Wigan

OK so here, at last, is yesterday's blog. as you will see, we arrived at the top of the Wigan flight just before 8 o'clock with no energy left other than to eat our meal and then collapse!

The weather forecast was for rain, perhaps heavy at times, for much of the day. However, it was fine and warm when we set off, just before 8.30. After one swing bridge we passed Rufford Hall - with not much better a view than when we came up.

Rufford Hall

 As we passed the entrance to the two marinas in Rufford a narrowboat came out of St Mary's, seemingly without looking so we were not sure what it would be like as we shared the locks: Rufford Lock was immediately ahead. In fact they turned out to be a pleasant couple (although a third person emerged late morning having slept through the whole of the Rufford Branch!

Two railway lines run through Burscough and both cross the canal along this stretch. We had noticed the rather odd shape of one of the bridges on the way up but it was only with a detailed examination of the OS Map that we discovered that it is both a rail track bridge - a small farm access track makes a level crossing over the railway at this point.

As we made our way up the Rufford Locks, the sun even emerged from time to time making it a pleasant section to do.

We were intrigued by what appears to be a flow measuring device in the bywash channel beside the third lock down.

At the top two locks we were helped by two volunteer lock keepers who were happy to have boaters to chat to - although this was a Sunday it was a bit too early for the crowds which come to watch and use the nearby pub. Rather different from when we came down.

Rufford Top Lock

And so we bade farewell both to the lock keepers and to the Lancaster Canal. Although the Rufford Branch is now commonly associated with the Leeds and Liverpool, it started life differently and, even today, we understand that it is the CRT department responsible for the Lancaster that look after this branch.

The locks and swing bridges along the section to Wigan Junction are quite spread out so there was time for the non-steerers to sit, read and look out for unusual sights, such as this wood carving in the garden of a farmhouses!

Between here and Wigan Pier we saw a couple of trip boats, both well-patronised and with the passengers seeming to be enjoying the experience.

We managed to catch the former windmill at Parbold this time as well as some blue sky.

At Appley Locks (so called because there were once two locks on a parallel cut) we caught up with our lock partners from earlier - they were most disgusted because the boat ahead of them had refused to share!

Fit for an MP?

On the way up we had great difficulty with one of the swing bridges (which only carries a farm track not a proper road) and only moved it with the help of a farmer who appeared on his tractor. We were relieved to discover it open this time - what we had not spotted before was the remnant of a CRT sign saying that it should be left open at all times. No doubt that farmer had been keen to help as he should not have left it closed in the first place!

Gradually rain clouds caught up with us and there were one or two quite heavy showers, although they managed to avoid the times when we were working through locks. To give ourselves a fighting chance of tackling the Wigan 21, we opted for lunch-on-the-go, with Christine offering some delicious slices of eggy bread and crispy fried bacon!

The DW Stadium, home to Wigan's Rigby League team, appeared as we rounded a bend, heralding the start of the Wigan itself.

The Orwell, Wigan Pier

Wigan would not be the same - at least in fame - without its Wigan Pier. See the blog on the way up for a bit more detail, but the whole basin was at one time surrounded by warehouses (one is now The Orwell, a pub and restaurant) with the huge Trencherfield Mill dominating the surroundings. Alongside the canal are several small cottages that look as if the pre-date the mill and bravely survived.

Trencherfield Mill

By now the clouds were more persistent and the showers more frequent but optimism was high! The better Visitor Moorings by the CRT offices were full and, although we could have found a towpath mooring we decided to press on with the challenge of completing the flight of 21 (actually 23 if you count the whole flight with two before the junction).

It was still dry as we set off - although the clouds were now ominous as we could gradually see further. For the whole flight, Christine went ahead to set the locks, Mike steered and climbed most of the ladders to help, whilst Andrew worked the boat through each lock. We built up a steady rhythm and from the outset we estimated our arrival at the top as just after 8 o'clock.

By the time we reached the lock which gave us such a delay last year, persistent rain arrived and, although a couple of respites kept giving us hope, it stayed that way for the rest of the flight. (This lock was repaired on an emergency stoppage, along with a couple of others which were leaking, just a days after we passed through last time.

We had a quick conference at the intermediate mooring pound - which, although several people counselled against using, we would not have minded a short over-night stop if necessary - and decided to carry on. Meanwhile, Mike continued with the preparation of the evening roast dinner in between steering the boat between locks!

Various devices have been attached to some of the lock gates to add mechanical advantage to the more awkward ones, but is was rather a surprise to see that the process is still continuing at Lock 75 with one new mechanism under construction. Perhaps the older counterweight idea (not seen elsewhere on this canal) is deemed insufficient.

Some of the locks had rather fierce in-flow from the ground paddles which caught us out on a couple of occasions, resulting in a sharper contact with the lock wall that we liked. The result, Mike discovered when he popped inside later, was a toolbox upside down on the floor and lots of books strewn everywhere from their shelves!

A few locks from the top is where the best views can be seen and this time they included the spire of St Catherine's Church. Someone may well correct us, but as far as we can discover, this has now been re-built following the discovery of serious structural problems a couple of years ago. Last year (see for a photo) we were mystified at the absence of a spire which our memories prompted us to look for!

Almost at the top and a full rainbow appeared. The crock of gold seemed to lie in the middle of a reclamation unit!

We had made up a few minutes on our original estimate and emerged from the top lock about 10 minutes before eight. As we moored a mist appeared over the water.

It turned out that we were far from the last up the flight! Around ten o'clock, Andrew went for a stroll and discovered a wide beam converted Liverpool flat just about to arrive - they moored right next to us a few minutes later. But even they were not the last as we saw next morning when the cruiser boat that was in our convoy across the Ribble had come up behind the wide beam!

After mooring, we realised that our impact with the lock wall had had further consequences as the inverter (which is inside a cupboard) had come away from the wall. It transpired that it had only been fixed with three under-sized screws. Access is not easy and, apart from propping it up on piles of books, we decided that it was a task for the morning!

Still, the roast lamb dinner and augmented bread pudding, disappeared all too quickly!

17.8 miles - 34 locks