From faurecm@halcyon.com Mon May 3 23:27:23 1999 Date: Sat, 30 May 1998 14:31:16 -0700 From: "C. Marin Faure" Reply-To: canals@blacksheep.org To: canals@blacksheep.org Subject: Leeds & Liverpool Trip/Observations My wife and I having just returned from our 3 weeks on the Leeds & Liverpool canal I thought I would summarize our experiences for anyone interested in this route. Our boat was the 56' WILLOW from Middlewich Narrowboats. We made the run from Middlewich to Wigan in two days, cruising about 10 hours each day. We spent the second night moored below the bottom lock of the Wigan 21 so we would be ready when BW unlocked the gates at 8:30 the next morning. We went up the Wigan 21 in the company of a fibreglass cruiser, not the best situation as we spent a lot of effort keeping the heavy narrowboat off the cruiser as the locks filled. I almost think it would be easier to go up solo than to share the chamber with a fibreglass boat. We had the assistance of two BW employees, and they made the job a LOT easier. It took exactly 3 hours to ascend the flight. I expected Blackburn to be the most troublesome stretch of canal in terms of rubbish, etc. but was pleasantly surprised. Yes, there is some junk in the canal, but it appears that the city and/or BW is making an effort to improve the canal environment. It was Burnley that had the most deplorable canal conditions we've ever encountered, which was a real shame as the canal route through the city is very interesting. The canal was full of chairs, entires sofas, tables, TV sets, not to mention the usual collection of shopping trollies and traffic cones. At one point I had to stop and remove the weed hatch to get a large square of plastic sheeting, six feet of blue polypropolene line, AND a discarded jacket off of our propeller. We'd picked all this up under one bridge. However, the mill buildings in the Weaver's Triangle and the Burnley embankment are worth seeing. The section of canal from Foulridge on to Saltaire/Shipley is fabulous and well worth the effort it takes to get there. It's definitely the most beautiful countryside we've ever been through on a canal. I'd heard a lot about the swing bridges and how tough they are to operate. I didn't operate every one of them myself, but while the ones I did operate were certainly heavy they presented no problems at all. Except one at a farm which seemed to get stuck in the mud and manure that collected on the concrete pad at the pivot end. It took a lot of rocking and pushing to break it free of this collected muck, but once free it was easy to open. Lower Park Marina is a nice place to stop, friendly employees, good canal shop, nice dock, etc. Puffer Parts is worth a visit, too. The Bingley Five-Rise is a remarkable piece of architecture and the resident lock keeper, who's been in charge of the Bingley Five and Three Rise locks for 20 years, is a real artist with water. We descended and ascended the locks solo, and he knew exactly which paddles to open and how much to open them to keep the boat stationary on one side of chamber at all times. We had intended to go all the way to Leeds, but we enjoyed the high country so much that we turned around at Saltaire/Shipley and headed back to spend more time in the hills near East Marton. We had BW's assistance again going down the Wigan 21, which also took only 3 hours even though we were the only boat. We spent the previous night near Red Rock, leaving to arrive at the top of the flight at about 8:00 AM. The stretch of canal between Wigan and Worsley is very desolate through the waste ground left from the mining activities. Ground subsidence is dramatic, with small lakes having formed far below the level of the canal. Worsely was a nice place to spend the night after descending the Wigan 21 in the morning. The old canal buildings and the entrance to the mines are worth seeing. For someone used to operating narrow locks, wide locks are a fair amount more work, especially when there are only two of you. Everything is heavier, and the paddle gear can be very slow to open and close. There were not many boats in action on this canal, so we were by ourselves in almost every lock. We used the technique of putting the boat in the very back of the chamber on one side when ascending a lock. Opening the ground paddle on the boat side created a current that held the boat against the side of the chamber until almost full, at which point the wind sometimes moved the boat across to the other side. If I were to do it again, I would try to have a very long line attached to the bow cleat that could be put around the uphill bollard beside the lock and then run back to the steerer's position. WILLOW did have a center ring welded to the cabin top and I had a line that would go from this ring to a bollard and back to me. However, in a deep chamber, this line was almost worthless, especially as the center ring on WILLOW was slightly aft of the boat's midpoint. We eventually gave up on the center line altogether. Things to watch out for: kids with slinghshots on the outskirts of Blackburn. We weren't shot at but you had the feeling the kids were just itching to let fly in your direction. Debris in the canal. Know how to use the weed hatch. In a couple of places the boat rode up over Lord-knows-what in the center of the canal, tipping the whole boat about 15-20 degrees to one side. Debris caught in the gate paddles, or gate paddles not lowered all the way. This is a real surprise when you're descending as there is no clue of this until the water drops to the level of the gate paddle at which point you are suddenly hit with a solid stream of water shooting across the chamber at your stern. Reasons to go: Most beautiful canal in the UK (that we've experienced, anyway). Fascinating variety, from old mills to totally rural pastureland and hills. Lots of birds, including curlews, lapwings, swans, herons, oystercatchers, and even several kingfishers (near Red Rock). Rumors that aren't true: It takes all day to do the Wigan 21. The swing bridges are exhausting to work. Rumors that are true: The water can get very violent in the locks while they're filling. If you use the wrong technique when ascending alone, your boat will get slammed around rather hard. Take advantage of BW's offer of assistance up or down the Wigan 21. They're very pleasant fellows and they'll make your job a lot easier and more enjoyable. Kids love to let water out of the pounds if they can get the anti-vandal cuffs off. Always relock the cuffs securely, especially around Wigan. C. Marin Faure author, Flying A Floatplane