Dog-friendly walks in Ripon

Two and a third miles each way of dead-level towpath from the restored canal basin in Ripon down past Littlethorpe and three locks to Oxclose Lock, where the canal meets the River Ure, making a four-and-a-half-mile round on firm ground that barely notices the weather. Start at Ripon Canal Basin off Bondgate Green, ten minutes from the Market Place and a short walk from the bus station; there is parking at the basin and a cafe at the marina. It is a green corridor full of kingfishers and moorhens, and the flat surface is a gift for an old dog, but the water is deep and cold at the locks and the towpath is shared with cyclists, so keep dogs on the lead.