Johnson Hillock and Chorley

Another very wet day - although it held off for the first hour! Apart from that, the day certainly lived up to Bank Holiday Monday traditions!

Mike walked up to the one stop shop Christine discovered yesterday where he bought a paper, milk and one or two other food items.

We soon left the last of Blackburn behind us and once again green countryside returned. However, so also did our old friend the M65 which was close to the canal for a couple of miles. It finally left us just after Riley Green.

Farewell to M65

Johnson Hillock Top Lock

We arrived at the top lock of the Johnson Hillock flight where we needed to use the full ranges of services. A boat was already at the water point but moved on not long after we arrived. The tap was a rather slow one and by the time we had finished filling the water tank it was after mid day so we opted to cross over to the visitor moorings on the opposite side to have lunch.

Lock 61

As we were about to set off again, a couple began asking questions about owning a boat - they are considering the possibility - and so we offered them the chance to work the boat down the flight with us. This they readily accepted and felt that they had had a much better day than expected by the time we arrived at the bottom! At least the rain largely held off through the locks.

We bade them farewell at the bottom and carried on in, very soon afterwards, increasingly heavy and persistent rain.

Bottom Lock (right) and Walton Summit Branch (left)

Below the bottom lock, an additional bridge marks the start of what was called the Walton Summit Branch. At one time there was a link from here to the Lancaster Canal and the locks were a joint project with the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company. However, they never completed the link by canal, preferring to use a tramroad trestle bridge across the Ribble estuary rather than build a proper aqueduct, even though this added significant transhipment costs. When motorways were built across the line of the southern section its fate was finally sealed and only a short section is still in water and connected to the rest of the system. If only the canal companies had had more determination then we might today have a simpler route to the northern Lancaster Canal that the Ribble Link which is really only for the more experienced boater. (It also has to be booked well in advance as only a few boats a day are allowed to work through)

Botany Bay Shopping Centre

Botany Bay is a retail shopping centre based on a converted former mill. Although it looks rather splendid, we suspect that its contents mainly attract those looking for a cheap bargain.

Slow down to 4 mph!

At the Botany Bay permanent mooring site, a sign asks boats to slow down to 4 mph. Since this is normally the maximum speed limit, one wonders what BW were expecting boats to be doing before reaching this point! Certainly, passing at such a speed would bring complaints from any owners on board.

M61

Yet another motorway - the M61 - made its appearance and ran close to the canal for the next mile.

 

We had intended to end today the other side of Adlington but the rain was making cruising increasingly uncomfortable. After clearing Chorley we pulled in, just before the railway bridge, in pleasant countryside. We sort of hoped that the rain might clear enough to carry on a little later but once we dried out and began to warm up, any such plans melted away and we stayed put for the night!

9.8 miles - 7 locks