Last night before going to bed I adjusted the mooring lines and moved the fenders to stop the boat knocking in the breeze, we are moored against very heavy interlocked piling that has deep recesses, it may have been better to have floated our wheelbarrow wheels in the recessed part but I didn't. The end result was I was out side completely starkers in the early hours because the fender was no longer against the piling but in a recess so the boat was banging. Thankfully it was only cool and not raining.
A bit later start today as were weren't in a hurry, first stop just through the bridge at the services to dump rubbish. There were two chaps there repairing the concrete edging and that had to stop while we were there but one kindly took our rope as we came in.
The wind was not quite so strong today, only gusting 27 mph. but we only had a couple of swing bridges to do. I said yesterday this reminds me of Fen Land, well they also farm in a similar way and the wind is also the same.
I managed to get the name of the Bee Farm as we came by, they really do have a good selection of shapes and colours of hives.
 |
Looking across to Burscough on the main line Burscough Mill which has now been converted to flats is quite visible.
We met 2 boats today, one of them being a fellow Blogger and member of the same boat club as me, NB Holderness, the other we met as we were getting ready to leave the top lock. This time there was no irate local complaining the swing bridge was open, thinking about it I don't know why he didn't have the Taxi bring him up the other side of the canal, then he wouldn't have had to cross at all.
CRT have carried out an interesting repair to one of the bottom lock gates where it has snapped through at the heel, at least it keeps the lock in use and will probably last for several years.
Once back on the main line we turned right towards Liverpool once more, we wanted to stop quite soon as the next 2 days are quite short. The only moorings we could see were long term with lots of spaces so we dropped into one of them, ready to move if required, but it has a very sloping stone edge which means the boat is about 400mm from the towpath but the bottom plate is catching the stone work and grinding all the time, so we just stopped for lunch and then continued to the visitor moorings just before Crabtree Swing Bridge which also happens to be the forecourt to The Slipway pub. When we arrived there was only just room for us as Colin on the Wool Boat was there as well, but he has now left so we are on our own. Carol and Colin had their 5 minutes of fame when Tony Robinson visited them while walking the L&L for Ch4.
Today's Journey
2 comments:
Hi Both, Sorry it was such a fleeting hello as we passed. There is no way we could of stopped for a chat mid stream today. We really struggled to get off the bank at the swing bridge No.9 so it was good to hear all went well for you. A cruiser has joined us down here and they must have had a hell of a time. Thanks for your best wishes for our crossing tomorrow. It may be cancelled but we will be able to go on Saturday if not. I'm sure we will bump into you some time soon. Cheers for now. Tony and Helen
Last year we stopped at The Slipway, the pub was closed and felt very unloved, although the car park was well used. It was a very handy place to have visits from boat builders and cover makers as they could park right next to us. I hear the pub has reopened, hope so as it looked like a nice place.
Pip NB Oleanna
Post a Comment