The 1st and 2nd of August. A year afloat and we get within touching distance of Liverpool.

After a few days at home we arrived back at Harold on Monday evening, the first of August. It was exactly a year since we set off on our watery adventure, so in the evening a toast was made to Harold and his crew. On Tuesday morning we set off early towards Liverpool. There are some swing bridges as you get nearer the city centre which CRT need to open for you and the timings are prescribed. We arrived at the first one in perfect time for it's 1.30pm opening slot.

The CRT guys closing the Handcock's swing bridge behind us.

The canal was clear enough to see all the plastic bags on the bottom. We didn't see so many fish here, but for much of the way, waterlilies made a stunning yellow border along the canal sides.

Waterlillies on the way into Liverpool.

We saw newly hatched coots (a second brood probably), moorhens and this young heron which didn't seem to mind us coming past his floating roost. He wasn't moving anyway.

Initially, the countryside is flat and a bit uninspiring. The canal curves around the north of the City and enters from the north west. After a while the suburbs of Liverpool appeared, with the huge cranes of the Mersey in the distance. It was mostly housing and the edges of Aintree racecourse. After a total of 15 miles, we moored at the Litherland visitor moorings, as recommended by the CRT staff. There we met a couple of the other boats which will be travelling into the Liverpool docks with us tomorrow.

22nd to 25th of July. Chilling out at Parbold.

On Friday we left Crooke and cruised the 4 and half miles to Parbold. At Dean lock, the motorway goes over the canal at a great height, above a railway bridge.

We saw Meandrine again at Applebury lock where they had found a lovely quiet mooring in the old lock entrance. Pete and Brenda helped us though the lock and we were grateful for their presence once again. We moored in the rather posh village of Parbold. It has an old windmill, a big church and a tea shop. House prices here are not that different from at home; Liverpool commuter belt.

Parbold windmill - now an art gallery (of course!)

Parbold church.

We stayed a few days and as it was dry and the bank was low, Robin painted some of the dents and scratches along the starboard side. The other side will have to wait until we come back the other way! The rather nice (and posh!) pub restaurant will also need to wait till then.  Jo had a bad reaction to a horsefly bite causing a painful and swollen leg so she didn't paint, just moped about :(

By Monday we really had overstayed at the visitor moorings and we moved on to Burscough. We passed the junction with the Rufford branch, which goes up to the Lancaster canal via the Ribble link. Burscough has a proper sized Tesco as well as general facililities. Tomorrow we take Harold to the Marina at Scarisbrick for a few days at home before we go to Liverpool.

21st of July. The Wigan locks are better with help.

We set off early and arrived at the top of the Wigan flight at 8.30am. There were two boats there already, who said they were going down together when one had finished on the water point. We resigned ourselves to going down after them and on our own and put the kettle on. However, just then another boat came past. We hailed it and we agreed to go down together. They headed straight for the first lock, bypassing the waterers, and we scrambled to join them. Our heros turned out to be experienced and lovely boaters Pete and Brenda from narrow boat Meandrine. We got into a good routine and got down the main 21 lock flight in four and a half hours.

Harold and Meandrine going into the bottom lock.

We stopped at the bottom to walk Scooby. Robin cycled into Wigan town centre, a rather sad place, for milk and crisps. He also got hot sausage rolls by way of breakfast which we hadn't had time for at the top! Then we continued on out of Wigan, passing the pier on the way. Its basically old wharf buildings, now renovated and containing a pub.

Wigan Pier

After a further 4 locks, we arrived at Crooke moorings, next to a nice pub. We went there to eat (very tasty and good value) where we ran into Pete and Brenda again, finishing off the evening very sociably. It felt very good to have got the flight over and done with just a bit of a sore back and two new friends.

20th of July 2016. To Red Rock Bridge.

Our evening meal in the pub was cheap and surprisingly nice. It was very scruffy but also very popular. Patrons in various shades of sunburn sat around the lock and on plastic chairs by the road enjoying the evening sun.

Patrons of the Top Lock pub enjoying a sunny evening.

On Wednesday the day started with the seven romantically named Johnson's Hillock locks. We followed converted flyboat Dee down the flight so it took a while. It was still very hot still and half way down we heard thunder which was followed by a dramatic hail storm. Jo was in shorts and sun-top preparing a lock and Robin on the boat between locks so we just got wet!

The hailstorm.

We met flyboat Dee again later untangling a plastic sack from her propeller. She is 84 years old and before conversion was one of the cargo boats made for and working this canal. We sneaked past and reached the mooring just ahead of her.

Flyboat Dee stuck while her prop is cleared.

After 8 miles and safely though Chorley, we moored at the Red Rock bridge, the short and inadequate visitor moorings which is the last safe place before the Wigan flight. We'll do the flight tomorrow; hopefully getting there before flyboat Dee. There's no other narrow boats going our way though, so it looks like we'll be on our own again. Friends and family are too far away to help and when we phoned Wigan CRT they said tough, ring this number if you get into trouble. The lock-keepers at Bingley five rise might have won an award for being the best in the country, but we reckon the Wigan team deserve one for being the worst. Maybe they'll prove us wrong tomorrow....

Harold moored at Red Rock with Flyboat Dee coming in to moor on the bank behind us.

18th and 19th July. It all heats up in Blackburn.

On Monday we had a relatively short day, going just a few miles to get to a pleasant and safe mooring before Blackburn. Robin did some DIY on the boat and some paddle-boarding in the evening. There was a huge flock of geese living on the opposite bank. They flapped in and out of the water when disturbed and sailed along the canal in a great long line. There was a full moon and a nice breeze.

On Tuesday it started, as promised, hot and sunny and the heat built further throughout the day. Robin walked Scooby early and set off into Blackburn. As before, there was a lot of litter in the canal. Icebergs included a floating small chest freezer and an armchair. After six miles we encountered the six Blackburn locks and went down them in the scorching sunshine.
Hoping for ice cream and salty snacks, we stopped at Cherry Tree to visit the shops promised in our book. They turned out to be Eileen's corner shop where the ice creams were uneatable (someone left the freezer open the lady told Jo - after she'd bought one!).  She also sold her the shop's entire stock of crisps (4 packets), last 2 pinter of milk and only packet of cashew nuts.
Apart from a rope caught round the propeller (our own centre rope - oops!) and being run aground by the trip boat, the remaining seven miles all went smoothly. At 4pm, somewhat wilted, we moored at the top of the next set of locks, waiting on the water point for a spot to become free. We might try the pub for tea - cooking might just heat the boat up to boiling point. We have certainly had extremes on the Leeds and Liverpool!

Blue skies above Chorley locks and Harold waiting on the water point.

The boats on the other side went on after a while and we moved across.

17th of July. Harold among the hills.

After breakfast at the Wharf café, we made our way to the tunnel for the 11am window. We waited behind a day trip boat for the lights to go green.

Red lights at the Foulridge tunnel.

The tunnel took 20 minutes to get through and we were soon at the top of the Barrowford locks. It was pretty cold up there, with a very chilly wind. We wondered where the predicted heat wave had got to. Our tomatoes are looking marvellous but could just do with a bit of sun to finish them off.

Salad on the roof; a basket of leaves and our tomatoes.

At the top lock we met the lock-keeper, who was just going for his lunch... However, we got down the 7 locks safely on our own and stopped briefly at the bottom to take Scooby for a walk. No lower and without the wind and with the sun making progress against the cloud, the weather was looking good. Robin decided to press on to a mooring he had noted about 4 hours away and on the other side of Burnley. The sun came out and it was a lovely afternoon. The canal is high and winding on this stretch with splendid views.

 
The sun sparkled and made a silver river of the canal, joyfully disguising the occasional patches of weed and litter.

Robin's mooring turned out to be quite lovely. With 15 miles covered and some welcome sunshine it has turned into a most productive day :)

Harold among the hills.

The view from our mooring.

15th and 16th of July 2016. To Foulridge via Gargrave.

On Friday we made an early start out of Skipton. We saw a fellow paddle-boarder on the way; he had also paddled around Skipton the previous evening.

We now have just over a week to get through Wigan and to our marina so we had good intentions for making progress. However, it was really miserable and cold; Robin even put his winter hat on!

After 4.5 miles, 4 swing bridges and 3 locks we stopped at Gargrave for a Scooby walk. As soon as we did, the rain started and we decided to stop for the day, not having the heart to go on. Its July for goodness sake!

On Saturday we got up at the usual time and just as we were finishing breakfast the nice couple who we had shared locks with the day before came past. We set off after them and we shared the next 9 locks. Although cloudy, the morning was dry and this is a very beautiful stretch of canal.

Our companions stopped at East Morton and we went on to the three Greenberfield locks. Last time we were here, we moored at the bottom. This time there was a posse of WPs there, including this rather eccentric vessel.

It was nearly 4pm by the time we got to the top lock so we stopped at the little café there for a late toasted sandwich lunch. After that it was a 2 hour straight run to the moorings at the Foulridge tunnel. We are at the summit of the Leeds and Liverpool canal now and we enjoyed the views and some late sunshine.

Jo, accompanied by Scooby, has her feet up while enjoying the view at the sharp end.

At about 5.30pm we crossed into Lancashire (will the weather be any better now we have left Yorkshire?). Tomorrow we go through the tunnel and up the Barrowford locks where we pause for the night before making a run through Burnley on Monday.