52_The Lune in Lancaster

19th June 2019
Hest Bank is a fabulous place to moor, its about 5 mins walk to the coastline and you can cycle or bus into the main Morecambe Bay where there is good shopping and some lovely views.  We cycled into Morecambe Bay a couple of times from Hest Bank for shopping supplies and also to visit the lovely fabric shop they have in town, and of course we had to admire the statue of Eric Morecambe,  born in 1926 John Eric Batholomew  but took his stage name from his place of birth.
 
After a damp start to the day the sun came out for us and it were ready for a glorious cruise.  We leave Hest Bank on 19th June and head south down the Lancaster Canal, travelling through some of Lancashires finest countryside, before traversing the rather splendid Lune Aquaduct with the River Lune running some 60ft below.  The aqueduct was designed by John Rennie, opened in 1797 and is the largest all masonry aqueduct in Britain.  Its a magnificent feat of civil engineering at 664 ft (202m) long and consisting of five 70ft (21m) semi circular arches. The cost of the construction was nearly £50,000, almost £30,000 over budget, this vast overspend was the reason that the Lancaster Canal was never joined to the main canal network as there wasn't enough money for the planned aqueduct over the River Ribble at the southern end of the canal.
We arrive in Lancaster with the sound of church bells ringing in the distance and moor up in the city centre, a trip of 4 miles taking an hour and 40 mins.