Walk · East Riding of Yorkshire

Pocklington Canal Towpath: Canal Head to the Bielby Arm

Pocklington · YO42 1NR

5.2MILES

2h 20mON FOOT

15mCLIMB

Out & backSHAPE

Off-road 95% 5% shares tarmac with cars

Field & moor path 85%Lane & track 10%Road with traffic 5%

Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill. Off-lead information here is what walkers reported or what signage allows — never our advice. Whether and when a dog is off the lead is the owner’s decision and legal responsibility; keep dogs under control near livestock and follow signs on the day.

Starts at

Canal Head, Pocklington, at the end of Canal Lane off the A1079 roundabout south-east of the town YO42 1NR

Parking

Free informal parking at Canal Head by the old wharf buildings, perhaps fifteen spaces on rough ground. It fills on summer weekends and there is no overflow, so the fallback is the pay-and-display in

Directions to the start →

Flat, sheltered and almost entirely off-road, the Pocklington Canal runs nine and a half miles from Canal Head down to the River Derwent at East Cottingwith. This out-and-back takes the top end from Canal Head past Top Lock, Silburn Lock and Coates Lock to the Bielby Arm and back, which is the tree-lined, un-restored half with humpbacked bridges and no boat traffic to speak of. Most of the canal is SSSI, so keep a dog out of the reed fringe in the nesting season. The Canal and River Trust's own towpath guidance asks for a short lead around locks and bridge holes and says plainly that dogs are not to swim in the canal, which matters here because the banks are steep-sided and hard to climb out of.

THE SMALL PRINTCanal and River Trust towpath guidance: keep your dog on a short lead around busy spots like locks and bridges, and dogs are not allowed to swim in the canals. The towpath itself is open and unrestricted, and there is no dog control order on it. Much of the canal is SSSI and the lower reaches sit inside the Lower Derwent Valley National Nature Reserve.

House rules, decoded

Water bowls

Off-lead allowed

REGION · EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE

GRID · 53.9253, -0.7561

SOURCE · HTTPS://CANALRIVERTRUST.ORG.UK/THINGS-TO-DO/WALKING/TYPES-OF-WALKS-NEAR-ME/DOG-FRIENDLY-WALKS-NEAR-ME

Pocklington Canal Towpath: Canal Head to the Bielby Arm

House rules, decoded

Bella Vita Pizzeria

Bengal Lounge

Black Bull

Dog-friendly cottages you can book

Tell us the pub we have not walked into yet.

Get the new stamps first.

Your patch, watched for you.