M Home for the Weekend.

Saturday 3rd to Monday 5th August 2024 in Burscough.

On Saturday morning we started early to get through the two Poolstock Locks and the first Leeds & Liverpool lock west out of Wigan, where we moored up shortly after. This is our sixth time through Poolstock and, for once, everything worked as it should. No vandalism this time, nor a shortage of water!

We moored up here so that we could walk up to the railway station as M is going home for a couple of nights.

Lots of green algae in evidence in the Wigan pounds. Falling in the water here is not to be advised!

The three of us stayed Saturday night in Wigan and then on Sunday moved up to Parbold. It's a pretty little place but there are no photographs as R was quite busy driving MM on his own. We moored up in front of Lazy Bee and would have spent time sitting on the towpath if it had stopped raining (which it didn't).

In the absence of M, Shelley and Harley very kindly fed R, which was very much appreciated (and delicious!).

On Monday morning, both boats set off for the short run to Burscough.

Shelley did the first swing bridge and R did the second but both were electric, so not difficult to do - just a simple matter of pressing buttons in the right order!

This is the entrance to the "Rufford Arm" that would take you up to the "Ribble Link" on to the Lancaster Canal, except that the sea lock at the bottom of the Lancaster is currently broken, so there are no boats going across the link.

In Burscough we found very quiet moorings a couple of hundred yards from the bridge. M is due to arrive this afternoon by train to Burscough Bridge Station which is just a short walk north of the bridge next to a large Tesco shop. No doubt we will get a "few bits" when M arrives. (note from M: we did!!)

Burscough has a long history as a canal town and, before the railways arrived, most goods arrived here by narrowboat or barge. A notice board with lovely old photographs gives some idea of the history.

Three days: 12 miles, 8 locks and 5.7 hours.

Trip: 153 miles, 79 locks and 76.2 hours.