The canal cruise continues

As the canal cruise continues, we cross the River Ribble and arrive in Liverpool.

Just arrived at Salthouse Dock following a week of travelling the Lancaster Canal, crossing the River Ribble and 4 days on the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

To pick up where I left of, we spent a couple of days in Garstang on the way to Preston. Great internet access and excellent solar coverage. A lovely market town and great to go for a walk early doors.

We took a slight detour back to our marina at Barton Grange for one night and made use of the washing facilities for the bedding. Then off to Preston for the Ribble Crossing on the Monday.

On route we stopped off at the Hand and Dagger at Salwick for some food on the Saturday night. A really nice pub with friendly staff, if you are in the area we highly recommend. Less than a 5 minute walk from the canal at the bridge. The nachos and burgers were excellent and the prices really good.

ULCAN Playing Fields

This is where we chose to spend Sunday, just a few minutes from the basin and the Millennium Link. The main reason for staying here is it is quiet. We moor outside a nice cafe called the Final Whistle Cafe that offers Gluten Free bread and cakes and has ice cream and a good range of food and drinks. We have stayed in the basin once before and qute a lot of youths were there, not causing trouble per se but very noisy and off putting.

This stop provided us with great solar and very good internet with 18mb download and 10mb upload. ///hush.bowls.flute

As you can see from the photos below the canal looked more like pea soup and grass than a canal.

River Ribble Crossing

This was not the first time we have crossed the Ribble so we knew what to expect. Thankfully, the weather was perfect a beautiful sunny, dry and calm day. We ended up moving to the basin on the Sunday night, quite late on and it was quiet apart from a few loud kids passing by. As we were the last boat of the 6 to arrive in the basin we moored at the far end ///hips.move.native meaning we would be one of the first two boats in the lock. Decent internet here with 9mb download and 16mb upload.

No issues with Savick Brook, other than one fallen tree that had to be swerved. The Canal and River Trust team operate the main locks at the Millennium Link but this time we had no volunteers to help with locks further down. As this was a Monday I had to work, but thanks to the boat we were going down with the guy on there did the locks for us.

I was unsure as to how the internet would hold up crossing the River Rbble, but I have to say it was great. I had a 1.5 hr video meeting and the signal did not drop once. Sat in a meeting wearing a life jacket was a talking point. Living and working on a narrowboat is possible.

We set off at 10.15am and arrived at the River Douglas lock at Tarleton at 3.30pm. Really good going! We didn’t even have to wait at Tarleton for the tide, straight through.

Leeds Liverpool Canal

The Rufford Branch

By the time my working day finished I was just in time to move a swing bridge and proceed to the 7 locks on the Rufford Branch of the canal. We had 4 days to get to Liverpool. Anyone not having been to Liverpool before, you need to book to go through the locks with CRT and there are set days you can go in and come out.

As we can only move in the evenings or weekends, on day one as the weather was good we aimed to get as far as we could. On the previous occasions we have done this stretch it has always rained a lot! We started off with such good weather and had high hopes. Then came the rain and not just a few spots.

We managed to get through locks 7 to 5 but that was it for the day. Not ideal but the internet was good for the following day ///speedily.fell.hence 14mb upload and 20mb down.

The following day after work we move and managed to buddy up with another boat for the rest of the locks, this makes it so much easier. Some of these locks are very traditional so be warned you need some umph to move the paddles, you need to pull up. I can’t manage them and had to get Paul off the boat to move.

Leeds Liverpool main canal

Once through the locks and off the Rufford branch turn right onto the main Leeds Liverpool Canal. Fewer locks on here but a lot, and I mean a lot of swing bridges!

The weather was still fine so we got to Burscough town centre to top up with water and get some shopping in from the local Tesco. Then moved to home for the evening at prosper.ringers.bookshop just after the unused swing bridge. We were under a tree but internet OK with speeds of 8mb and 10mb.

We made good time so the next stop was a night in Maghull. aced.cooking.regal is great for solar and we got 33mb download and 16mb uload for speed. A couple of other stopping points around here; ///snowmen.bugs.best just after bridge 12 gives just 5mb and 7mb and ///detergent.elbowed.resettle 6mb and 14mb. As you can see quite a difference. There are lots of nice houses and gardens to admire as you go by. As I said, no locks but the swing bridges make up for it. The vast majority are automated with only one or two manual. The automated ones are very easy to do but they are slow, and drivers tend to be unhappy when they are stopped!

We arrived at Litherland on Thursday evening. Stopping at the CRT facilities directly outside a large Tesco. It is a gated area and safe. Again, great for solar and giving internet of 15mb download and 12mb upload speeds. This is the main place to stay when you have a booking to go into Liverpool. It is just over an hour away from the first set of locks.

All the locks are manned by CRT staff and volunteers so not only an easy drive in but a fab one. We had two friends on board for the journey and they were impressed by the approach in. A few tunnels to go under and some fantastic buildings to go past. A busy sunny Saturday means lots of people watching an waving. Quite something.

Canal cruise into Liverpool Images thanks to Ray Godwin.

Salthouse Dock

Salthouse Dock is our home for the next 2 weeks. You get one week free, and this includes water and electricity :). Due to the 2-week delay in crossing the River Ribble meaning Chester was off the canal cruise cards, so we opted to pay for an extra week. £20 per night to stay in the centre of Liverpool is a fair rate to us.