Two Tunnels and a Drunken Boat.

 Tuesday 29th August 2023 at Barton.

Today we need to go through two tunnels, each of which has timed entries as they are not wide enough for two boats to pass and they are either too long or crooked to see from one end to the other. Any boat going north enters the tunnels on the hour and any boat going south enters the tunnels on the half hour. As the first tunnel is three miles away, we started at 10:15 so as to arrive just before the half hour.

On the way we saw three herons standing on the bank very close to each other, which is unusual because they tend to be solitary birds. They always look so humpy! Doubtless because we've disturbed their fishing.

Sadly, the three herons took to the wing before we could get a group photograph. However, looking at this one fly away it is quite easy to believe in dragons! A mini Smaug?

We arrived at the tunnel mouth on time and, on the half hour, the boat in front of us moved up to the tunnel mouth only to find that there was a boat coming the other way in the tunnel, so he had to back away again. We could clearly hear singing and shouting from the tunnel and after about 15 minutes the boat came out and it was clear that those on board had been drinking. When we went through the tunnel the people at the other end said that the drunken boat had been told that they needed to wait but they went through anyway. The rules don't seem to apply to some people.

At the second tunnel, we waited for the half hour in a very pleasant spot overlooking the River Weaver in the valley below.

After the second tunnel we moored up for the night. There is a third tunnel but we will tackle that tomorrow morning.

We need to leave early tomorrow as MM is booked into Uplands Marina at Anderton in the morning; we plan to go home for a week for the Gershwin Nocturne Supper Club on Saturday and R's birthday next week. So, we plan to be back on board next Wednesday, 6th September.

Today: 9 miles, 1 lock and 3.8 hours.

Trip: 208 miles, 81 locks and 106.2 hours.

Repainting the Well Deck.

 Monday 28th August 2023 near Moore.

Bank Holiday Monday started cool and grey but the forecast did not predict rain (it lied!). We walked into the centre of Lymm for breakfast at The Coffee House, where we were warmly received (the second customers of the day at 9.05!).  We then went to Sainsbury's for a "few bits", passing the old cross and village stocks on the way. It's always a bit sad to leave lovely Lymm, but if all goes to plan, we shall be coming back this way next year.

We have seen a number of "recycled" surplus ship's lifeboats on the canals. This one, though still "work in progress", had been converted with some imagination but must still be quite dark inside. A bit claustrophobic?

We are always amused to see the way that some properties embrace the canal whereas others try to shut it out. This garden definitely fell into the latter category but its bank of wild flowers was spectacular.

Despite the forecast, there were intermittent very strong rain showers and a prevailing cold wind, hence R ended up wearing several layers to keep warm and dry.

Over the last couple of days, R has worked on the well deck floor at MM's bow. Some rust had broken through, so R sanded it back, treated the rust, undercoated it yesterday and then put a top coat of green paint on this afternoon. Luckily, with the exception of a few spots, the rain held off until the paint was dry. It looks a lot better now.

Tonight's mooring, appropriately called "Moore"! We remembered it from our way up to Liverpool and looked out for it again as it's a very quiet and open spot.

 Today: 7 miles, 0 locks and 2.5 hours.

Trip: 199 miles, 80 locks and 102.4 hours.

Coffee Shops, Rowers and a Cold Wind.

 Sunday 27th August 2023 in Lymm.

After breakfast, we walked the huge distance (5 yards!) into "Kickback Coffee" for a proper cup of coffee. We had moored MM overnight tied to the railings alongside the canal (not these railings) but neglected to take a photograph.

M says that this has become R's favourite coffee shop and our welcome from Harvey and Toby was as cheerful as ever. They are both local lads and Toby comes from Lymm, our next stop heading south.

The coffee shop is part of a coffee roasters and one of several outlets, all of which take coffee VERY seriously and are experts at what they do. The parent company was running a sponsored bicycle ride today in the Derbyshire Dales as advertised on the wall.

This gentleman cyclist was not taking part, not least because it was a long way away, but M loved his T-shirt and he very cheerfully posed for a photograph. What a good sport!

We set off wishing everyone well and vowing to return next year on our way up north.

As we approached Sale, we were passed by a number of rowers who must have been very dedicated as it had been raining heavily all morning up to that point and they looked cold and wet.

Luckily for us, the rain held off and we were greeted by this group on this bridge just before Lymm.

Lymm is a lovely town with excellent moorings, nice shops and bakeries and, on the left, one of M's favourite houses.

As we had been cruising for a couple of hours into the teeth of a very cold wind, we rewarded ourseleves with lunch in the town at yet another lovely café we have found. Rain and cold winds, a typical Bank Holiday weekend.

M had spruced up MM's flower troughs and R took the opportunity to repaint the well deck, which had developed some rust spots. So, a good day!

Today: 6 miles, 0 locks and 2.1 hours.

Trip: 192 miles, 80 locks and 99.9 hours.

From the RHS to Kickback Coffee.

 Saturday 26th August 2023 in Altrincham.

After a quick trip to Aldi, we set off from Leigh. This is where the Leeds & Liverpool Canal (Leigh Branch) gives way to the Bridgewater Canal. As we passed under the bridge, a notice reminded us that we were leaving C&RT territory.

A few yards further on, before the next bridge, is a much smaller notice welcoming us to the Bridgewater Canal. A separate licence is required for this canal but the first seven days are free.

Only a few miles further on, we stopped at Boothstown Marina for some diesel. Last year we moored here twice and got to know the guys quite well. They greeted us like old friends, declaring we are their "favourite boaters"! It was great to see them and we look forward to seeing them next year when we come up this way again.

Just a  few hundred yards further on, we moored outside RHS Bridgewater. It is possible to moor in a couple of places here but the canal bank is very overgrown, restricting mooring opportunities. Sadly and suprisingly, there is no notice or indication on the canal bank of the proximity of the RHS garden - what a missed opportunity!

 This is at least our fourth visit to the gardens, as we have visited every time that we have cruised past.

 

Our plan was to have breakfast in the café overlooking the lake, which was perfect at first - until it started to rain!
 

We didn't go into the main garden but M spotted this lovely Purple Loosestrife on the way in.

Although we didn't go into the main garden, M did visit the shop.  The geraniums on MM have been a bit disappointing this year and are looking decidedly tired so we thought we would liven the troughs up a bit with some additional colour.  We chose red cyclamen and a red Impatiens (Busy Lizzy).

To clarify, the plants that M purchased are the ones R is carrying, not those in the big pots! Fortunately, the massive pots were not for sale. How on earth would we have got them home, anyway?!

The canal water here is coloured by dissolved iron ore, which makes it look like milk chocolate, although it wouldn't taste anything like as nice as Cadbury's!

This is Worsley Old Hall, built next to the Delph (on the right), which was the entrance to the Duke of Bridgewater's orignal coal mine. The entire history of canals and narrowboats began here!

This trip boat came from Boothstown Marina, where we had stopped earlier this morning. Everyone was clearly having a great time!.

The Barton Swing Aqueduct crosses the Manchester Ship Canal. It can be opened to let large ships pass below, although it is very rarely opened these days. Sadly it was choked with weed, which ended up wrapped around MM's bow.

Next to the canal aqueduct is the road swing bridge, also still in use, as the bus testifies!

We laughed at this original and rather cheeky name for a narrowboat. No sign of little green plants on the roof though!

Going through the centre of Sale, we saw this heron standing on his dignity and quite unconcerned with our passing; in fact he ignored us entirely, clearly not worthy of his attention.

As we approached Altrincham, we moored up outside "Kickback Coffee" (one of Robin's "go to" places).  We tied MM to the railings and walked in for a great coffee and a very warm welcome from Harvey and Chris, who remembered us from our previous visits.

Today: 15 miles, 0 locks and 5.1 hours.

Trip:186 miles, 80 locks and 97.8 hours.

Through Wigan and Poolstock Locks.

 Friday 25th August 2023 in Leigh.

Heavy rain overnight and an unpredictable forecast meant a slow start this morning.  In fact, the rain stopped and the day turned out to be much better than anticipated. A narrowboater going in the opposite direction assured us that he had been through Wigan without any problem. We were a little nervous, as the on the last two occasions we have been through Wigan, there has been no water in the main pound and it was closed again last week due to vandalism - some bright spark had yet again drained all the water away overnight. Sadly, this is a regular occurrence here.

Two locks and two miles later, we were passing George Orwell's famous "Wigan Pier".

Next we turned to go past the huge Trencherfield Mill building and approached the first of the two Wigan locks.

To our delight, we saw that there was another narrowboat just going into the lock and so we were able to join them. It is so much easier to do these wide locks with another boat.

This was David and his new puppy "Tilly" on nb "Marcel".

David and his wife Theresa also had two lovely collie dogs, brothers Ron and Jack. This was Jack keeping an eye on progress through the lock.

The second lock was under a busy road bridge and had an unusual winding mechanism to open and close the gates. It also had a squatter and his tent on the lockside! MM is in the distance, waiting to go into the lock.

The red plaque celebrates the Wigan Flight of Locks, of which these two are the first and second. If you turn north at the junction, as we did last year, there are another 21 really tough locks ahead of you.

But instead of turning north, we turned south and the next two locks are the last locks for nearly 40 miles. This is "Lock 1" of the two "Poolstock" locks. These two locks are almost always a challenge due to very low water levels, and unfortunately, a real problem with toxic green algae.

Today, both locks were working very well and there was plenty of water. With nb "Marcel" and crew with us, everything went smoothly. Phew!

"Marcel" moored up below the second lock and met up with family, who live locally and had come to join them by car.

We continued on for another six miles or so and eventually moored up at Leigh, were we walked into the town for a "few bits" and to find a main Post Office.

Today: 9 miles, 6 locks and 4.7 hours.

Trip: 171 miles, 80 locks and 92.7 hours.

Back to MM Again.

 Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th August 2023 near Crooke

On Wednesday, we took four trains and a taxi back to MM at Scarisbrick Marina. We arrived in time to have a quick cuppa in their excellent café before setting off. There are no photographs as the weather was not good, so we only went a mile before mooring up. Also, after a long day's travelling, we both decided that doing swing bridges could wait until tomorrow!

Next morning, Thursday, we set off towards Burscough, where the canal had started to leak nearly five weeks ago. The C&RT erected two coffer dams and drained the canal so that they could repair it. Although the canal had now re-opened, they were still working on dredging it, and the towpath was still closed. You can see R, in conversation with one of the workers! MM is moored opposite.

 While the repairs were in progress, anyone on a narrowboat east of the leak couldn't get to Liverpool and anyone in Liverpool couldn't get west past the leak to get back to Wigan and beyond. Some people ended up spending five weeks in Liverpool!

Although the canal was technically opened, we had to wait because there was a problem with the dredger. This square barge has four legs that are lowered hydraulically to lift it up and stabilise it. One of the hydraulic hoses had broken, so the workers couldn't raise two of the legs and therefore they couldn't move it. It sat in the middle of the canal at a wonky angle with two legs up and two legs down.

Eventually they said that we could try to squeeze through the gap on the left of the barge, although they were worried because the canal was quite shallow there. They were right! MM scraped along the bottom all the way, but made it through.

Swing bridges are definitely not M's favourite things on the canal and today she had to open five of them. At least most of them were electric and so just needed to be opened by turning a key and pressing the appropriate buttons. To M's relief, this time she didn't have any impatient motorists gesticulating at her!

At Burscough town, we stopped to fill up with water at what used to be a wharf and sanitary station but now is only a water point.

This rather strange looking tower at Parbold apparently used to be a windmill, but it now has castellations at the top, which seems odd for a windmill.

Only two locks today but each of them used to be duplicated because there was once so much traffic on this canal going to and from Liverpool. Now the duplicate locks are sadly derelict and overgrown.

This area is known as the Liverpool Plain as it very flat but, as a result, you get lovely views into the distance. It is mostly agricultural country, hardly surprising given the quality of the peat-like soil hereabouts.

This lock is overlooked by the M6, which seemed thankfully quiet today. Happily, another narrowboat joined us to go through the lock, which makes life so much easier in a wide lock.

Just before Crooke, we found a pleasant spot and moored up for the night. M did a load of washing and R treated the base of the engine room, which had developed some rust spots.

Two Days: 14 miles, 2 locks, 5 swing bridges and 7.3 hours.

Trip: 162 Miles, 74 locks and 88.0 hours.