The New Year means that I have had a look at 2018's figures for waterways traveled along with the locks passed through and the miles covered.
We started the year at Fettlers Wharf and had booked to go down to Liverpool. We headed to Wigan first to arrive for the right date. It is always a great experience heading down through the Liverpool Link and the docks to Salthouse Dock, and Liverpool has plenty to see and do. The Tobacco warehouse is always impressive too.
When then headed back down the Rufford and Arm and crossed the Ribble Link to 'do' the Lancaster Canal. We went right to the end at Tewitfield and then walked up the closed section into Cumbria. We went went down to Glasson Dock Basin too. Later in the year it was closed due to water shortages. The photo above are the old locks past the end of navigation of the Lancaster Canal.
Greedily we then headed back to Liverpool and enjoyed a further stay. I had managed to get everything sorted to cross the Mersey to Eastham Lock and went the length of the Manchester Ship Canal, up through the Pomona Lock to the Coal Wharf at Castlefield in Manchester. Only to find our proposed route was blocked so we headed back down the MSC to Ellesmere Port.
From Ellesmere Port we headed down the Shropshire Union and up the Llangollen Canal. This is Telford's Horseshoe Falls where the canal is fed from the River Dee.
We also penned down onto the Montgomery Canal and relished the peace and quiet after the hustle and bustle of the summer traffic on the Llangollen. This is the Gronwyn Bridge winding hole at the current end of navigation of the Montgomery. We also had a day on the Prees Branch.
Back on the Shropshire Union we stopped at Nantwich for the International Cheese show and had a great day sampling the cheese and all the other sights.
We headed down the Shropshire Union to Autherley Junction and then headed down to Kinver to meet up with our friends on the Staffs and Worcestershire. We then returned up the Stourbridge Canal and down the Town Arm and here we are at the terminal Warehouse.
We then headed up the Dudley Canals and the glorious Black Delph Locks. A real joy to work and close to the Batham's Brewery tap too.
We left the boat for a while at Hawne Basin with the Coombeswood Trust. It was then back to Windmill End and back to the BCN. We love Birmingham.
We had a few days in Birmingham at Oozells Loop and Sheepcote Bridge moorings before heading down the Farmers Bridge and Digbeth Branch to Bordesley Junction and down the Grand Union.
Best daughter Amy spent a week with us, which was a great help on the way down from Birmingham with all the locks. Helen and Amy are hapy that they have reached the bottom of the Hatton Locks. We were left on our own at Warwick after a day sightseeing.
After a visit to Calcutt Marina we headed back up north to Braunston, Rugby, Sutton Stop, Fazeley and Fradley before ending the year at Aston Marina.
We started fairly late in the year and finished early as No.1 grand child was on the way. We don't seem to have been on the boat that much with regular visits home too, but turns out to have been 129 nights. We haven't done so many locks this year and see below for the totals.
Waterways traveled numbered 28:-
1. Leeds Liverpool Canal
2. Rufford Arm
3. River Douglas
4. River Ribble
5. Lancaster Canal
6. Liverpool Link
7. River Mersey
8. Manchester Ship Canal
9. Shropshire Union Canal
10. Llangollen Canal
11. Llangllen, Prees Branch
12. Montgomery Canal
13. Staffs. and Worcester Canal
14. Stourbridge Canal
15. Stourbridge Town Arm
16. Dudley No.1 Canal
17. Dudley No.2 Canal
18. Netherton Tunnel Branch
19. Birmingham Canal Main Line
20. Oozells Loop
21. Icknield Port Loop
22. Soho Loop
23. Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
24. Birmingham and Fazeley, Digbeth Branch
25. Grand Union Canal
26. Oxford Canal, North
27. Coventry Canal
28. Trent and Mersey Canal.
YEAR MILES LOCKS
2013 627 519
2014 1027 764
2015 752 524
2016 776 558
2017 687 454
2018 666 328
TOTAL 4535 3147
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