Canal wandering at Withnell Fold

To brush off some cobwebs after New Year, we decided to get some fresh air via an easy stroll along the canal bank. The Leeds & Liverpool canal crosses Blackburn and there are numerous points to join the towpath - today we chose a very familiar spot: the Boatyard Inn at Riley Green.

Although the temperatures were above freezing and a little warmer than of late, the canal was firmly frozen with thick ice - I threw a large rock high in the air and it landed on the ice with a thud, but hardly left a mark (I wasn't going after it).

Walking down the towpath under the new motorway bridge, we walked on past several fields to the tiny village of Withnell Fold. Here the old paper mill looked virtually unchanged since it was built in 1843. The wider goods barges moored outside were held fast by the ice and won't be going anywhere for a while yet.

Crossing the bridge here, we walked through the mill courtyard past a square chimney and on to the terraced cottages in the village, overlooking public gardens, which were once the original 'lodge' or reservoir for the mill. The village was the product of the industrial expansion in Lancashire in the mid 19th century, when there was a large increase in the number of mills being built.

As a water supply and transport links were important to a mill's success, sites away from the town centres became important, and Withnell Fold is a good example. The mill was completed on a greenfield site by Thomas Blinkhorn Parke, the son of another Lancashire millowner. Parke also oversaw the creation of the village, and at the time it was revolutionary, with each cottage having a garden and outside toilet.

Walking through the farmyard, we completely missed the large buildings of Withnell Hall, former home of the Parke family, screened by the farm cottages. We progressed onwards through the farm and out across fields to the next farm and from there the route led to a footbridge over the M65 back to the car. Except the paths weren't so easy to pick out and we ended up in fields as the sky began to darken. Keeping our wits, we worked out our bearings and headed for the nearby main road, opposite Bury Lane in Withnell, leaving us a walk of a mile or so along the road back to the car.

A reminder that the days are much shorter at this time of year!