, too. It’s easily reached by a short optional loop, adding 5.4km/3.4m, described where it leaves the main route.

If you've come along the Lancaster Link, turn left. If you’ve ridden in from Crook O’Lune, turn right. Either way, cross the narrow bridge. The entry and exit show evidence of inaccurate driving, but there’s additional space for bikes and pedestrians. Follow the lane up to a T junction and go left, passing the Greyhound Inn before rising to a mini-roundabout. Go straight across (second exit) into Foundry Lane.

Continue up through the trees then, still climbing, over the motorway to a crossroads. Turn right and climb steadily, passing a tall television mast. At the next T junction go right, re-crossing the motorway, then climb again through Nether Kellet. Near the top of the village turn left for Carnforth: you can freewheel almost all the way if you like.

Nether Kellet’s village pub is the Limeburner’s Arms, a highly appropriate name as there are still working quarries nearby. It’s probably the most traditional pub on the Cycleway route. Don’t expect food, and don’t expect to find it open in the daytime either.

Turn left at a T junction onto the B6254 and go down into Carnforth over a narrow bridge with traffic lights, crossing the Lancaster Canal. Go straight ahead at the next set of traffic lights and down to pass Carnforth Station.

Carnforth boasts one of the best second-hand bookshops in the north-west, and a variety of pubs and cafés. The main claim to fame is Carnforth Station, which was a principal location for one of the all-time classic British movies, Brief Encounter (released in 1945 and starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard). There’s a pleasant tearoom (it lacks the smoky atmosphere of the film, which may be why it’s pleasant) and some intriguing historical displays. The curved platforms that provided so many great camera angles have also been spruced up. Don’t miss the platform clock, which figured significantly in the film.

Carnforth Station, with its ‘film-star’ clock

Continue over one railway bridge (over the West Coast Main Line), then under a second (the line to Leeds). Turn left before a third bridge to follow a minor road alongside the muddy River Keer.