On Tuesday morning we set off early again in pouring rain. Robin made a few calls and we identified a boatyard in Chorley which could look after Harold while his crew has a few days home. There were two locks in the approach to Wigan to get us in the mood. The banks were high and ragged with shallow patches which made it difficult to moor and the locks deep and heavy. Just an inkling of what was to come. Fortunately the rain turned to drizzle and then stopped for the rest of the day. We took the right fork at Wigan (the left goes to Liverpool) and met the first lock. There were no other boats about and no CRT staff or volunteers so we braced ourselves and headed up the main 21 lock flight on our own. The grass had not been mown and by the second lock Jo's feet and legs were soaked and remained so for the rest of the day and she muttered darkly about trench foot.
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Some way up we met 2 boats coming down which were being helped by a volunteer lock keeper, on Tuesday they will do assisted passage for the ill or disabled if booked in advance (something we may be glad to know for later). He couldn't help but he did give us advice on how to manage the (even more) difficult locks numbered 75 - 70 for which we were grateful. We got into a bit of a routine which shared the heavy locking work between us (many of the gates Jo just couldn't shift on her own anyway). The locks are an inconvenient distance apart and there are no mooring posts so we left Harold safely stowed at the top of the previous lock while we got the next one ready and then Robin drove him across to the next lock while Jo closed the previous lock's gate and walked up to join them. It took 7 hours to get to the top (including 2 short tea/dog walking stops - both with Harold left in the lock as there's nowhere to moor) and it was extremely hard work. We had some help from a group of young Polish people near the top, and a few times on the flight people walking passed stopped to help Jo with a heavy gate. This help was most gratefully received.
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| About 3/4 of the way up we got this view as some reward for our efforts. |
The flight raises the canal by 214 and a half feet.
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| A relieved Harold in the top lock. Note the mowed grass up here. Too late now! |
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| At the top. |
We eventually moored at Red Rock Bridge, a way out of town and spent the evening nursing very sore backs. Scooby, who hates the banging in the locks and who was shut in while we went through them, came out on the back for the last couple of miles and had a nice walk in the evening as some compensation. We would certainly not do this lock flight again without more crew to help.
The next day we made our way through Adlington to Chorley, going past the sign welcoming us the Lancashire on the way. We saw hills over to the East, a reminder of why we chose to cruise this canal and, hopefully, a sign of good things to come. The boatyard is very small and a bit tatty but Harold should be safe enough and it's cheap. We'll be back to collect him on Sunday.
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