Lymm Wednesday 6 June 2018

As we walked over the foot bridge from the Trafford centre last night we could see the work going on to lay the Metro Line from the Trafford Centre to Manchester. No photos because we don't take a camera when we go out for dinner.

This morning we were a bit late getting away and there was a steady stream of Narrowboats coming towards us.

There is a lot of work going on at Parkway Bridge. This will be a new bridge for the Metro, I wonder if there will be a long stoppage to fit the deck on it.

Just before Waters Meeting there is the old Kellogg's arm, with a gate across it running into the factory yard.

At waters Meeting we turned right and still kept meeting boats.

One boat we passed was this very smart little craft from down on the River Weaver called Jacqueline, she looks in superb condition and a credit to her owner.

Work is still ongoing at the old Linotype Works but its impossible to see what they plan to do with the old gable ends, maybe the plans are on line somewhere.

This is one of the few canal where I could break the speed limit as like the narrower canals its only 4 MPH but the water is deep and wide enough for us to manage more than that.

We planned to moor in Lymm for the night but seeing the number of boats about wondered if we would get in. Thankfully there was a gap between the first and second boat just the right size for us, so no wasted spaces.
I thought as this blog was quite short I would include a short video that I recorded at the Trencherfield Mill steam engine.

Today's Journey 12½ miles in 4 hours

Trafford Centre Tuesday 5 June 2018

Today was another stop start day, I thought I would start with a photo of the Bollards we were moored to last night.

Anyway off at 10 but only as far as Leigh where we stopped just before we went onto the Bridgewater to stock up at Aldi. There were quite a few boats there so we squeezed in between the last moored boat, sharing his ring and the bridge where I had to put a pin in.
I have often told boaters that they run their ropes wrong when mooring on pins, A lot do it like the first photo, which is wrong, it should be like the second.

This is the reason, I was just driving the pin in and the ring fell off, this is not uncommon as the steel in the ring changes composition when its welded and the action of hammering the pin can make them just fall of, the ring was not hit with a hammer at any time.

Shopping and lunch done and we were off again only to meet this coming towards a bridge hole, I held back but he waived me through first. There was a crew of two onboard and the dredger operator had to lower the boom down to the water to get under the bridge.

I have a feeling he may have collected a few stones from the boys sitting on the bridge. The other side of the bridge the trees hang quite low so it wouldn't have been pleasant for the steerer stood up there.

Our next stop was Astley Green where we visited the Mining Museum, unfortunately we were just to late to see the winding engine running, they run it on compressed air, not steam. The winding wheel we were told weighs in at 105 tons and is tapered to that the diameter gets smaller so drawing the cable slower for the same engine speed, lifting the cage at up to 30 mph.

In one of the buildings they have a very realistic but totally fake cottage.

The also have several battery powered trains, most of which are covered up.There is a wealth of stuff here but it needs a serious injection of cash and workers to get it all together.

Our visit complete, there was no charge, just donations, we were away again, this time heading for our overnight mooring at The Trafford Centre, I have never been for dinner in a shopping centre and being asked if we want to sit inside or outside, when its all inside a shopping complex. Of course to get there we had to cross the famous Barton Swing Aqueduct, thankfully there were no kids throwing stones and sweets at us this time.

Today's Journey 12¾ miles in 4½ hours.

Dover Lock Monday 4 June 2018

Last night in the pub was interesting, the food was better than I was expecting, the beer as nice but we ended up drinking a little bit more than planned. I would like to say ore but it wouldn't be fair as it all turned out very well.

This morning bit of a lat start which saw us following Duke and Duchess a pare of hotel Narrowboats. We were facing Liverpool the direction they were coming from so had to wind, but we still arrived at Ell Meadow lock while they were still breasting up and going in. A nice over grown lock landing to watch your step as you get off the boat.
By now another boat had caught us up so we were able to send the pair on there way while we closed up.

For reference of boaters who do a longer day then we do, this and some of the other locks around Wigan are locked overnight and only available for use 8am until 8pm.

he hotel pair had just cleared Pagefield lock when we arrived so they were making good progress, here they are going past Wigan Pier.

We stopped at Wigan Pier so I could visit B&Q, if I had realised exactly where it was I would have stopped sooner. The rails at Wigan Pier are in a terrible state, they only need a couple of grand spending on them, when you consider its one of the things Wigan is famous for.

While I was gone Diana was with the boat and was able to watch some filming taking place, luckily I had moored just before the bit they wanted to use. She said the two groups walked towards each other about 6 times.

By the time I returned (a shorter route via the tow path) the other boat was well gone so it was off up Wigan Bottom Lock alone, this was originally number 23 lock counting from the top of the flight.

We had to wait at Henhurst lock for a boat coming down, this

turned out to be the Fly Boat Ribble, she is a L&L Short Boat so can go all the way from Leeds to Liverpool, she was built in Northwich in 1934 by Yarwood's.

Once we were through the lock we found the pound well down and after turning onto the Leigh branch we were bouncing along, so coming into the bank was out of the question, just put the nose against the gates and stay in the middle. This is only a short pound but the only feed is down the 21 so if boats are coming up or going down the Leigh Branch or out to Liverpool they all take a lock full of water with them.

A short way up the Leigh Branch we passed Duke and Duchess where they had stopped for lunch, perfect timing, they were just about to set off. We decided to moor at Dover Bridge and is wasn't long before they came past us, singled out again but not on cross straps, but just a pair of straps.

Today's Journey 6½ miles, 6 locks in 4 hours.

Crooke Sunday 3 June 2018

Well we haven't travelled far again but its been a full day. One of the reasons we stopped in Wigan overnight was that the Trencherfield Mill was in steam today at 1245pm. This is the largest engine of this type still operating anywhere in the world. The flywheel alone weighs in at 70 tons and is over 26 feet in diameter.

For a steaming Sunday they have to start preparing on Friday morning, warming everything through. We were lucky to be the first in when the doors opened so had a private introduction to the rebuild and restoration.
The engine is a double acting triple expansion engine with 4 cylinders, it has 2 low pressure cylinders to balance the load on the crank but only a single high and intermediate one. After a short introduction by the chap who looks after it we were shown a film about the cotton industry and then he started the engine. He runs her for just 2 hours before shutting it all down again. As there were only 5 of us there we were able to get up really close to the workings. its quite impressive.
Out side the museum doors there are two large blue prints of the engines marked out on the ground.

The used steam is condensed using canal water to cool it and then returned to the canal after the steam oil is stripped off. The boiler is fed with fresh canal water which is drawn in from just under the footbridge.

There is a lot more information about the engine in this poster which will enlarge if you click on it.

We finally set of at quarter to three, not good timing as two boats were waiting to go down the first lock when I started the engine. We stopped for water just below the lock which let them get well ahead.

The after noon was quite hot as we made our way to Crooke where we planned to stop overnight and go for dinner. At one time the traffic was so busy below Wigan that the locks were paired so 2 wide beam boats could lock down or up at the same time, this is the disused chamber of Ellmeadow Lock, now used as a weir stream.

It took us just over two hours to reach Crooke and there were quite a few boats moored here already, before mooring Diana went to check that The Crooke Hill inn is doing food this evening, which they are, so a couple of pins were bashed into the edge of the towpath for the night.

Today’s Journey 2½ miles, 3 locks in 2 hours

Wigan Saturday 2 June 2018

Last night we had been moored for an hour before the rain came, it didn't last long but it was very humid after that and for the first time this year we a a louvered screen in the engine room side doors.
This morning was an alarm job as we wanted to be away down the flight at 8 o'clock, its was a drizzly sort of start to the day but soon cleared out, you can only enter the Wigan flight between 8 and 9 am or 12 mid day and 1 o'clock., at other times the top and bottom locks have padlocks on them. They also unlock between 4 and 5pm to let the afternoon boaters out.

As we set off all the locks were against us so while I work the boat down one, Diana walks to the next one down and draws the paddles so that its full when we get there.
Just bellow the top lock someone has gone to a lot of trouble smartening things up with a bit of gardening.

A lot of the locks have props to support the top corner of the bottom gates when they are closed, there is an awful lot of weight on these gates with a full lock.

The view down this flight reminds me a bit of the Hatton 21 with the view of the spire down at the bottom of the flight. We had got to about lock 70 when the lock keeper caught us up to tell us that he was bringing a pair down behind us and he would send one of the Volockies forward to help us, we would also meet a boat coming up who was being assisted by 2 Volockies. We met the other boat as we were going down in 75 and I actually pulled into lock 76 beside them as they just didn't come out. At this point there was a change of plan and we now had 2 Volockies, one trailing to set the lock for the pair coming down.

Some of the locks still gave their original numbers just below the bottom gates on the off side, this one, lock 76 which was rebuilt by BWB in 1988 was originally Lock No. 12 numbered from the top.

Also at some point the walls and ground below the locks has been raised, you can clearly see the line of the original stone work with a higher wall on top, I don't know why or when this was done.

With the help of the 2 Volockies we were sitting above the bottom lock, 85 at 11 am, just 3 hours after setting off and of course the bottom lock still had the padlocks on it so it was coffee and a chat all round until the keeper came down with the keys to release us.
Once out we carried on down one more lock to moor for the night on the visitor moorings, tomorrow we plan to visit the Trencherfield museum as its a steam day.

Today's journey 2¼ miles, 22 locks in 4¼ hours.

New Springs Friday 1 June 2018

Today would be a day of stops and starts
Last night a boat moored right in front of us, facing the same way, he left at about 8am this morning, as we set off at 10am we met him coming back. It wasn't long before our first stop, at the top of Johnson's Hillocks Lock to take on water. Once the tank was full we turned the lock and opened the gate, looking back I could see a boat approaching so we opened the second. It was the same chap who moored in front of us last night. He had come down towards the locks this morning, winded in a small gap and reversed to the services to pump his toilet and take on water. Now his bow is too deep to wind in the same gap so he had to carry on past us, wind and then return back town the locks to carry on his journey. Once in the lock we were on our way down, looking back at the guard  on the paddle, amongst the junk sucked through I could identify a boot and some road cones.

As we were in the third lock a Volockie came wandering up and told us there were two boats coming up and she was concerned there would not be room for us to pass between the locks. We waited ages until they finally came up the next lock and set off passing them mid pound.

At the next lock we found two more Volockies and they worked well accompanying us down the rest of the flight, one going ahead and opening the top gates of the next lock ready and then closing the off side gate when we were in, the other boat was single handed.

At the bottom lock was our second stop of the day when I went round to pay Audrey of the IWA for the plaques we ordered for doing the L&L and Liverpool Link, it turned out Audrey was at home so I also collected the plaques and stopped for a chat (poor Diana was left holding the boat)

At the bottom of Johnson's Hillock lock the disused Walton Summit canal goes off to the left. This is part of the old Lancaster canal route with the north and south half joined by a tram way.

Also below the locks in a marker board to show the level in the pound between here ad the top of the Wigan Flight, some 10 miles, as you can see the level is down about 160mm in the red.

Once I finally returned to the boat we were off again spotting not only yet another terrapin, they all seem about the same size so I suppose one day they will all become extinct in the UK and a family of signets, some hitching a lift.

On our way up we passed under a stone railway bridge and I noted the lovely flow of the stone work up and over in crescents is the best I can describe it, so every stone must be a slightly different shape both in taper and radius.

Then came our next stop at Frederick's Ice-cream Parlour at bridge 72 where we met up with friend who have a share boat and indulged in some first class ice creams. That sorted we were away yet again heading for the top of the Wigan flight for the night, just before we arrived we were passed by this three wheeled recumbent, we have seen one or two of these this week including a two wheeled version. When we arrived at the locks Lady Teal was on the moorings but I was going to tuck in just behind her, Diana had just stepped ashore with a rope when the owner returned with the next set of guests and told me they would be leaving straight way, so we could move back to their spot away from the water point. You can see in this shot where we are moored, the boat in the distance. It was taken from the bridge over the short disused Lancaster branch going off from the top of the Wigan Locks.

Today's Journey 12½ miles 7 locks in 6½ hours