Whitley Lock and the Aire and Calder towpath

The Knottingley and Goole Canal is the man-made half of the Aire and Calder Navigation, cut in 1826, and it runs dead straight past the southern edge of Eggborough parish under the M62. From Whitley Lock the towpath heads east-south-east towards Great Heck and Pollington on a wide, level, well-drained surface that stays walkable in winter when the field paths round here turn to clay. The Canal and River Trust's towpath code asks only that you keep dogs under close control and clean up after them; it does not require a lead, but there are moored boats, anglers and a hard vertical edge into deep water, so most people clip on anyway. There is no seasonal restriction and no dog exclusion on this reach.