I spent part of last week cycling along the towpath of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

It was a great trip with many highlights, including the amazing Five Rise Locks at Bingley and the series of 21 locks close to Wigan.

I would highly recommend people to visit the delightful and tranquil stretch of canal between Gargrave and East Marton and beyond towards Barnoldswick.

Heading westwards, the canal takes you through East Lancashire, skirting places like Nelson, Burnley and Blackburn before reaching Chorley. On day three we travelled through Wigan, riding past its famous ‘pier’, and kept on going until we reached the end of the canal, about a mile from the heart of Liverpool’s city centre.

During the ride we spotted herons and kingfishers and much other wildlife, including ducks, swans and flocks of geese.

We met anglers, artists, walkers and fellow cyclists along the way and those at the controls of the canal boats we passed always had a nod or a wave to greet us.

Indeed, all members of the canal community were friendly and welcoming.

I was impressed by the number of The Canal and River Trust volunteers who were helping those on boats to navigate the many locks along the route.

The trip made me think about the Lancaster Canal and, in particular, the ‘Northern Reaches’ section from Tewitfield locks to Kendal.

Significant parts of this section are filled in. In some case the sight of a canal bridge in the middle of a field is the only reminder this was once a thriving canal route.

The Lancaster Canal Trust continues to campaign and work hard with the aim of restoring and reopening the Northern Reaches and hopes boats will one day be able to travel all the way to Kendal.

There are engineering challenges, of course, including the fact the route is dissected by the M6. While these are not insurmountable, they would be expensive to tackle. And some sections of the canal are now privately owned.

But imagine the recreational, tourism and economic boost if Kendal once again had a canal link to Lancaster and beyond to the national waterway network.