Another year's cruising gone.

Last week we had a phone call from the C&RT Wigan Office telling us that the temporary fix for the gate on the No1 Rufford Arm lock was underway but it wasn't likely to be completed before the weekend. This was a bit of a downer as we had planned to go up on Sunday and move 'Holderness' down the arm to her winter moorings. However by Friday I was having emails and phone calls saying that the lock would be open for Saturday, so our plans were on again.

Our trip to Burscough went smoothly enough via the motorway system and the East Lancs. Road. When we arrived everything was okay aboard and we soon had the kettle, and the heating on whilst I got everything ready for the move. The day was quite pleasant and with little wind, which would be helpful for our reversing back down to the junction.

The canal is wide beam size so it was easy to swing a naorrowboat through the bridge hole. The Rufford Branch was opened in 1781, but the bridge is dated 1816. I wonder if they had built just a temporary wooden bridge until then. In the distance you can see so canal workers cottages and the corner of the dry dock. The junction is a conservation area and is a very compact little community with the pub too.

This is the before and after shots of the broken heel post. A clever fix that will need a proper job doing in the winter I'm sure. I was a little perplexed by the initial notice of closure when it stated that the damage was sustained by vandalism. It clearly looks like the timber is fairly rotten. Maybe the final straw was somebody hitting the gate with force intentionally or not. I wonder if by calling it vandalism it doesn't count as a stoppage through failure of their equipment, or maybe the cost of repair etc comes out of a different budget for which grants are available. Maybe I'm over thinking it. The good thing is they came up with a good fix quite quickly.

You can see that they have bolted through the gate which has been lifted back to the upright so that it swings properly. The voluntary lock keepers didn't seem to have to put any extra effort in to move the gate so they must have got it just right.

The voluntary lock keepers had been busy on the Saturday, in the pouring rain, as 20+ boats sped down the locks as it was the last day of navigation to cross the Ribble estuary to make for the Lancaster Canal, and several winter moorings I suspect. However I think there had only been a couple other than ourselves on Sunday, and the weather was fine.

The swans were making a good job of providing buoyage to mark the edge of the navigation, and gives the reason why they have long necks, to reach the weed on the bottom!

Once clear of the first set of locks, with a wave and a thank you to the keepers we spotted these colourful beehives. I sign said they were part of the Tree Bees Organisation:- https://www.treebee.org.uk/about/ It seems that they carryout bee removals from swarms that have settled in the wrong places. They charge and use the money to re-home them and help preserve bumble bees and honey bees. They also do this by selling items made from the products of the hives, such as honey wax, creams etc. Their on line shop has a good selection at very reasonable prices and they are based in Burscough.

The canal is full and this makes it look more like a river with weed and reeds encroaching on both sides in places and there is a variety of plants that must be quite a sight in spring and summer.

The landscape is reminiscent of Sunk Islan in Holderness, near Hull. That is flat fertile land with low hills in the distance. The tower with the water tank on and the chimney have the look of a WWII structure to me, but it maybe that they were built at that time to assist in food production from the obviously largely derelict glass houses. That is something else in common with Holderness. (Glass houses that is).

The next lock is called 'German's Lock' so I wonder if the WWII structure could have been a Prisoner of War camp at one time. They were used often as labour on the farms, also in Holderness where we had German and Italian camps in the locality. This lock also shows the variety of paddle gear used at the lock with this blade clough, last seen on the Yorkshire side of the Leeds and Liverpool canal.

 At the next lock, Baldwin's, was the more usual ground paddle gear with the fixed handle. Not quite the rickety wooden boxes of other parts of the Leeds/Liverpool.

Burscough has two railway stations as it has two lines. The line from Burscough Bridge station between Southport and Wigan was passed under between lock 3 and 4, and now we come to the line from Liverpool and Ormskirk to Preston railway that was formed in 1846. It became part of the East Lancs. Railway and then in 1859 became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. There had been nine deaths following and accident at Burscough Junction Station in 1880. Most of this company's routes are now worked by Northern, and Mersey rail around Liverpool.

The A59 comes close to the canal at the point where you have to navigate March Meadow swing bridge. Like many of the locks they all have anti vandal handcuff locks on them, but most of them are just for show. It seems an unlikely place for people to get up to mischief but the lock keepers assured me that it did happen occasionally. The bridge swung off easily enough.

Once down Rufford Lock, the 7th of the day, we were in sniffing distance of journey's end for this year. I always feel glum on the last day knowing we are ending our cruising for the year. I seem to go slower and slower trying to prolong our time aboard. However as 'time and tide wait for no man' we were soon getting ready to make our entrance into Fettler's Wharf Marina under the white foot bridge on the right. Opposite that entrance is the opening into the St. Mary's Marina.

We soon made our way and moored up alongside the service wharf as we needed fuel to fill up for the winter and leave as little gap for condensation to form as possible. We were met by the owner Richard and Phil to do the honours and welcome us in. I was quite surprised when the tank took 186 litres! As the lower price was 63p it could have been a lot worse. I purchased a couple of bags of Supertherm for £8-50 each for when we come visiting. This is a picture of the marina looking south. It certainly looks like plenty has been spent on doing the place up in the short time under the new ownership. The service area was just about to be knocked down and rebuilt too.

Our winter mooring was to be in the northern section, and we will be next to the green boat in the middle of the picture. Luckily there is just a boat length between the wooden house boat/chalet and the berths and as there was still no wind to speak of we slipped in easily to the mooring. The jetty is 60' long so that made mooring easier and we were helped in by other moorers who all seemed friendly.

Richard gave me a lift back up to the Ship, where I had left the car and we soon had it packed up with the final bits and the boat settled for winter. The solar panels have a good view of the sun and as we are plugged into the mains as well we should remain snug through the winter. We will have to visit occasionally as I have several jobs to do before we are off and running. I am already thinking about where we shall visit next year but before then I will be compiling the cost breakdowns and blogging all the good/bad news on the front, and giving occasional summary blogs about this years adventures. When we add everything up I don't think we will have done as many locks or days aboard as previously, but we may well have done a good number of miles with all the rivers we have been on this year. Thank you for reading and I hope you will watch out for the odd blog over the winter as we get closer to doing it all again next year.

Out and about.

It started raining as we woke up so we didn't hurry getting out of bed. By the time breakfast was cleared away the rain had stopped, but as it was time for 'The Archers' there was an hour of listening. As soon as it was finished we were off.

The sun was out when we left to walk to Burscough for a paper etc.

The last time we passed this way was in June 2013 and they were just starting work on Aiscough's Mill on the outskirts of Burscough. It was a beautiful building and worth preserving.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture from the same place but you can see they have made a great job of it, even preserving the canopy irons.

I am pleased to say that they have also preserved the chimney and the engine. The steam engine has gone but it has made a very nice home.

The Old Packet Boat was built at the same time as the canal and was the packet boat staging post. It was called The Bridge at first and it was only towards the end of the packet boat era that it changed to this name. Mind you it has had a few name changes before it has returned to the Old Packet Boat.

We got the paper from Tesco's up by Burscough Bridge Station and then walked back via Burscough Junction station which runs from Liverpool to Preston way. This took my eye as we were wandering back to the swing bridge by the junction.

This is the cause of our problem the gate post has broken at the collar/A frame area so the gate is bent from the vertical. The timber looks rotten. The C&RT notice said that the are making a sleeve for the heel post.

The notice says that the sleeve will take a week to fabricate and then they will have to fit it. However the word on the street is that it could be Thursday or Friday. I hope so so we can get the boat safely stowed for the winter

We decided to go for a pint at the Ship, or the 'Blood Tub as it appears to be better known in these parts. It seems it was so called because a). rival boaters or navvies had punch ups out side the pub regularly but the landlord wouldn't let them in a bloody so they had to wash the blood and gore off in an old tub. b). local farmers would exchange blood for beer as the landlady was a an expert black pudding maker. Take your pick. The beer was very good indeed, but we didn't eat there. The beer was well kept and not too pricey with a good range of real ales too.

The dry dock at the junction hasn't been used for a while but it is still dry.

West from Wigan.

Once we had recovered our strength we went off into town to find the local Weatherspoon's 'Moon on the water'. Fish Friday, so why not. Plus three very nice beers to wash it down. Surprisingly I was feeling no pain on the way back to the boat, or this morning actually.

Trencherfield Mill was built in 1907 as a cotton spinning Mill. It was driven by a 2500HP triple expansion, 4 cylinder steam engine that was saved when the mill closed in 1968 and is still in steam occasionally. Wigan Council bought the mill in 1983 and it was redeveloped using lots of European and Lottery money to mixed use with apartments, commercial spaces and it seems some sort of an art and museum establishment.

These three heads are by Andy Hazell and were erected on the side of the mill in 1999. The top one is Carton Head, then Jar Head and Tin Head. When first installed the heads opened up too. I'm not sure if they still do.

In the courtyard of the mill are several large machines that were used in the industrial processes. This one is actually a fan for ventilating a mine in St. Helens. It was made in 1910 by Walker Bros. of Wigan and was driven by a rope and pulley system from a horizontal cross compound steam engine.

These canal houses are near our moorings and have lovely chimney pots and overlooked by the mill.

We are just passing under Pottery Road Bridge with the Orwell pub dead ahead.. Not the horse rope rollers still in place.

Once turned through the bridge it seems that the Wigan Pier Regeneration project hasn't really been sustained as the Orwell pub was closed and the museum in the old warehouse is still closed and the building deteriorating badly. When you see the use of very similar buildings in Burnley and Balckburn it is a shame that something similar can't be done.

This is the much talked of Wigan Pier after 1937 anyway and George Orwell's 'Road to Wigan Pier'. It was just a coal tippler to load boats. I wish they would change or remove the figure as I find it quite scary and not quite the image they should be instilling.

As we approached Crooke we passed 'Ambush'. At 72' she wopuld have been a handful on this canal when she was built in 1933 at Yarwood's Northwich. She worked for Ainscough's and then was carrying coal to the power station at Wigan. She was being fully restored in 2011 and is on the historic ships register.

Even with out some sun the trees on this section look glorious. I expect in a week or two they will be simply specatular. Last time we were this way it was a read hot summer, and I didn't run the engine for a week with the solar panels at full stretch.

One of those places where the canal is crossed by a road and a railway. The road is the M6 in this case and it is almost above Dean Lock.

I must say that I hope that the winter stoppages are including this lock at Appley. It was extremely difficult working through this one. This is actually one of the two redundant locks that has been replaced by one newer one before anybody think I am serious.

Our first fishing match of the year, and the last now I reckon. Some of them really keep you guessing until the last minute to see if they are going to lift their pole or not. I try to watch them on the run in to make sure they turn their heads. That ploy is fine for isolated fishermen but in a long line of them it is impossible. I have therefore developed an alternative scheme. I look at there hands to see if they have them in the 'lift position', that is one slightly behind the body on the pole and one further ahead. So far it has been infallible, but if you use it and fall foul, please don't come back to me, develop your own signs!

As we approached Parbold you get the best view of the old wind mill. It was built in 1794 but became redundant in the 1800's. It has been the gallery for James Bartholomew since 1997 and is full of his artwork and prints. He does great seascapes and it is always worth a stop for a look, and as we needed milk that was all the excuse we needed. For artworks they are not that expensive really. We settled on some cards this time round, but Helen has been dropping hints about a couple of the prints she saw.

Talking of Helen it was pleasing to pass this boat today. She is not quite as big as the Leeds-Liverpool but my love for her is! (May get me out of trouble one day soon, I hope).

There is a picnic area close to Bridge 35 and there used to be rubbish bins there. As we have collected quite alot of rubbish from lock areas it would be a good place to drop it off. It was still there so we are now lighter. I love this seating area that is of fish eating each others tails, all made out of stone.

We were soon on our way again and as we approached the swing bridge just before the Burscough Junction we thought we had better moor up and assess the situation. Past the junction there were a couple of spaces on the permanent moorings there. We chatted to one of the boat owners that lives there and found that nobody was staying there. We moved up and secured knowing that we are on rings, rather on pins

Way down to Wigan.

Thye weather had been given as very wet a few days ago, but last night it had been modified to light rain until about 1000 and then sunny intervals. We therefore decided that we would not put off our decent of the Wigan flight and go today.

C&RT came along and opened the top of the flight at about 0815 and when we had finished washing up we went round and started our decent. In the distance can be seen the bridge that would have been over the continuation of the Lancaster canal as it made its way to the Bridgewater canal near Worsley. Unfortunately the money ran out!

Helen drove into the top lock at 0835 to start our decent and the light rain was not too much of a problem. I was full of energy after my porridge.

I only noticed the lock numbers on the tail end of the lock. This would be useful as I always seem to get my numbers wrong as I try to work out how many to go on a flight when I have to subtract lock numbers etc. This is straight forward as I know I have 23 to do today.

For a short time the rain was a little harder, but it must have emptied the bucket above as it soon stopped. Last night the lock keeper had given us a list of all the problems with the flight, but in truth things were fine. There were one or two gates that I just managed to open or close, and some that you had to have all paddles open to make a level, but all went well.

The rain stopped and the middle section speeds things up a little as they are close enough together to be able to go ahead and get the next lock open whilst dropping the boat down in the lock above on one paddle.

I thought something had gone wrong as Helen was gesticulating madly as I walked back to the next lock. However I was relieved to find out it was just there was a jay in the tree!

Half way down and this sign of the rebuild in 1988. I wonder if there will be any more of the flight rebuilt soon as some of them are leaking very badly from behind the masonry of the tails of the lock. This could cause the walls to peel away eventually.

Here is a picture just to prove that the sun was really out and we were pleased we had decided to set off when we did.

We arrived at the bottom lock of the 21 at 1245 so 4 hours 15 minutes. There was only one lock that was full for us but many had the last fedw feet to top up, that always seems to take ages.We had to wait as they paddles were still locked. The lock keeper had told us he would be back at 1300 to open them as there was nobody else on the flight today. He actually arrived about 1330 so we just had time for a bite to eat and a cup of tea before heading off to complete the trip into Wigan, and I was picked up for the trip to the next lock for the first time today.

The Leeds/Liverpool Leigh Branch peels off to the left here, but we headed to the right and the next lock.

Lo and behold there was a boat in the lock coming up. They were having a problem getting a level with out having to cross the long way round the road bridge to open the off side paddles. They were heading down to their moorings in Leigh.

The dry dock at the next lock was occupied. It seems that the C&RT offices have moved from the glass offices to in the Trencherfield Mill below the lock. I had stiffened up somewhat after lunch but was loosened up quickly but was very pleased to see this lock.

And there is the confirmation that we have reached the bottom of the flight. No. 23 done.

We have moored up before the boat on the right. A funny pontoon structure has been erected, apparently for canoes to use. I suppose the water point is just the other side. I am been rewarded for my efforts today by a trip up the road for a pint and something to eat. Team work makes things nice and easy and it isn't nearly as bad a trip as some folks would have you believe. I think that if you had only really been used to narrow locks it would be an eye opener, and some of them would be almost impossible for one lady to do with out a body building course before hand. Luckily Helen is very competent at the helm.

Plans will need to be changed as a serious problem with one of the locks we need to pass through has occurred. Phone calls will have to be made!