Burnley Manchester Road Railway Station

The L & L eases through the Pennines and into Lancashire. The canal architecture is simple but elegant, the old bridges spanning the water rather than the cut-price swing bridges.

Now for some quirks: beside one set of locks some flowers mark what seems to be the burial place of a loved animal. Nearby a strand of barbed wire passes right through a tree trunk; can the trees really grow so quickly around here? And in the small town of Barnoldswick (pronounced Barlick) some puppets keep watch over a building site.

Barnoldwick is a good example of a small town outdoing a larger neighbour for beauty, in this case Burnley. One competitor for our pub of the week is a micropub called the Barnoldswick Tap. The locals seem aggrieved that boundary changes moved the town to Lancashire from its Red Rose rival, Yorkshire. But they give us a warm welcome despite the barman having to close at 8.30 to catch his bus home. (And there's another bar waiting for us up the street).

Burnley is still waiting for some levelling up, but no danger of going dry at the Bridge Inn & Bier Haus (sic). Local Moorhouse's and bottled beers from Germany, Belgium and others.Read more