 |
| Side by side we make our way down through the big lock in Wigan, Paul and Ed on the lock gates |
We get through the next lock with Memphis, and then
over to our left is the water point at the C&RT offices. So we pull over
and wave a cheery goodbye to our new friends, Ed and John.
 |
| We could only get in at this angle, never mind, we got our water and dumped our rubbish |
After filling up and dumping rubbish we were on our
way again to the next huge lock, and in the distance we can see a boat waiting
to go in, brilliant, were not on our own!
Turns out it was Ed and John, they'de got the lock
ready and were waiting for us to go through with them!
 |
| So down we go again, Paul and Ed on the lock gates, John and I on the boats... |
 |
| We arrive at 'Wigan Pier', straight ahead of us on a 90 degree bridge hole bend.... |
 |
| It's all pretty rough around here, Ed walks the towpath as we make our way through Wigan |
 |
| Razor wire is on most walls... and the graffiti is rough |
 |
| Wigan Football club, view from the canal |
Onwards past Wigan Athletic football ground,
and into our next lock, and in came Memphis behind us.
Another mile and we were in our 5th huge lock of the day. We got the lock ready and they followed in behind. There's a few drunk people about here, swigging out of cider cans, shouting stuff that we couldn't understand!
But we ignored them and carried on our journey.
 |
| John getting ready to hold on tight while the lock's emptied... |
 |
| They make 'em wide around these parts.... |
Out the lock and a mile or so later we were at Crooke,
a really pretty village built around the canal and surrounded by woodlands. We spotted a diesel boat
moored up at the Crooke Hall Inn pub and pulled over to fill up with diesel.
Only 80p per litre! Bargain!
 |
| Tied up next to barge Ambush, waiting to be filled up with diesel |
 |
| John and Ed moored up at the pub, barge Ambush's permanent mooring just behind |
Ed and John pulled over at the pub moorings, we
continued under the bridge and found a lovely spot on the towpath. There were a
couple of other boats there so it seemed an okay place to stop the night.
 |
| We pull in just around the corner, its a lovely little spot full of bird song |
By now it was lunch time, we'd cruised 6 1/2 miles and
done 5 locks in 5 hours, tough and slow going today!
We went off to explore the area and take Jack out for
his walk over grassy meadows and through woodlands.
 |
| The Crooke Hall Inn, a great place to sit in the sun (when it's sunny!) and sip beer |
We all deserved a treat so we called in at the Crooke
Hall Inn and had a cool refreshing beer in the garden overlooking the canal.
Jack enjoyed some refreshing canal water!
The only sounds to be heard in the evening were the
beautiful bird songs coming from the woodland, loud and so varied. We chatted
to our neighbours, Lindsey (yep, there's another!) and Mickey, and settled in for
the evening.
 |
| We set off for our day's cruise through very pretty woodland |
The next morning after a superb Jack walk we set off
for our days cruise. It's about 10am and the sun's shining, it's a great day
.... or so we thought.
We leave the lovely village of Crooke and the
beautiful woodlands and 1 and a half miles on go under an enormous motorway bridge.
 |
| The tall towering M6 motor way bridge, under a rail track crosses the canal |
Paul gets the lock ready and just as I push the boat away
from the side I see Paul crouching down with Jack. Oh god, something's
happened.
Quick as I can I get the boat in the lock and tie up.
Jacks been stung by a bumble bee. He's limping and
licking and looking so sad. I've never seen his leg held up so high as this. He
runs on three legs into the boat and with help is up on the settee in no time.
Panic... panic. Were miles from anywhere, no vets
around.
At worst he could easily have an allergic reaction to
the bee sting, at best I need to calm him down and try to help with the pain of
the sting.
So after an antihistamine tablet, lots of cuddles and a
bicarbonate of soda mix with water on it he's calmed down and seems a bit more
settled. It's swelling up like a goodun, but he's stopped licking it so furiously
now.
 |
| Looking back as we leave the lock under the busy motor way |
After about 15 minutes he's not happy, but he's
settled. We get ready to go down the lock and who should turn up but our
friends Ed and John! So together we go down the lock, and out the huge gates at
the bottom.
 |
| The countryside is so pretty, and the skies so blue |
 |
| This swing bridge hasn't been used for a while so we pass straight through |
We check on Jack every 10 mins or so, he's calm,
settled and seems the antihistamine tablet has worked its magic! His paw is
swelling up a bit, but he's stopped licking it now.
 |
| Paul opens the bridge so I can get the boat through and along comes John and Ed too |
 |
| Well, that's what it says, they've got it all! |
 |
| And we leave Greater Manchester for Lancashire now, the border being under this bridge |
A couple of beautiful miles later through lovely
countryside we get to the deep, deep Appley Bridge Locks.
 |
| John and I wait for the lock to fill up so we can get the boats in, seems to be taking ages.... |
 |
| ... and the gate paddles are tough... and the lock's massive! |
This lock used to be
two smaller locks, one after the other but is now one really deep and wide
lock.
After what seemed an age waiting for the lock to fill up
we both went in. And it seemed ages emptying too!
 |
| Bottom gates still remain of one of the two old locks, now there's just the one deep lock here |
 |
| You can see how deep it is as John brings Memphis out of the lock behind me |
 |
| We spotted this 'shed boat' floating on canoe like platforms, made from chests of drawers! The sign on the towpath side say 'give us a tow', and a little lad peeps out from the front! Strange sights hey! |
 |
| I spotted this turtle basking out the water in the sunshine |
 |
| Most of the bridges are so cute made up of the lancashire grey rock |
 |
| We're now entering Parbold and the original course for the Leeds & Liverpool canal would have gone to our right, but they changed direction and had it going to Wigan instead, the way we've just come |
 |
| Coming into Parbold with the old windmill on our left, now it's an art gallery and someone's home |
Off we both went a couple more miles until we stopped
at a lovely little village called Parbold. Nice 24hr visitor moorings we just
squeezed in a gap just big enough.
 |
| We had a nice little mooring in Parbold, John and Ed up front of us |
Memphis pulled up a couple of boats ahead of us and
they managed to get in too.
 |
| These lads were out for a good time, doing a pub crawl on one of their dad's boat! He was the only sober one! |
Jack's still feeling very sorry for himself but there's
a vets 5 mins walk away in Parbold so were here just in case of any problems.
It's lovely and sunny, everyone seems happy and
chatty, people just out enjoying the rare sunshine. The village has a few small
shops, you can get most of what's needed here with a chemist, vets, pharmacy,
bank, post office, mini supermarket, takeaway Chinese, fish n chips, diy shop
and nice little gift shops.
 |
| Different view of the old windmill |
The old windmill is now a picture gallery and somebody's
home, there's a couple of pubs here too! It's even got a train station with
trains running once an hour!
 |
| We find a lovely walk to the top of a hill! Rest a while old man! |
Off on our explore with Jack we don't take him far. He's
still limping but very keen to go out for his walk. He still finds the
willpower and energy to chase rabbits tho!
We enjoy a quiet and peaceful night here and wake up
on Sunday to beautiful sunshine, not meant to last longer than lunchtime tho!
 |
| We see the hills in the distance, looks lovely! |
 |
| Stopping the traffic is fun, but I think these cyclists enjoyed the rest... |
We set off about 10am, heading the 4 miles to
Burscough.
 |
| This was to be our next canal, but we couldn't get a booking to go over the Ribble Link, so not this year. |
We go through a couple of key operated swing bridges and after 3 miles we get to the Rufford Branch of the Leeds & Liverpool. This eventually takes you to the Lancaster Canal via the Ribble Link, a tidal stretch of river you have to book in advance.
 |
| ... and there's another, spelt differently and wider, but still enjoying their life, I'm sure! |
 |
| Burscough is a really old canal town, these converted buildings were used to stable the horses that worked the canals, now modernised and a lovely attraction to the town |
After another mile we arrive at the busy town of
Burscough. There's lots of moored boats here and lots of people walking the
towpath in the sunshine.
We pull over and go for a wander in the town and when
we get back to the boat Memphis has turned up behind us and is mooring up.
 |
| Leaving Burscough we wave bye to John and Ed once again, but they will catch us up later... |
After a chat to them we get on our way again and head
out of Burscough.
The surrounding fields are flat like the fens,
ploughed up and planted with vegetables, it's still sunny and warm and we chug
along through the wide but twisty canal.
 |
| The surrounding farmland is now used to grow vegetables, reminds us a lot of the fenlands in East Anglia |
 |
| Gongoozlers watch on as Paul opens the bridge and I take the boat through |
There's two swing bridges to get through, both key
operated and both by busy pubs with lots of people sitting outside drinking.
 |
| We get to Heatons Bridge and moor up opposite the 48 hr moorings... |
A couple of miles on and we get to Heatons Bridge, there's 48 hr moorings here but we can't get the boat in because of hidden rocks under the water. So we go over to the towpath side and hammer our pins in and stop for the day.
 |
| Jack enjoys his explore in Heatons Bridge, although there's not much here! |
It's been a gorgeous day's cruise but it's clouding up now
so we go off to explore further up the towpath and in the woods.
When we get back Memphis has turned up and moored in
front of us, they go for a pint at the pub and we chill out for the rest of the
day.
 |
| ... And there's another Happy Dayz, spelt differently again! |
On Monday 2nd June it's raining when we get up. After
walking Jack we set off towards
Liverpool, not long now. It's raining on and off today, brollys are up and
down, coats on and off!
 |
| This piece of canal is actually where the first shovel of dirt was dug out when the canal was built |
 |
| Another disused swing bridge..... vegetation has taken over! |
We cruise on through open countryside, the canal banks
supported by rocky sides, all sloping inwards so you can't get near the edge
when you want to moor up.
 |
| Waiting by Coxheads Swingbridge for the work force from C&RT to come and let us through |
After nearly 6 miles we get to Coxheads Swingbridge, there's
a boat waiting but the lady, Annie, from the boat Dream Catcher, is on her way
down the towpath to us.
 |
| Annie had already phoned up to get help... |
Turns out the bridge is broken, she's called C&RT
and they're on their way out to let us through. So we put the kettle on, more
boats turned up, all waiting to be let through the bridge.
 |
| We all waited by the bridge to be let through |
In total 7 boats were waiting, by 12 noon the C&RT workers had turned
up, pressed a few buttons and the bridge opened.
 |
| Happy men give us a cheery wave as we pass through the swing bridge |
All of us went through, we moored up the other side of
the bridge, all the other boats went on down the canal, including our friends
on Memphis.
 |
| This footpath was totally impassable, we couldn't get through here! |
We had lunch and took Jack for his walk, not a very good one, the footpaths
were virtually impassable and so overgrown we had to turn back and walk the
towpath.
 |
| Moored up for the night, we were just the other side of the Coxheads swing bridge |
It was really quiet and peaceful, no noise, just us
moored out in the middle of nowhere.
Paul fished and caught lots of slimey eels, Jack and I
stayed in and dried off.
Tuesday was a grey, dull and drizzley day. We had to
be at our allocated bridge to be escorted through Liverpool with other boats in
a convoy and so had no choice but move today.
 |
| We made our way through a few swing bridges... |
Paul walked Jack the couple of miles to Maghull, our Morrisons
stop to stock up the cupboards. He opened a couple of swing bridges on his way
and we pulled over just before bridge 14.
 |
| Moored up near Morrisons, just a 5 minute walk from here |
Morrisons was a 5 minute walk away so we were soon
done and back on the boat.
We had a couple more swingbridges to get through and
we were soon out in the countryside, flat and open, windy and cold.
 |
| Our view for the night, Holmes Swingbridge where we all congregated ready for the off tomorrow... |
Just before bridge 10, Holmes Swingbridge, we pulled
over in amongst a row of boats, all going to Liverpool in the same convoy. Memphis
and Dream Catcher were just behind us too, so we all chatted for a while.
 |
| All the boats booked in for Liverpool tomorrow wait by Bridge 10, ready to move early in the morning |
Annie, Paul and I went walking with Jack and Annie's
dog, Tara, over the long grassy fields. We drunk coffee and ate flapjacks when
we got back!
After tea we settled down to an early night. We had to
be up early for our escorted cruise down to Liverpool Docks.
Wednesday 4th June. Alarm goes off 6am, I get up and
walk Jack while Paul gets the boat ready and prepares for the off.
 |
| We set off early in our convoy, going through Bridge 10 and onwards to our meeting spot at Bridge 9 |
By 7.30 engines were on and the first boat had gone
through the bridge, we were third to go through, there were 5 boats behind us.
We went the mile or so to Bridge 9, our 9 am meeting point with C&RT.
 |
| At our meeting point with C&RT, waiting for the signal to start engines.... |
We were all lined up and waiting to go, coffee, tea
and various other refreshments on the back, the bridge was opened up for us and
we were all ushered through.
 |
| .... and we're off, we're third in a convoy of 8 narrow boats |
 |
| We all get ushered through Bridge 9 while the guys from C&RT operate the bridge |
In our 8 boat convoy we cruised onwards towards
Aintree. At the next swing bridge a couple of miles on the C&RT men were
there waiting to open the bridge for us.
 |
| They don't look particularly happy in their work! |
Through we all went...
 |
| Boats follow behind us.... |
Past Aintree racecourse we went although you couldn't
see much behind the trees. The canal is reedy, lily pads on the edges, rubbish
lurking under the water. There's all sorts here, fridges, tellys, old
computers, road signs and plastic bags galore!
 |
| And there's rubbish just chucked in the canal like a rubbish dump... |
 |
| ... but this rubbish polystyrene offers a resting place to mum duck and babes |
 |
| The bridges are old but pretty, reeds and lily pads creep away from the sides of the canal towards the centre |
A few miles on we went through Litherland and then on to
Bootle. Here the rubbish gets even worse, graffiti on most walls, razor barbed
wire on top of walls.
 |
| We're told stopping is not permitted anywhere on the stretch between Bridge 9 and Liverpool, you can see why |
 |
| It's a grey day, and not a pleasant area |
We did well, only got bunged up with rubbish on the prop a couple of times and
managed to put it in reverse to clear most of it off.
 |
| Narrow Boat Memphis follows on from behind, this old bridge used to be lovely but now graffiti spoils it |
 |
| Rough area of Liverpool here, but it does get better... |
 |
| We make our way under the bridge to the modern building and past the old wall, what a contrast |
It was 10 miles to the 4 Stanley Locks in Liverpool.
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| Arriving at the turn off to Stanley Locks, the C&RT guys will be waiting for us to let us through the locks |
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| We all turn up one by one and wait to be let down the locks |
When we arrived at the locks I went down the weed hatch and cleared the rest of the bags and rubbish off, poo bags and heavy polythene,
thick curtain tape too?
We all arrived one at a time, most people's first job
was to clear rubbish off their prop!
 |
| Edna watches on as we leave the first of the 4 Stanley Locks in Liverpool |
The first two boats went down the first of the 4 huge
deep locks, C&RT workers escorting them down, then it was our turn.
We went in with another boat, Blue Grass. Paul helped
at the locks, Jack came out to stretch his legs and have a wee!
Down we went till we got to the bottom, and we were in
Stanley Dock.
 |
| 'Put some effort in it lads' These gates are mighty tough to open and close |
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| We get down the bottom of the locks and into Stanley Docks |
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| The enormous tobacco warehouse to our left and the Tate & Lyle sugar warehouse is on our right... |
The docks here are really old, used to be used for big
ships, this one would have been for the shipping of sugar and tobacco.
The Tate & Lyle sugar warehouse still stands to our right, and to the left is the Tobacco Warehouse, a listed derelict building, apparently the biggest brick building in the world!
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| This tobacco warehouse is the largest brick built construction in the world, apparently, now a listed building |
 |
| Built in 1900, it still stands tall and strong, but the ceilings inside are only 7' high, and thats not high enough for ceilings in residential buildings, an impossible job to change |
In front of us is the clock tower with 6 sides so
wherever you were on the river or in the docks you could see the time. We turned left by the clock tower into Collingwood Dock.
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| This ancient clock tower uses to tell the correct time, now its a historical monument |
 |
| Turning left into Sid's Ditch we proceed onwards through the docks of Liverpool |
 |
| Going along Sid's Ditch its pretty shallow here... |
We weaved our way through several wide open docklands,
there was Collingwood Dock first, through into Salisbury Dock, then we turned left
into Sid's Ditch and through into the Central Docks channel.
 |
| ...next we entered the Central Docks Channel |
We went through Princes Dock and we came to Princes
Dock Lock.
 |
| Going through Princes Dock.... |
 |
| ... and onwards to Princes Dock Lock |
From here on the Liverpool Canal Link is brand new,
only opened to narrow boats from the canal since 2009 at a cost of £22 million!
 |
| We had to hover about in the open windy docklands before we could get into the lock |
We wait at the lock hovering about in the wide water, there's
no landing stage here so we can't pull over and tie our boat up!
 |
| The Liver Buildings in front, we wait till we can get into the lock... |
 |
| ... and finally we're in, on our way once again |
The lock is being set by the two boats in front of us,
so we get in as the gates open and go down the three foot, and after we leave
the lock we set it for the following two boats.
 |
| Out of the lock, and into the first of three low bridge tunnels... |
 |
| ... and we're still following Blue Grass into the next bridge tunnel... |
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| ... and past these amazing buildings! |
 |
| Under another tunnel, under the horse statue... |
Straight away there's a tunnel, then another and then
another, we go past the Royal Liver Building, Liverpool museum and the Port of
Liverpool Building.
 |
| ... and under the Museum of Liverpool, another tunnel |
 |
| We go past the Port of Liverpool buildings |
 |
| And onwards under the last road bridge tunnel |
At the next lock, another new one called Mann Island
Lock, we are seen through by the C&RT guys.
 |
| We wait for the two boats in front to go down the small lock and then its our turn |
It's only a foot drop into
Canning Dock, wide and back in the old stuff again now!
 |
| We get into Canning Dock, and have to turn right out of the lock, ahead is a floating bar |
We leave the lock and full steam ahead in the deep,
clear water.
 |
| Big ships moored up against the dock wall, nb Memphis in front leading the way |
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| The old markings on the wall of Canning Half Tide lock, all in roman numerals show the level of the water |
Turning right out of the lock we cruise through Canning Dock, turn
right into Canning Half Tide Dock and left into Albert Dock.
 |
| We have to turn left into Albert Dock going under this low bridge, the Tate Liverpool in front of us |
 |
| Cruising through Albert Dock we have to now turn left to get to Salthouse Dock |
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| Going under the bridge to Salthouse Dock |
We go straight to our allocated pontoon and tie the
boat up.... were here, made it, finally in Liverpool!
 |
| And we're finally in Salthouse Dock, making our way to our allocated mooring, pontoon no. S2 |
 |
| And here we are! At last! tied up and settled into our spot for the next 3 days! Yippee! |
It was 2.30pm, we'd been
cruising since 7.30am, were tired out and hungry; we breathed a massive sigh of
relief!
 |
| There's a lot of boats here, but in my humble opinion our boat looks the prettiest! |
It's really nice here, water and electric on most
pontoons, daily rubbish collection too! There's lots of other boats here, and
the other boats from our convoy all turn up two by two.
Were booked in here until Saturday 7th June. We have
to leave at 9am, on the dot, so for the next few days we go off and explore
Liverpool.
 |
| Jack's wearing his posh harness, it's supposed to stop him pulling on the lead but makes no difference! |
 |
| The Liver buildings and the Port of Liverpool buildings.... this is our daily walk for Jack, along way from his familiar fields and woodlands he normally runs around in! But he takes it all in his stride and has fun anyway! |
 |
| Choppy River Mersey, and thats the 'Ferry Across The Mersey' |
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| Liverpool Pier Head, where all the big ships and ferries leave from |
Dog walks are mainly on the promenade of the River
Mersey, humungous river, choppy and wide with big ships, transport ferries going
over to Ireland and daily ferries across the river.
We go exploring the amazing shopping centres and cosmopolitan
cafés, we venture into the Slavery Museum and the Maritime museum, the Tate
gallery, the docks and more shops.
 |
| This is not a pile of blankets in a shop on on the boat, it's actually an exhibit in the Tate Liverpool!! |
 |
| ... and so is this old bundle of wire and rubbish! Ha! So glad we didn't pay to go in! |
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| An old bit of cloth, or an exhibit in the Tate Liverpool? |
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| We went in the free museums here, the Slavery Museum and the Maritime Museum... |
 |
| John and Edna on their beautiful boat, Memphis relaxing in the dock |
We chat with our neighbours, have coffee with Edna and
John and go off into China Town for a slap up Chinese meal.
 |
| The entrance to China Town, the only impressive bit about it! |
 |
| ... but we enjoyed a slap up feast from one of the chinese restaurants there |
It's really windy here most of the time, rain comes
and goes and the sun even makes an appearance occasionally.
 |
| Blue skys at last, makes the port look beautiful... |
 |
| ... and the jelly fish all come to the surface for some warm rays too! |
 |
| These two bask in the warm shallow waters of the dock |
 |
| ... and even the River Mersey is calmer today, looks almost nice! |
 |
| Jack shelters under this statue in the shade, he's not used to the sun shining! |
 |
| The sign for Albert Dock, just in case you'd forgotten where you were! |
It's lovely and clean, no roudy drunks and despite
roadworks going on just near the moored boats it's pretty quiet.
|
|
.... p.s. and they even had purple and pink wheelie bins in Liverpool!
|
We've enjoyed our stay here but three days in the
city is enough for us country bumpkins, we prefer the open countryside with
only bird song for company.
By Saturday we're ready to leave. We've done all we
want to do and get the boat ready for our trip back through Liverpool and
onwards to Leeds, our next destination.
It's the longest canal in Britian built by a single
company at 128 miles long with 91 deep wide locks.
We have to go back to Wigan where we'll continue past
the junction with the Leigh branch and onwards through Blackburn, Burnley, then
Skipton and to Leeds.
Watch this space for the next instalment .....
Last updated 17th June 2014
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