Liverpool bound.......

Back onto the Leeds and Liverpool canal we headed towards our rendezvous with the Canal and River Trust team just before the swing bridge near Aintree. They would then help us down through the locks into Liverpool.

Cruising through Burscough and Scarisbrick we joined  other boats the following day that were heading towards the Liverpool 'Link'....


We had booked the passage through the 'link' early in the year to coincide with the three-day event by the fantastic giant puppet creations of the French company 'Royal de Lux'


Passage through the last few miles of the Leeds and Liverpool canal towards Liverpool has one serious problem - rubbish!!!!!!!   Mainly in the shape of plastic bags that wrapped around the propeller.  We had been behind the wide-beam charity boat 'Pride of Sefton' and started to loose speed as the dreaded bags converted the prop' into a round ball of plastic.  I managed to struggle the boat to the top of the locks that take boats down into the 'link' and moored there to spend 15 minutes hacking at the plastic bags through the weed-hatch.


Propeller free to actually move the boat forward at full speed we descended the Stanley lock flight towards the tobacco warehouses dock.  These warehouses have been converted to apartments and businesses in the last few years after remaining derelict for some sixty years. They are impressive buildings and claim to be the largest brick-built structures in the world with some16 million bricks being used to build just one of them. Not sure who counted the bricks but I am sure they made some nineteenth-century building material supplier a wealthy man!!!!! It is certain that the bricks would have been shipped by barge and unloaded by hand......what a job!!!!!

Tobacco warehouse at the bottom of the Stanley locks.

Stanley Dock........Liverpool link  is off to the left.

Moving through the first dock the 'link' canal is on the left and one of the Canal River Trust volunteers has planted a sign next to it announcing ......... 'Sid's Ditch'      A bit of characteristic Liverpudlian humour that paints a smile on the faces of boat crews during their passage into the heart of Liverpool water front.......

'Sid's Ditch'   otherwise known as the Liverpool Link

Liver building glimpsed through the new developements

'Hey - what is that cruise-liner doing on our mooring ?'

Liverpool 'Link' passing the Pier head

Opened in 2009 at a cost of some £22 million this was the first direct link from the Leeds and Liverpool canal to the South docks since the George dock was filled in during the  1900s and the Liver building built on it.  Boat crews are greeted with stunning views of the 'Three Graces' and the modern pier head building as they emerge blinking from the gloom of a short tunnel into the new waterfront.

Entering Canning half-tide dock. Mersey Bar lightship is now actually - a bar!!!!

Salthouse dock - is it something we said?  Peaceful but not for long, as the moorings soon filled with visiting boats.

Passing through Canning dock and Albert dock we arrived at our mooring for the next ten days - Salthouse dock.

Liverpool greeted us with weather that was more Mediterranean than Liverpudlian. Our folding chairs and cold beers materialized like magic as we relaxed to drink in the view of  Liverpool waterfront with its dramatic buildings both old and new.

 

Albert dock is dramatic both by day and ........night.

Fireworks display for a cruise-ship's last night in Liverpool.

Inland waterway boat crews are more used to muddy canal water and it comes as a welcome surprise to realize that the sea water in the dock is crystal clear giving a perfect view of the bottom of your boat - and the colony of beautiful jelly fish that inhabit the dock.

A visit to Liverpool is not complete without a trip on the world famous Ferry. We decided to visit the Seacombe terminal and then a local bus to the flesh pots of New Brighton.........we know how to live!!!!!!!!!!

I remember visiting New Brighton as a small boy when the rapidly declining resort had a Ferry terminal all of it's own.
Even then I was not too impressed with New Brighton but the ferry was a 1950s equivalent of a cruise-liner ( in my eyes) and I would have been more than happy just to ride the ferry all day!  

Mersey Ferry is dwarfed by this giant cruise-liner registered in Bermuda.

Sun-kissed beaches..........New Brighton

Now THIS is what I call a sand-castle............ Perch Rock fort built in 1826 to stop Napoleon sailing up the Mersey and laying claim to New Brighton for himself after he became bored with the Mediterranean.

Exhausted from the never ending delights of New Brighton
 (including a visit to Morrison,s supermarket) we reluctantly returned to Liverpool for the main feature................. a fabulous three-day giant puppet event.

This event proved fantastically popular in 2012 and reportedly attracted £32million for the local economy. We had seen the coverage on T.V at that time and it certainly captured our own perpetual childhood imaginations. Now we had ring-side seats and could not wait......

Xolo the dog meets a real pooch.

Grandmother takes to her wheelchair to cross Salthouse dock bridge.

Crowds line Salthouse dock

A glance for the camera from the Little girl puppet

Jean Luc Courcoult - the giant character behind the creation of the giant puppets.

Prepare for anything during this show........

Giant cranes for giant puppets. Canning dock is prepared for the farewell voyage of the puppets on the River Mersey.

Farewell flotilla on the River Mersey for the puppets.

Puppets........Liverpool........Salthouse Dock........New Brighton.   All good things come to end, so we will return soon via the Leeds and Liverpool, Bridgewater, Trent and Mersey canals.

Puppets may come and go - but 1960s singer Billy Fury is still remembered

.

Return across The Ribble...........

Arriving  at the Ribble Link basin the night before our allotted crossing I had plenty of time to check the boat.
Engine checks in particular.....oil level.....water levels, all seemed O.K.

'She canna take much more of this cap,n'  ..........pushing the engine to catch up with Jack Sparrow in the sailing-boat.   River Ribble.

During our stay in Garstang I had a check around the engine bay and noticed a coolant hose was very close to the sharp edge of the engine bearer. Feeling at the back of the hose I was alarmed to find a deep groove that this edge had rubbed into the wall of the corrugated rubber hose.

This was obviously a disaster waiting to happen.......bad enough on a canal.......a nightmare on the fast running tidal River Ribble where your only option is to throw the anchor out and hope it will hold whilst you sort things out. It would be a vast understatement to say that a scenario like that would be force 10 on the stress counter!!!!

I had a spare hose and decided to tackle this awkward job.
Awkward because like most jobs in a boat engine bay there is very little room to fit a screwdriver on the jubilee clips.  One end of the hose was impossible to even visually see, so the job was done completely by feel.  Venting the swim tank of air also proved a challenge as the vent bolt was difficult to move....and it took some twenty minutes to shift. 

So here we were ready and as prepared as could be to give battle with the Ribble Tide again.  High tide was at 2.30pm and at 1.30pm I was alarmed to see that Savick Brook had very little water as we progressed to the rotating tidal lock.  Scrape, scrape came the ominous sound of the hull against the bottom of the brook.

Stress levels were near the red zone, as with very little steerage 'San Serriffe' banged against the steel piling that stops boats grounding on the exposed banks.

'Do NOT ground here !!!!!!!!!'   I thought.
Throttle forward I managed to keep the boat moving and joined the rest of the 'flotilla' on the floating pontoons awaiting enough water to go over the lock.

Like a disorganized 'Grand national' start, we jostled for position............and we were off!!!!!!!!!!

A large powerful boat took lead position as he struck out into the Ribble and turned into the fast incoming tidal stream. I was puzzled why he just held position without moving forward.
Judging by the white water at his stern his throttle was at maximum and he had a bow-wave like a power boat racer  - but he was not making and inch of progress !!!

Second boat just went sideways in the stream until he managed to head the bow towards the estuary........this really was a white-knuckle ride !

Joining them I glanced at the rev-counter.....2200 revs and I was only holding station with the bank !! Slowly but slowly we all started to make some progress as the tide slackened and found that moving to the right of the river out of the main stream was a great help.

Returning to Tarleton .........River Ribble

More revs rose the engine temp up to 95c, but taking hot water from the Calorifier via the galley hot tap we managed to hold a steady 90C actually passing a few boats in the progress.  Naturally I began to worry that my work on the new hose would hold together and I must admit to a few bitten fingernails.

Passing the Asland lamp into the River Douglas despite the heavy rain, I actually began to relax.  A vibration and a roaring sounded was the cause of some serious panic as I imagined that the new hose had split or become dislodged. Looking upwards I realised it was a Typhoon fighter from nearby British Aerospace Warton at full throttle a few hundred feet above our heads...........lucky guy..... he just went vertical through the cloud layer into the sunshine.



Eventually Tarleton lock came into view with Harry the lock-keeper waving us through the open lock ( level water on both sides) and we were back onto the relevant safety of the canal.

Despite the heavy rain and nearly 5pm in the afternoon we had to go up the Rufford arm to the Leeds and Liverpool canal if we were to remain on schedule for meeting the Canal and River Trust team at Aintree on Friday for our journey to Liverpool . This involved negotiating the six locks and several swing bridges.

We were very lucky to share the locks with the four crew of '5G' who had also come across the Ribble. They did virtually all the locks for us and without their help we would have added perhaps another two hours to our journey............thanks 5G !!!!

 

Lancaster Canal..........

Surviving the 'Millennium Link' Ribble crossing we had a couple of weeks to explore the lock-free Lancaster canal from Preston to the terminus at Tewitfield north of Carnforth.

Joining the Lancaster canal just south of Preston we decided to turn towards Preston and start our exploration from there if only because there is a Canal and River Trust sanitary station about a mile from the end of the canal where we could fill the water tank, etc.

Finding a space on a small visitor mooring near the sanitary station we decided to spend the night there and start afresh in the morning, especially as there was a few shops nearby to top-up with groceries.

I had been chatting to a local boater and his opinion of the Lancaster canal was simply that the further north you go the better the canal and surrounding countryside becomes......so off we went to take his advice.


Cruising the first few miles towards Swillbrook seemed to prove his observations as we progressed through some uninspiring countryside that gave way to pleasant green farmland with Pennine views off to the right . Together with the added bonus of the sunshine chasing the clouds away everything started to visually improve.

Lancaster Canal

I had asked the owner of a boatyard at Swillbrook if he sold diesel. He had a sign clearly stating 'DIESEL' but I was suspicious after being warned that there was NO fuel sales from  marinas and boatyards on the Lancaster canal.

" No sorry....... we do not sell fuel, try next marina on the right " he replied.

Next on the right was 'Moon's Bridge' marina....and yes there was a diesel pump and a nice lady in the Marina shop ready to sell some to you. So our tanks was topped up to the brim with some forty litres or so..........unfortunately there was no 'split' (propulsion/heating) on tax offered so you have to buy all the fuel at the higher price..........oh well, you pay your money and make your choice.


A serious word of warning at this point ......if you are planning to explore the Lancaster canal in the future, this is the only marina in the whole forty miles length of the canal that sells fuel.  Many are marked in Nicholson's guide as selling fuel, but time has overtaken this information and they no longer offer that service. I presume because they cannot be bothered with the current  propulsion/domestic 'tax-split' paperwork regulations or cannot afford the mooring 'space' dedicated for a fuel point.  Thankfully marinas on the rest of the canal system do go to the trouble of supplying fuel or recreational boating  would simply disappear and the canals with it.

One marina we rang was 'Nu-way Acorn' in Carnforth which Nicholson's guide stated sold diesel.  A definite 'NO' was the answer.  A word to the wise though if you are short of fuel in Carnforth there is a petrol station right next to the canal and you can walk the few yards to the pumps with your 'Gerry' can and obtain fuel ( enough to get you back to Moon's Bridge perhaps)

Lady behind the counter said she did a good trade from boaters both petrol and diesel. One option is a company that 'deliver' near Garstang I was told......but like many others I am reluctant to carry 20-40 litres of fuel any distance back to the boat if I can avoid it.

One of the first visitor moorings (48 hours) we visited was Bilsborrow complete with a sanitary station. Considering the Lancaster canal is only forty miles in length it is well blessed with good sanitary stations complete with equally good refuse disposal points - not always the case on some other canals.

Owd Nell's Tavern, Bilsborrow.

 Mooring for the night the night at Bilsborrow we enjoyed a few beers and something to eat at the friendly 'Owd Nell's' pub.  Our next stop stop was Garstang - an attractive old town that I must admit I have never visited before.  Again there are 48 hour visitor mooring here that are obviously very popular at weekends with local boaters.

Garstang was in my judgement an absolute delight with an attractive old main street with just about everything you could wish for.......pubs,restaurants,butchers,small supermarkets, etc.  If Garstang has ain't got it - you don't need it.

Wyre aqueduct, Garstang

Garstang

We stayed a couple of days here and thoroughly enjoyed it. There is an excellent sanitary station as you leave Garstang
easily spotted on the right of the canal complete with pump-out equipment if you need it.


We were blessed with wall to wall sunshine as we moved on towards Lancaster.  Blue skies and warm sunshine proved that even the British summer can be kind and the  surrounding green farmland looked just superb .

Take care the sides of the Lancaster Canal are shallow!!!!!!!!

Passing the Glasson branch we resisted the temptation to do the six locks down into Glasson dock, if only for the reason that we would have to do the same six locks back up again!!!!!  Perhaps we missed out on a night moored with the sea-going boats in the the dock.

Passing on through scenery that the Lancaster canal is renowned for we entered the centre Lancaster with a plentiful supply of 48-hour visitor moorings. We found most of these moorings already taken but managed to squeeze in at the end of the line.  

Lancaster canal........Lancaster centre moorings.

We stayed the maximum allowed here and decided to explore Lancaster visiting Lancaster Castle, Maritime museum and Lancaster Priory......you really need more than 48 hours to enjoy Lancaster and the moorings here were until recently 7 days, but presumably to give everybody a fairer chance of mooring it has been reduced to 48 hours. 

We did managed to find time to visit the popular 'CAMRA' recommended 'Water Witch' pub which is canal-side near these moorings and sells a full range of superb craft beers. I did not go completely through every choice available but I tried my best !!  

Water Witch pub..........Lancaster.

Our 48 hour mooring period came far to quickly to an end and reluctantly leaving the rest of the beers in the 'Water Witch' for another time, we moved on towards Hest Bank adjacent to the sands of Morecambe bay.

A couple of miles out of Lancaster is the imposing Lune aqueduct that carries you some 60ft over the surprisingly wide River Lune. Lancaster was a major port for visiting sailing ships from all over the world sailing into the Lune until ships really became too big for the tidal river to handle and the sea trade with Lancaster eventually ceased.

Crossing the Lune aqueduct

River Lune from the aqueduct

Hest bank is again a 48 hour maximum visitor mooring, but many boats seem to outstay their welcome so it can be a little tricky to find a mooring.  The Lancaster canal is very shallow at the edges and the banking here is in poor condition making mooring the boat problematic and you really need to use your 'gang-plank' on occasions. So a another word of warning regarding the Lancaster canal if you or any of your 'crew' have any mobility problems and cannot balance along a plank onto the tow-path then you might be confined to the boat on occasions.


We took the opportunity to visit nearby Morecambe and Morecambe bay with the clear weather giving amazing views over towards the Lake district.........

Life's a beach..........time to admire the view. Looking over Morecambe bay to the Lake District

Morecambe bay near Hest bank

Mother and child sculpture, Morecambe Bay.

 Again we reluctantly left Hest Bank and moved on towards Carnforth where we found a garage next to the canal and topped up our fuel with our 20 litre 'Gerry' can. Carnforth has some visitor moorings but again impossible to moor close-into the bank despite recent new bank-pilings.


We eventually managed to moor outside the 'Canal Turn' pub which we had avoided because of a sign restricting mooring at stated times during morning and late afternoon for a 'water-bus' stop. We had seen a few of these with boats moored on them and the licensee of the 'Canal Turn' mentioned that he had not seen the 'Water-bus' visit for over twelve months and suggested we moor and move if it actually did arrive.

Fibre-glass cruisers predominate on the Lancaster Canal.

Carnforth is a great place to stop.......Sanitary station, Tesco superstore; chip shop; laundrette.......everything a visiting boater could need including a great base to visit the Lake district.


We were now only three or four miles from the canal terminus at Tewitfield and it was with genuine regret that that we came to the current end of the canal that originally continued on to Kendal......let us hope that perhaps money and the will can be found to restore the full length of Lancaster canal at some time in the future......



 








   

Crossing the Ribble............Day two.

A quiet night in Preston Dock - hardly a a romantic film or song title, but we were more than happy just to relax after the excitement of the previous day. 

On the Preston Docks visitor moorings

Something to eat, a glass or two of wine and we were as relaxed as could be and awoke refreshed and ready for another day on the Ribble.  My mobile rang about 11am........

"Hi, it's Riversway control here.......Canal and River Trust guys have just rang and asked to let you out of the dock.......so if you are O.K to go, I have another boat ready and you can share the lock "    Suggested the unseen guy in the glass tower above the dock.

" Will be with you in two minutes......many thanks "  I replied.

Engine started, ropes off and I reversed into the blustery open dock where a 'real' sea-going boat was keeping station so that he could see the green 'ready' light that informed you the road bridge had been swung and the sea-lock was ready.

I managed to reverse into position- as if I knew what I was doing - waiting for the green light.   Bridge turned open, red light turned green and I shot into the lock........

"Which side are you going for ?? "  shouted Cap'n Denise
" Port Side to miss the silt"      I replied
'Listen to me......Port? Port? what happened to 'left' I am taking this boaty thing far too seriously' I thought.

Waiting in the lock at Preston Dock.

Putting a bow and stern line around the lock-wall chains really was not necessary 
as the levels between lock and river were almost the same..........but still good practice as it is difficult to judge the different levels from your point of view and turbulence in the lock
could be the cause of a few embarrassing pirouettes, especially with a 'proper'  boat captain looking on.

Off we went into the river not sparing the horses at about 2300 + revs.  I rang the Canal and River Trust guys at the Savick brook rotating lock and informed them we were out of the dock and that we would be with them ASAP...........

Leaving Preston dock for Savick Brook and the Lancaster canal

I had channel 14 on the VHF and could hear the captain in the 'proper' boat behind informing Riversway control that his destination was the Isle of Man.............

Perhaps I should inform them that my destination was Savick Brook and the |Lancaster Canal........I thought.

Perhaps not...........I thought again.

A run of about a mile or two and we could the see the welcoming steady green light at the entrance to Savick Brook.   I remembered that the west (left if going in ) side of the entrance had a sandbank, so I did a ninety degree and allowed a little room for drift and obviously stuck to the east side.

A green light ( yes I know it looks white on the picture) shows the entrance to Savick Brook

No problem as there was plenty of water in the brook and Andrew the friendly Canal and River Trust guy was waiting with the lock open........phew, made it this time.

Rotating sea lock at Savick Brook.

We moored on the holding pontoons beyond the lock and Andrew explained that he was waiting for boats from Tarleton and we had about an hour to wait.   Right on time after an hour or so a single boat arrived with the crew shaking their heads at our enquiry if they had a good crossing.

"Engine temperature was going into the red and we had to drain the hot water from the
and calorifier to keep it going worse" they said looking a little jaded.

"How far behind are the other boats?"  we asked.

" A long way.......one has broken down with a split hose and the other is towing it to Preston Dock " was the reply......

" I am getting too old for this - I think I will get the bus back" joked the lady crew member with another shake of the head.

So we were not the only people to have an adventurous Ribble crossing.   No point in waiting now so we both went up the flight of locks, culminating in the three 'staircase'
locks.

Entering the staircase lock is little tricky because most larger boats have to reverse into the lock as there is not enough room before the lock to turn around. Our companions managed to turn their smaller boat and it was the first time I had been in a lock with one boat pointing forward and the other backward !!!!

Staircase lock leading to the Lancaster canal.

A new steel sculpture has been erected above the staircase lock. It is self-explanatory
with a narrowboat full of tools that would have been used to construct canals. Apparently
it replaced a wooded sculpture of a nude man holding his vital parts - perhaps there was a contact somehow with canals - but like many others perhaps it was lost on me.   Never mind we are here to visit the Lancaster canal and despite our struggle to cross the River Ribble I am sure will be all worth it.

More to follow on the Lancaster canal............

Crossing the Ribble........day one

Turning onto the Rufford Branch of the Leeds and Liverpool canal we started to work through the wide locks that would take us to the terminus of the canal at Tarleton and the sea lock that would take us onto the tidal River Douglas and River Ribble to access the Ribble Link at Savick Brook to join the Lancaster Canal.

All the locks along the Rufford branch seem have their differences and are slow going for a single boat crew.  Old fashioned 'handcuff' screw anti-vandal locks are fitted to most of the paddles and are not the usual 'spring-open' type, being time consuming to open and close. There are even some very old fashioned wooden lever paddles that are pulled up with a large handle to open.


Nearing Tarleton the tow-path disappears and the banks are taken over with weed and some of this promptly wound itself around the propeller slowing it down as efficiently as any plastic bag or rope............ it took ten minutes down the weed-hatch to clear that little lot.

Last stretch towards Tarleton has no tow path.

Plenty of weed around the propeller

Three swing bridges need to be operated before Tarleton and then some good 48-hour visitor mooring are to be found, principally used for those crossing the River Ribble.



Harry, the Tarleton lock keeper visited us in the afternoon and gave us a detailed briefing for our crossing complete with a book of photographs of what landmarks to note. Very thorough of him..............and very helpful.


Our date with the morning tide at the lock was 9.30am the following morning.  Two steel narrowboats went first and some ten minutes later we entered the lock in company with a fibre-glass cruiser.

Waiting for Tarleton Lock to enter the River Douglas

Following instructions to keep to the left and 'go for it' as we entered the strong incoming tide. This is sound advice as if you just nudge the bow into the stream it is possible that you would be turned inland by the current rushing into the River Douglas.


Our companion fibre-glass cruiser soon outstripped us against the oncoming tide and started to pull ahead.  Most cruisers will show a clean pair of heels to a narrowboat because of their light weight and he soon disappeared from view.  After a couple miles struggling against the tide with 2300 revs on the dial I really did not want to push our 38hp Beta Marine engine much further as it becomes a little  uncomfortable after that.

Boat yard on the River Douglas

A large sea-going vessel came from behind and slowly overtook us.   I cast a worried eye on the engine temperature gauge that was way, way over to the 'right' of it's normal position and was touching some 100 degrees. On the return trip we tried the trick of opening the galley hot water tap occasionally to reduce the engine temperature - it really does work!!   I could see the British Aerospace airfield of Wharton on the horizon and spotted the large hangars that Harry the lock-keeper had advised we steer to locate the all important 'Astland Lamp' navigational perch.

Looking to the Ribble Estuary as we turn into the River Ribble

Rounding the Astland lamp into the River Ribble

Astland lamp slightly on our starboard bow we started to curve around it and into the River Ribble.   As the Ribble turns east inland I hoped that slack water on the turning tide would help our progress - it did and the banks seemed to be going past at a respectable rate. It is a difficult 'call' to balance between thrashing the engine into temperature ranges that could cause problems and making progress before the lack of water on the 'Seagate' at Savick would mean a divert to Preston Lock.

Looking back towards the Ribble estuary.........BaE Wharton on skyline (right)

We could see a steady clear 'green' light at Savick  ( meaning it was O.K to enter) and started to be relieved that all would be O.K.    A few minutes later and our hopes were dashed as Canal and River Trust's 'Andrew' rang us on the mobile and gave us the bad news that the lock was now inoperable because of the dropping water level.


We were instructed to divert to Preston dock a couple of miles further on and that they had been informed.  Tide had really turned against us now and we progressed slowly towards the dock which is unseen from Savick.  We eventually sighted the entrance and came into the dock hugging the south wall as the north wall is silted as the 'Skipper's Guide' had mentioned.

Entering Preston dock

Entering the massive entrance lock a road bridge parted for us and we roped onto the lock wall chains to ascend gently to marina level and then turn left moor at the visitor moorings............phew !!!     We will have another 'go' tomorrow !!!!!

Safe and sound - in Preston Dock