Salthouse Dock

Time to make up time in Liverpool.

So this morning we headed to The Walker Art Gallery. I’d noticed when deciding what to see in Liverpool that there was an exhibition on Alphones Mucha. Since my college days I have been a fan of his work. One scene painting exercise at college was to copy a printed artwork and I chose his poster for Ruinart Champagne. The end product was, even if I do say so myself, very good and hung in my parents conservatory for years. Not enough height on Oleanna so it now sits rolled up in our attic in Scarborough. A trip to Prague in the late 90’s meant I had chance to visit the Mucha Museum, which I loved and very uncharacteristically bought myself two copies of his Sarah Bernhardt theatre posters. These stayed in a tube until my 40th birthday when my Dad paid for me to have them framed. In my 30’s I bought a house which had Mucha tiles in the surround, this wasn’t the reason I bought the house but was a nice touch.

Alphonse Mucha 1860-1939 was a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist with a very distinctive style. He started out as a scenic artist but after moving to Paris to continue his education he volunteered to design a poster for the superstar of the time Sarah Bernhardt and her next theatrical production, Gismonda. His distinctive style and the large format of the posters caught everyone’s eye. Sarah Bernhardt was so taken with the image that for the next six years he designed all her posters. Quite often people liked the posters so much they would be taken down in the streets of Paris for people to take home. HIs graphic style spread into other areas, perfume, cigarettes, mostly depicting beautiful young ladies with flowing hair. Borders of flowers quite often formed  halos around the ladies heads. His colour scheme was pastel colours which contrasted with his contemporaries.

Between 1916 and 1928 he worked on The Slav Epic depicting the history of the Slav and Czech people. Some of these paintings are 6m by 8m and it was a major labour of love. In the exhibition there was a slide show of these paintings which took over a large corner of the room, one image of each painting and the another that scrolled around showing that image in greater detail. Also on display were works by his contemporaries, Rodin, Gauguin whom he shared a studio with in Paris. Then a section on works influenced by him. In the 60’s art nouveau influenced many a psychedelic poster. His influence carries on including on a Grateful Dead album cover.

A very interesting exhibition and I would recommend it if you happen to be visiting Liverpool this summer.

Before looking around the general collection at the gallery we decided to stop and have a sit down and partake of a bowl of Scouse each which was very tasty.

Back at Oleanna new boats had arrived and we had a new neighbour on one side. Tilly was pleased to see us, too right! Who said they could go out all day and leave me to meet the woofing neighbours just outside my window. Spoiling my view!!

Late afternoon we walked over to the Georges Dock Building, Grade 2 listed Art Deco where  we joined a tour of the Queensway tunnel and it’s ventilation shafts that help to keep air smelling sweet below the Mersey. The building was the former head office for Mersey Tunnels and is still a working building. Our two tour guides Ryan and Billy were very informative and their patter was very well rehearsed.

Construction was started in 1925 from both sides of the Mersey and by 1928 the two tunnels met out of line by just an inch. When it opened in 1934 it was the longest road tunnel in the world at just over 2 miles. The tunnel is round with the road deck halfway down it, below is a similar sized passage which at one time was planned to have double decker trams going between Birkenhead and Liverpool, but this never happened.

Our tour took us up flights of deco stairs to the old control room, where two engineers used to sit and monitor the air in the tunnel. Almost two years ago they were moved downstairs to share an office with the tunnel police force. The banks of old controls were installed in 1966, dials, bulbs and switches a go go. We then started to head downwards through doors that had air locks, this was to prevent clean air getting mixed with bad. The ventilation towers, originally six of them now five, are used to push and pull air through the tunnel. In one large room we were shown the huge fan (6m diameter) that helps to suck polluted air up through the roof of the tunnel to be expelled. The air quality in the tunnels has improved through time, no more 4 star leaded petrol has made a lot of difference.

Down more floors and through more air locked doors to the fans that draw fresh air into the building and push it down into the bottom section of the tunnel. Here the old opening looked like something from Tracey Island in Thunderbirds.

Then we went down and down and down to reach the road level of the tunnel. Taken out to a viewing area which was a refuge we clung to the wall to avoid any possible contact with wing mirrors. The tunnel was built for much narrower vehicles! No photography or hand gestures were allowed here to distract the motorists, they did all seem to slow down though at the sight of our high vis. Here we could see where the air came in at road level on both sides of the tarmac and large wholes in the ceiling is where it is sucked out. Should there be a fire in the tunnel the air flow is kept going so that the smoke doesn’t build up and the emergency services can see what they are doing. Modern refuges have been built below the road deck where the trams were once going to be. Monitors in each of the seven areas would relay information from the control room down to those safe below.

Once back up all the stairs we got to meet one of the Police constables who works there. They have their own force who are also fire fighters and first aid trained, so that should an emergency occur they would be able to deal with it before other emergency services could arrive. If you break down in the tunnel there is a charge to get you towed out, if however you run out of petrol or have a flat tyre without a spare you will be charged a lot more! Traffic can back up quickly right through Liverpool as around 90,000 vehicles use the Queensway Tunnel each day. A fascinating tour well worth the £6 and all the steps.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 Nouveau graphic designer, 0 photos allowed, 2 hours reading and looking, 2 bowls scouse, 2 teas, 2 nephew presents to be returned, £6 for an £8 million tunnel, 4 boaters do steps, 1 double act, 212 steps back up, 5 down, 2 humungous fans, 4 olympic sized swimming polls full of air a minute, 12 cat naps to go!!!!

Salthouse Dock

The plum glut needed sorting this morning along with the apples and beans. So blanching and stewing took up much of the time. Sadly because I didn’t feel like doing this yesterday, about half of the plums had gone past being wonderfully ripe and had to go in the bin, sorry Frank and Helen. We now have apple ready for a crumble, beans for quite a few meals and stewed plums to have with breakfast over the next few days.

Our yellow water tank needed emptying so as today we had no direct neighbours we emptied and rinsed out the tank. Unlike in the middle of nowhere, nobody came up to chat to Mick whilst this was happening!

At 2.30pm we watched todays boats arrive, another six. We’ve been wondering if C&RT have a system for allocating the berths, say rotating them on an eight to ten day basis, or Mondays berths 12-17, Wednesdays 18-23 but boats that left yesterday were replaced today by others. If there is a system we haven’t been able to work it out.

At just gone 4pm Micks old school friend Jeremy arrived, after a cuppa we headed to the Pier Head to catch the Mersey Ferry across to Seacombe. We had just missed the 5pm ferry, but this meant that we could watch it cross the Mersey before it returned to pick us up. I try to avoid waves, so am always a bit apprehensive of going on such boats, but it was an experience I wanted to do and was glad that there was little if any swell. As we were about to pull out the Isle Of Mann Ferry came into dock. We could see all the way though underneath its catamaran hull as it moved sideways into the pier.

The views back towards Liverpool were great with it’s iconic waterfront. Very few people were actually looking at the view as most were just commuters returning home.

We spent a lovely evening catching up with Jeremy and Sarah, chatting away, eating and drinking wine. It had been something like seventeen years since Mick had been to their house in Wallasey. I’d never been to the Wirral, despite in my early twenties having gone out with a chap for a year or so from there. Thinking about it I only met his Dad once, the relationship was obviously never going to last!

With the last ferry crossing long gone we walked to New Brighton Station via the scenic route. This took us through Vale Park where Major Mace and his wife have created a drift wood Fairy Village. My photos don’t do it justice as it was quite dark, also we had a train to catch. But here are some photos from the local paper. We then walked down along the waterfront where another creation by the Major sits on the beach. In the light last night my photos make the galleon look very atmospheric. It is on the beach for all to enjoy until one day the sea will reclaim the drift wood. But this has happened several times already and a new ship is built to replace it. If we had time it would be great to come over during the day to see it better, but that will have to be one for the next time list.

The shops and arcades of New Brighton were all shut up, a surprise as in Scarborough the arcades and chippies are open till late in the summer.

We said our goodbyes to Jeremy and Sarah at New Brighton Station, all very yellow, and climbed on board a yellow train that would take us around the houses, then back under the Mersey to James Street Station not far from Oleanna.

0 locks, 0 miles, 5 bags beans, 1 big crumble waiting to be topped, 4 days worth of plums, 1 tummy on the mend, 6 boats out, 6 boats in, 1 attempted toilet roll murder, 1 ferry, 17 years, 1 yellow train, 1 surprise package on it’s way, 1 Thank you to Joa.

Salthouse Dock

Today didn’t turn out as expected. We have a list of things that we want to see in Liverpool. This afternoon we had booked to have a look at Queensway Mersey Tunnel, but unfortunately I haven’t been too well and spent all morning in bed. So our tour has been postponed for a couple of days.

Despite me being in a darkened room, exciting things have happened. Mick went out shopping for a few bits and bobs. He returned with a new handheld vacuum. Our old one we left on Lillian, mostly because we fancied a newer one. Mick had looked at reviews and decided that a Vax would be the best. We’ll see how well this fares with picking Tillys fur up from the sofa and the back of curtains. It’s on charge in the back cupboard where we had a socket put for this purpose. I’m looking forward to not having to use up numerous sticky roller sheets to get the sofa unfurry.

Once out of bed I turned on daytime TV, not done that in a long time. Being hooked up meant it came without the guilt of running the batteries down, however it hasn’t improved so I don’t plan  on watching it again for another long while. The knitting needles came out and once Tilly allowed me to have them I did a tension square. I can still knit, well with big fat wool I can. During the afternoon I made good progress.

My old T square came out again to check on our depth. Here there are meters of water under Oleannas hull so Mick hung out of the side hatch. Our diesel and water tanks are only half full at the moment, similar to when we measured it last time. Both of us were on board this time and Mick was stood to the side he was measuring, so not a completely accurate measure. The T square came out of the water measuring a depth of 2ft 3inches. A 2 inch improvement from last time and as Louis said on Thursday, she is sitting at her optimum.

0 locks, 0 miles, 0 tunnels, 2 hours of great fun, –2 hours sleep last night, 3 attempted murders of the toilet roll, 3 counts of self defence, 1 poorly Pip, 1 tunnel tour postponed, 10.8v Gator, 6mm and 5mm needles, 1 Dad and Daughter reunited, £3500 prize, 0 suitable houses in the countryside, 16 cm of a front, 1st meal of beans, 1 NB Blackbird cruising again, 38 cat naps to go.

Salthouse Dock

One important job to get done today, take the life jackets to be serviced ready for the Ribble. So Mick set off with all three of our life jackets and got a train out to Sandhills to Norwest Marine. We can pick them up on Friday. Somehow Mick’s jacket had managed to inflate in it’s bag a few months ago, so he has been using my original one. We last had them serviced a couple of years ago, you should really get them done every year. It is an expense, but far cheaper than replacing one of us.

I went to have a look around John Lewis. Our wine glasses have reduced in number, we are down to three now and our lidded saute pan is becoming a stick pan as it’s non-stick surface is wearing out. So I did a recky on the ground floor and then found myself standing on the escalator heading for floor three. A few days ago I was asked if I’d be interested in doing some knitting workshops for a project happening in Scarborough. I used to knit a lot and ended up doing quite a bit of knitting for shows at the theatre. But since my accident a couple of years ago I turned to crocheting and taught myself the basics as using a hook was much easier than needles. If I’m going to do workshops I need to be able to knit and pearl myself. So I spent some time looking at patterns and then selecting some chunky wool for a project. I can’t say too much as it will spoil a Christmas present for Mick, but then he’ll get to see it in the making anyway. Here’s hoping chunky wool is the way back into knitting. Just have to remember where I put all my needles!

Four narrowboats and a wide beam arrived at 2.30, all successfully avoiding the pedalboat swans. Luckily none of the boats replaced our next door neighbour who left this morning, so our view has slightly improved.

This afternoon, after England won the cricket, we went to have a look for somewhere to eat this evening. We had a wander around Albert Dock where much of the food is burgers, pizza and pasta and then crossed over into Liverpool One to see what we could find there. A better selection was to be found high up on the terrace. Late afternoon we were joined by our friend Frank and his friend Helen. Frank had been doing a bit of carpentry work in Helens school in Warrington, so they had decided to come over and spend the evening with us. It was very nice to see them both. I think Frank is now the most frequent visitor we’ve had since moving onto Oleanna. They brought with them a mass of fruit and beans from the school garden. Plums, apples, runner beans and green beans, half a boat full. I think we may turn green by the time we’ve eaten them all. I might have a go at blanching and freezing some, maybe even make a frangipane plum tart, who knows.

We had a very nice meal in Wagamamas along with a bottle of wine and lots of conversation before they caught a train back to Warrington.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 3 life jackets for servicing, 10 balls of wool, 2 stitch holders, 1 pattern, 4 new glasses, 0 pans suitable, 1 dock walk, 1/2 a boat full, 4lbs of beans, 3lbs plums, 2lbs windfall apples, 2 recipe books on the table, 3 hours catching up, 1 bottle wine, 3 bowls of ricey niceness, 1 plate of noodles, 46 cat naps to go, 3 extra taken today.

Salthouse Dock

As the sun went down last night it cast a wonderful light across Salthouse Dock turning everything golden in it’s path. Mike on NB Lady Baltimore had also picked up his camera, a far superior one to mine with huge lenses.

A slow morning and a cooked breakfast. Since the 16th of June when we left Hanwell we have moved everyday but three (interview check on the house and hand Lillian over) so we deserved to sit around for most of the morning. We’d missed the boats leaving to do the link at 8am, as our eyes had still been firmly shut, we’d drifted off to sleep last night as music still blared out from the pubs and clubs on the other side of the dock.

More washing was done, got to make use of being hooked up especially as it’s free! By the end of the day our water tank was only a quarter full!

During the morning we got news of a sighting of Lillian. I think everytime Tim and Elizabeth take her out past Crick Lizzie will be waving at them from NB Panda like a loony woman. She says she’d have introduced herself if she hadn’t still been in pyjamas. The report was that Lillian respected Panda and was the slowest passing boat all morning.

By the time we got our act together to go and get some culture it was most definitely afternoon. I’d had a quick look at The Tate’s website and noticed something to do with the mural we’d seen yesterday on our way in which finishes tomorrow. So we headed over to Albert Dock to see some art.

On the ground floor was part of an epic wall hanging by Aleksandra Mir Space Tapestry, inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry depicting Halley’s Comet in 1066. Large sections of paper hung on the walls asking questions relating to our home and space, is there anybody out there? In the room there is getting on for 40m of the work, but in total there is 200m. The work took two years to make with the aid of 25 collaborators all using black marker pens. It was strange standing in a room in Liverpool looking at images of where we have travelled from in the last two months in East London.

Further up the gallery are rooms showing various art works from the collection which all have links to each other. A constellation map connects the artworks to a trigger piece. The works stretch from Grayson Perry to Lowry,  Duchamp to Paul McCarthy and his Artist video. Some of this we found interesting, other parts not so. Certainly Paul McCarthy’s video was strange, slightly amusing yet very disturbing (we didn’t watch it all the way through it’s 50 minutes). The Felt Suit by Joseph Beuys was a calm moment after the video and had connections with Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Venus of the Rags. My favourite piece was in the Lowry room by Ghisha Koenig, The Machine Minders (seen above).

Up another floor and an exhibition that was co curated by Tracey Emin and the gallery. Tracey’s controversial work My Bed 1998 sits in a red room, surrounded by drawings by William Blake, at the far end of the gallery are drawings by Tracey. My Bed is a self portrait where the artist is absent, her bed after four days of inner turmoil laid out for all to see. We timed our viewing with a talk by a chap from the gallery, which was interesting and informative if a little bit meandering. Blakes drawings at first glimpse are detailed drawings easy on the eye compared to the detritus around Tracey’s bed, yet the subject matter is more disgusting, boils, torture, lust in a form that we now would tend to pass over without looking at in detail.

Still no sign of an exhibition about the mural. That was because we had already seen it yesterday at Stanley Dock.

Full of art and the views from the galleries windows, two narrowboats coming into the dock, we decided to spend an hour in the Museum of Liverpool. When we were here five years ago we had quick visits to the museums and galleries that surround the docks as we had constant visitors all weekend. On one day we’d come into the museum and started to look around, within fifteen minutes there was an announcement that they would be closing soon. Today we walked up the spiral staircase to the first floor, thinking that we could have a look around there and come back another day to do more. We had just walked to the beginning of the time line for the history of Liverpool when there was an announcement, yes they would be closing in quarter of an hour! Deja Vu! So instead of working our way through centuries we spent what minutes we had looking at the display on Liverpool’s Overhead Railway.

Opened in 1893 the Liverpool Overhead Railway was the first elevated electric railway. Running along the docks, originally five miles long, it was extended to stretch from Litherland to Dingle. It became known as the Dockers Umbrella giving shade on rainy days. A popular tourist trip and at it’s height almost 20 million people used it in a year. In 1955 a survey showed that a lot of repair work was needed on the viaducts which the company could not afford. Despite public protest the railway closed at the end of 1956. We just had chance to watch a small section of a film made looking out of the carriages at the docks before another announcement pushed us closer to the doors. We will be back, one morning so that our visit doesn’t get stopped before it starts again!

For a treat we headed over to Pizza Express for a meal tonight. We had a voucher for free dough balls and another for 25% off food. So we made the most of it with three courses. Next door is the Liverpool Wheel which was still turning as the sun was heading down over the horizon. We may come back to go round it one evening ourselves.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 lazy morning, 1 tiller tied up tight, 0 squeaking now, 3 exhibitions, 40m of felt tip art, 1 bed, 1 split pillow, 2 dumpy chaps, 15 minutes of history, 1 carriage, 0 spitting, 2 narrowboats, 2 loads washing, 2 pizzas, 2 glasses of wine, 2 puddings, 1 portion dough balls, 45ish cat naps to go!

Saracens Head to Holmes Swing Bridge 10.

As we were about to push off this morning a boat appeared through the bridge behind us, so we clung onto our ropes and waited for them to pass. We had a boat to leapfrog the swing bridges with.

NB Tranquillity being ahead worked the first bridge which was all electric. We leapfrogged them and got to the next. I let a cyclist cross who was obviously being followed by another, they were together so I waited for them both to cross. It was a good job the wind had calmed down as I was making the boats wait. This panel slightly flummoxed me. I pressed the button to open it, lights barriers. It then suggested letting go of the button, but not until a bulb had light informing you that the bridge had unlocked, you then had to push the bridge into the open position. Mental note made, make sure whilst you wait for a cyclist to read the instructions before you start!

The next bridge had manual barriers, but was electric. The next for me was the old push and pull, no electricity in sight and a handcuff key to unlock it. I seemed to have picked the short straw as the final bridge of the day was electric too. I only got to stop one car, NB Tranquillity nine! Mental note for the way back, get the posher bridges.

Coming out of Maghull the canal turned yellow with masses of water lilies. A channel through them has been kept clear by the passing boats. Above the blue sky had been combed with cloud, suggesting a front was coming our way. Yellow trains crossed the railway bridge, we should have brought Lillian as she would have completed the picture.

As we approached Bridge 10 the gap in the lilies broadened so we pulled in to moor. This would leave us with the bridge to do in the morning and a miles cruise to reach bridge 9 which is operated by C&RT between 9.30 and 10.30. When we came into Liverpool on NB Winding Down we waited the night at bridge 9, but there wouldn’t have been so good for Tilly due to a busy road.

NB Tranquility pulled in too and after we’d both tied up we chatted away until the heavens opened with very large rain drops, so we retired to our boats leaving the rain for Tilly to enjoy for the rest of the afternoon.

During the afternoon, boats exiting Liverpool have come past, one stopping and so far another three boats have arrived presumably going into the docks tomorrow too.

We have both read the skippers guide to the link and I have found our paper copy from 2012 to have at hand tomorrow. Only one thing appears to have changed since then and that is the operation of Prince’s Dock Lock. Back in 2012 it says that this can only be operated by staff, now it doesn’t mention this, so maybe we get to do it ourselves. We’ll find out tomorrow.

0 Locks, 7.75 miles, 5 swing bridges, 3 done for us holding up 9, 1 held up by me! 1 yellow lined route, 2 yellow trains, 2 cathedrals, 1 soggy moggy, 1 boat waiting for the morning, 1 camera on charge, 1 loaf of bread rising on the bread shelf.

The voice of Houdini had spoken and Tom had just got up to make tea. This normally means I get a ding ding which means biscuits, then I return to bed to keep toes warm for at least two cat naps. Repeated ‘No’s follows this before I go back to bed and have quite a few cat naps before I need to check the progress on the outside being moved. But today it was very different! Instead of ding ding Tom let three men onto our boat, I didn’t see any cutlasses, but they certainly cut things up and stole stuff too that I’d never seen before. Was this Oleannas treasure? They were everywhere, I wasn’t allowed to hide under the sink, so took to sitting in the bow. But this wasn’t safe either so I had to jump ship and hope that Tom and her could defend our boat. I spied some trees and headed straight for them, keeping an eye on what was going on, from afar.

Once there was access to the bilges Louis started to appear with the brick ballast. Using a bent metal rod he was able to pull the ballast towards the hole and remove it from one section of the floor.

Next the fridge was pulled out. We’d asked for some holes to be drilled under it to help ventilate the bilges. These were used to also cut a hole to remove more ballast.  With the bricks mounting up in the van, we were all glad that they could get the van within about 10ft of the boat. Oleannas stern started to rise out of the water reducing her draught.

A vent  was added to the dinette to help ventilate the freezer and holes were drilled into the drawer and floor below it to help with air flow. However there doesn’t seem to be enough insulation on the front face of the freezer, so it is causing condensation to form. We will source some foam that we can add to it to help solve the problem. The front door bolt hole had been filling with rainwater, so this had another smaller hole drilled right through it so that it would self drain. An extra thickness was added to the frame around our roof hatch where water had got in. Extra sealant was added in the galley and bathroom, just where water seems to congregate. A catch in the cat proof cupboard was moved to make it cat proof. Wood locker lids had an edge cut down to help reduce them from marking the paintwork when they are lifted off. A second shelf in the pan cupboard was fitted, this now needs reorganising. One of the bathroom doors was given a bit more room so as not to catch on hot days.

Whilst all this was going on Mick and I had nowhere to be as you can imagine. So for a while we put our towpath chairs out in the car park and chatted to a chap who used to run the pub and local boaters as they turned up in their cars. Every now and then we were called upon to move our possessions about, or it would start to rain so we went inside to stand where we wouldn’t be in the way. Next big thing was to strip the bed so that ballast underneath could be removed. The van was moved to be closer to the bow and a human chain was made to remove the 25kg sheets of steel from below our bed. Once the gas locker vents were in view a spirit level was pooped on top of the cratch board to check if Oleanna was level from side to side. One piece of steel needed to go back on.

The leak on the chimney was looked at and some silicone added to where water might have been getting in. We are still concerned that the fixed chimney is too high to get under some bridges. Louis will check the regulations as this isn’t the side of things he deals with. Then with everything else ticked off the list the three of them started to sort out the fairleads. We had a pair that weren’t a pair, different designs, they had also been put on the wrong sides of the bow. A new pair were fixed on, the right way (not the Ken way) round and at one point the gas locker vents must definitely have been back under water as all three of them were on the bow of Oleanna.

It was just gone 1pm and the chaps had only really had a ten minute break to have something to eat. A very efficient mornings work from them all. We waved them goodbye, called for Tilly who came running home and then sat down for some much needed breakfast lunch.

0 locks, 4.54 miles, 2 swing bridges, 11 held up, 7am! 3 thieves, 100 plus bricks removed, 200 kg plus of steel removed, 10 holes, 1 vent, 1 sharp tug, 0 batteries, 3 skilled chaps, 1 bow, 1 Kris Shhh, 1 heavy van, 6 hours enforced freedom, 1 cat glad to be home, 2nd pub mooring, 3.5 pints, 2 burgers, 6 scoups chilled medication, 1 lightweight boat, 1 water line in need of a Gorrie clean.

1. Improbable Fiction a play by Alan Ayckbourn where the actors have to change their costumes at the end of act one and all the way through act two very quickly! From modern day, to Victorian, to 20’s, to Science Fiction, to Goblin and Squirrel. Well worth seeing.
2. Being Franked. Frank was the master carpenter and when he had built things I would paint them. Quite often I would be delayed.
3. Just in case. When going to fit up a show at another theatre, the van would be packed and always include an amount of ‘just incase’ pieces of wood Frank insisted on taking. Just incase!

New Lane Swing Bridge to Rufford Branch to Crabtree Swing Bridge 32

The rain was coming down stair rods this morning, so with only a short hop to do we had a cooked breakfast. Asda’s Turkey sausages aren’t bad, but not as good as Sainsburys. By the time we’d taken our time it had stopped raining so we decided to move. We pushed off and I swung Crabtree Swing Bridge managing to hold up two cars.

We’d decided to head up to the junction to wind as the mooring outside the pub is sloped, it would also mean easier access to the chimney too as that is on the port side. As we passed the closed pub car park we could see a sporty car that had seen better days, every one of it’s windows had been smashed! Were we being wise to moor outside the pub overnight?

NB Infinity had moved off so there was space we could take by the car park in Burscough. Tomorrow we are hoping to loose some of Oleanna’s ballast so getting the Finesse van as close to the boat is important. At the car park we couldn’t guarantee them being able to park closest to the boat and there was a barrier to keep motorbikes off the towpath which might have been awkward. So we carried on back to the junction to wind.

Oleanna’s doppelganger was sitting just through the bridge at the junction waiting for the swing bridge at the top of the locks to be opened. Mrs Infinity looked like she was having a bit of trouble unlocking  the ground paddles to fill the top lock up. It would have been funny if we’d have shared the locks with them, shadow and mirror. Wonder if they are heading to the Lancaster?

After we’d winded the rain started again in earnest. My coat seemed  to be doing it’s job well, rather than soaking water up it was running off it. This wasn’t so good when I came inside to find waterproof trousers as I dripped everywhere, a bit like the open windows. Mick pulled us in a little short of our chosen mooring and on the towpath side. This meant that Tilly could go off and explore the fields rather than the pub carpark and maybe we’d move across first thing in the morning.

The rest of the day has been spent having a good tidy and clean. It feels a bit like we need to show that we’re looking after Oleanna to the chaps tomorrow. The cooker top has had a good clean (Mick’s domain) even though it will be replaced tomorrow and under the back steps has had a good sweep and tidy ready for a hatch to be cut to aid ballast removal. As we cleaned Tilly would return periodically to sit and clean her filthy paws. Well you’ve got to look your best when going ashore! Once she was clean and  dry she’d be off out again. I’m really not sure she’s a cat at all, cats don’t like rain.

As the day progressed the rain cleared away and boats started moving. With each boat passing we got nervous that they might stop outside the pub, so we decided to push across and take the mooring before anyone else did. Hopefully we’ll have a peaceful night and be up bright and early waiting with the kettle on for Finesse to arrive.

0 locks, 2.74 miles, 1 swing bridge, 2 held up, 1 wind, 1 doppelganger, 4 hours tidying and cleaning, 1 wine cellar in order, 4 hours field exploration, 20 muddy paws, 1 big deal about sitting on a towel! 1 boat ready and waiting, 0 pints tonight, 7.30 am ETA tomorrow!

Fishers Swing Bridge to New Lane Swing Bridge 31

The weather forecast isn’t being kind to us. Today has been a lovely day, starting off slightly damp, but progressing into another warm sunny afternoon. However tomorrow is meant to be a seriously wet day which has meant that a planned snagging rendez vous with the chaps from Finesse has been put on hold. They will need the stern hatch open for much of the day and without a pram cover Oleanna would get wet where she shouldn’t. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that Thursday the weather will be on our side.

With this in mind we had a late breakfast, trying out a recipe for oat and pecan pancakes. They were nice, but would have been nicer with a touch of sugar added to the mix or a big drizzle of maple syrup. They were a nice change though.

So our mission today was to find somewhere to meet Finesse, get their van as close as possible to Oleanna and still be on course to make our booked passage into Liverpool at the weekend. We’ve spent some time looking at google earth, tracing the canal from Wigan to Maghull. We have been this way before and had an idea of a couple of places that might be good.

First though we had a swing bridge to do, the first of quite a few to get us to Liverpool.

Then was Appley Deep Lock which is 12ft. We first came through here with our friends Frank and Steve in May 2012, it was peeing it down! A boat had just passed us so we hoped that it would be in our favour, which it almost was, only a couple of feet down, so I started to top it up. I quickly realised that I’d need all the paddles to do this as the bottom gates were leaking so much. However one of the ground paddles was chained up, out of action. A small cruiser approached from below and a lad of about 12 came up with a windlass in hand. He was very chatty and was a little bit old before his time, asking all the usual questions boaters ask at locks but with a slight naivety to them. He asked if he could wind a paddle for us when we’d got our boat in the lock as he’d be doing nothing otherwise. That would be great thanks. Mick brought Oleanna into the lock and was just getting off the stern to close the gate when the lad started to wind the paddle up! We both shouted to wait, he of course was only doing as we’d agreed, lifting a paddle when we’d got our boat in the lock, no-one had said anything about gates!

Unable to unlock the handcuff on the other paddle meant it was going to take time to empty such a deep lock. So we chatted away. He and his Dad had not had the boat long, they’d bought it in a car boot sale on line for £100 and were heading off on an adventure. He asked how much our boat had cost, which got the response of ‘quite a bit more than yours’. Boys like numbers no matter what age, so I gave him Oleanna’s vital statistics so far. Nearly 4 months old, about 650 miles and around 420 locks. As we pulled away from the lock I could hear him shouting these down to his Dad, I think we’d impressed him.

Our first possible meeting place was Parbold where there is a car park right next to the visitor moorings. There was space for us, not the closest, but still quite good, only down side was that they are only 24hrs, perfect for tomorrow, but not Thursday! We pulled in and went to the shop timing it well that the level crossing closed just after we’d crossed the rail tracks. Any excuse for Mick to watch trains! After lunch we toyed with the idea of carrying on a bit to see if other places were any good, if not wind and moor up to return later tomorrow. But this would leave us with quite a lot of miles to get under our bow, so we decided to carry on and see what else might be available, after all a couple of hours cruise for us is only a matter of minutes in a van for Finesse. This did mean though that the very good chilled medication shop by the bridge on the off side didn’t get a visit! We will be stopping here on the way back though! Can’t pass it twice without partaking.

At Bridge 35 we pulled over to add our rubbish to the mountain in and on the skip. Just after bridge 34 was another place we’d identified, another 24hr mooring! On past the Rufford Branch where we will be heading in a couple of weeks. We were now on water we’ve only done once in NB Winding Down.

Coming into Burscough Bridge at the end of a line of boats was Oleanna’s doppelganger. Well nearly. NB Infinity is an Aintree boat launched in December 2015. She has very similar colours to Oleanna, maybe a little bit brighter, but her stripes are a mirror image of each other, not shadows. Her owners were just opening up the hatch and we complemented them on their colour scheme, the lady didn’t twig to start off with. Behind them was a space and through the fence was a car park, we thought about it for a while, but the canoe portage sign put us off, we’d be in the way.

At Burscough Bridge the chandlers where we replaced a mallet and the good bakers have both sadly gone. Now in their place is a restaurant and bar, shame because the pies were very good. The next place was Long Term Mooring and not suitable for a cat to go out as the road was right beside it. The next swing bridge came into view along with what had looked like a boat yard on google earth. However it was a closed down pub, with parking in front right by the water and a 24hr mooring and there was space. If we stopped we’d be there for 48 hours, should we be bad?

Our conscience got the better of us, so we carried on to find the next place was also 24hr mooring and outside an open pub. There were still a few more places to try, but they were quite a few miles further on, so we decided to wind and moor on the towpath for tonight, a better place for Tilly and then moor up tomorrow at the closed pub. Fingers crossed that the weather puts others off from cruising tomorrow and that the open pub attracts any that do.

1 lock, 8.29 miles, 6 swing bridges, holding up 20, 1 twice, 1 wind, 1 straight on, 7 healthy pancakes, 12 year old old before his time, 0 chilled medication, 6 ripe bananas reduced for not being green, 1 mirrored, 1 shadowed, 2 many 24hr moorings, 1 hour, 27 goose grass seeds, 1/2 hr removal, 2 miffed magpies, 1 cat porn email, 4 black beauties waiting for homes.