Open Doors at Stoke Bruerne and some memories of Bingley

I see that Canal and River Trust are having an open weekend at Stoke Bruerne  on February 13th and 14th where they have been carrying out repairs to the lock flight. I have always thought that this type of community engagement activity is well worthwhile. I also find the idea of finding out more of what goes on below the surface fascinating. A decade ago they drained the flight at Stoke Bruerne and we had a pretty good look, but to properly poke around below the surface should be fun. We aim to be there.

Stoke Bruerne Locks de-watered in 2006

However, the most fascinating example of this type of engagement with the community has to be when the iconic Bingley Five-Rise was open to the public during repairs in spring 2012. The You-Tube videos of the event were great and the numbers who walked up through the chambers over the weekend exceeded 7,000. It's just a shame that access to the BBC report of the event has now been deleted because it was simply brilliant with the local engineering staff doing a great job of explaining the engineering work and the purpose of the event. Nowadays, there would a permanent link to a CRT published video.

I just wished I lived on the doorstep of the Five-Rise - but then Stoke Bruerne and Bingley just can't be compared. I hope you enjoy the videos below.

I see the little sister of the Five-Rise, the Three-Rise at Bingley, is also being opened up to the public but over an extended period from next weekend to the 6th March. 

So to complete the reminiscences of Bingley, the image below comes from our summer 2012 journey along the Leeds & Liverpool and up the Five-Rise.

Albert about to climb Bingley Five-Rise with the lock-keeper waiting

A Decade with Albert!

On December 6th 2003 we completed the formalities for the purchase of Albert from her first owner who fitted her out, Mike Hurd. So I thought I would go down memory lane to celebrate our decade.

First time steering Albert on the Kennet and Avon near Bradford-on-Avon

with Mike Hurd watching over me

Negotiating our first lock with Albert, Bradford-on-Avon

December 30th, 2003

Ten years on we can look back on many happy journeys. With Albert we have travelled far and wide;

north to Gargrave on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal,

south to Guildford on the Wey Navigation,

east to Wissington on the River Wissey,

and west to Llangollen.

Bridge Poetry

On our recent trip we visited Rodley near Leeds and we went for a walk to explore the local environment. We came across an interesting plaque beneath a modern bridge - you wouldn't notice it if you were boating. It was modest in size and made of cast metal. The plaque contained a poem and links to a blogsite and a mobile phone. The blog was started by the Bridge Repair Man in 2007 and doesn't appear to be active at the moment. It appears that originally it was written in chalk and was much larger.

The plaque was also noted by Alex of the Exploring Leeds web site who thought sections were thought provoking. I agree.

A click on the image below should make it readable. You can also see more details on the Bridge Repair Man blogsite.

Northern Canal Videos

I took two video clips whilst we were on our northern cruise on two quite different waterways. The first is on the wide "commercial waterway" - the Aire & Calder. The video is of Albert, in company with other boats although they are difficult to discern, travelling between Pollington and Whitley . The Knottingley & Goole Canal is wide straight and deep and we are travelling quite quickly. It is good to see that its sunny - we did have a spell of good weather.

The second video was also taken in glorious weather. It is sunny hot and calm. This time Maggie was steering and I took the video from the well deck. We are going more slowly along the delightful section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal just above the Wigan Flight near Haigh Country Park.

Icebreaker Reflections, Leeds

Whilst coming out of Leeds on our northern trip I noticed near Armley a strange sign placed on a wall on the offside close to a bridge. It appeared to be written in Cyrillic (Russian script). I picked up the camera, photographed it and in the process of framing the shot I realised it was mirror writing!

Sign as seen

To read the message in the reflection you need still water. Unfortunately, Albert had disturbed the water as we passed and I couldn't read it properly. I just got the gist, so I cheated by digitally reflecting the image.

Sign reflected to reveal the message

The message reads "THE REMAINS OF A WOODEN ICEBREAKER LIE SUBMERGED".

So why is the message there?

The answer lies on the web site of its creator, the artist Roger Palmer, which states:

"Botany Bay, 22 June - 12 August 2007, Leeds Art Gallery

A derelict landing stage on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal marks the site of Botany Bay in the Armley district of Leeds. Botany Bay received its name in 1808 as the landing place of the first shipment of Australian raw wool bound for Yorkshire mills.

Submerged in Botany Bay are the remains of a wooden icebreaker. These heavy vessels were pulled onto the ice by teams of horses and rocked from side to side, causing the ice to fracture. Wooden icebreakers were sunk in the summer months in order to preserve their timbers."

In a linked piece of art, which was displayed at the Leeds Gallery and is shown on his web site, Roger created  The Remains (2007), a neon text illuminated in four phases:

The Remains
The Remains of a Wooden Icebreaker
The Remains of a Wooden Icebreaker Lie Submerged
The Remains of a Wooden Icebreaker Lie Submerged in Botany Bay

So there is the answer. Thought provoking and informative. On Roger's site you can also see a better photograph of the sign and its reflection. You will also find a video of the reflection.

The sign has also been noted by one or two passing photographers.

Piccadilly, Manchester

Dover Lock Inn, Abram

We left Dover Lock on Saturday with the intention of having a shortish day's cruising to Castlefields which is our usual mooring spot in Manchester. The hot weather was forecast to continue and we got off early for this lock-free cruise.

Plank Lane Lift Bridge, now customer operated

Although it was sunny, the wind, as the BBC forecast stated, was noticeable. We certainly noticed it at Plank Lane where we stopped to negotiate the lift bridge and found it difficult to get away from the bank. We stopped at Worsley and had lunch. When we stopped here in 2009 this was the furthest north Albert had been - now that spot is Gargrave.

Spinning Mill at Leigh

Mooring at Worsley

The rest of the journey towards Manchester was straightforward although it was livened up by an incident near Patricroft. We came up to a very slow boat that beckoned us to overtake and they then promptly steered into us. I stopped it hitting our cabin by pushing it off at the last moment. The boat was appropriately named Meander!

We crossed the Barton Swing Aqueduct and I again took lots of photos of one of  my favourite (perhaps the) waterways locations.

Manchester from Barton Swing Aqueduct

Containers stacked six-high near Old Trafford, Manchester

At Waters Meeting we turned into Manchester and moored up in Castlefields. Since our last visit the area has gained a beach (yes a beach!) and the bar under the railway bridges that was closed is now operating. The moorings have gone down hill slightly with weeds growing in profusion. However, the whole area was busy with people enjoying the warm sunshine. We moored up with the intention of going up the Rochdale Nine on Sunday. That was until the crew of the boat moored up next to us, Bleasdale, invited us to join them going up the locks that afternoon so we could tackle the Ashton Canal on Sunday morning. Having a boat with a crew familiar with the locks to accompany us was an offer we couldn't refuse.

Castlefields Beach on a hot Saturday

The journey up the Rochdale Nine was a revelation. The crowds of revellers spilling out from the many bars that line the route were amazing. At the first lock there were "bouncers" ensuring that customers didn't get too close to the water. All the nine locks are individual with an assortment of mechansisms to raise paddles and open gates. In places there isn't even a towpath and the canal dissappears under buildings. One lock, Dale Street is directly under a building.

Lock One on the Rochdale Nine

Operating a lock with "Bouncers" controlling the crowds

Operating a gate using a winch

Deansgate Locks

Canal Street

Underneath Manchester

Operating Dale Street Lock, Rochdale Nine

Notice & Graffiti by Dale Street Lock

The revellers were very good natured all along the route, and some offered help with gates. There were some who asked questions about boating, some more coherent than others depending on their alcohol intake. A negative part was the large amounts of broken glass that littered the towpath.

Moored up in Piccadilly

That night we moored up at the top of The Nine near Dulcie Street in Piccadilly - it was quiet.

Wigan Flight and Dover Lock, Abram

We took on the Wigan Flight today. We got up early and left just after 8:00 along with NB Bees Knees. Our aim was to get as much locking done before it got too hot. Today the top temperature was forecast to be 25 degrees C.

NB Ellie May had already left, around 7:00, to get well ahead of us, but we were to catch up with them down the flight. Their day started badly because overnight a Buckby can was stolen from their roof.

View from the top of the Wigan Flight

A well-worn bollard at Lock 1, Wigan Flight

The Locks in the Wigan Flight are numbered (from the top lock) with Roman Numerals

Kirklees Hall Inn

We got down to Lock 8 and found Ellie May moored up waiting for BW to fix a paddle mechanism. It appeared that the Woodruff Key driving the top gear had fallen out and jammed the mechanism stopping the paddle being lowered.  I went back to Albert to get some tools and returned just in time to find the BW operatives arriving. It turned out that the BW men had no tools with them so all they could do was operate the paddle with a windlass. I managed to move the gear train with a large pair of grips and remove the key. This meant the paddle could be lowered and the lock operated, albeit with one less operational paddle.

My cousin Ralph Greenhalgh, who lives locally, came and helped us with the flight. His help was valuable but it was bit of hard introduction to boating. However, he appeared to enjoy his day - all twenty three locks.

Ralph Greenhalgh operating a lock paddle

Further down the flight we found Ellie May aground in a pound that was well down. We let down some water from the pound above and got her afloat. The pound remained low and Albert, being deep draughted struggled a little to get into the lock.

A bracing structure on the Wigan Flight

We took a break from our exertions above Lock 13 and had sandwiches for lunch. Just as we were mooring up two boats passed us going up the flight. One was NB Song of the Waterways, Anton came over to thank me for the blog. It turns out they are following our route but in the opposite direction and are finding our information useful. I hope they enjoy the Leeds & Liverpool as much as we did.

One of a group of small fishes swimming on a lock cill

Bottom Lock number

We said goodbye to Bees Knees at the bottom lock,  they we going north to Liverpool, and we turned down the Leigh Branch towards the south.

Our view of the Wigan Flight is that it is indeed tough and it takes time. The surroundings are pleasant, on the whole, but leaky gates make operating the locks unduly difficult. The flight certainly requires better maintenance since parts of it are in poor condition. Security is difficult to judge from one trip, but we wouldn't raise it as a particular concern. 

The first section of the Leigh Branch passes through flashes where mining subsidence has caused lakes to be formed. We said cheerio to Ralph at the flashes and headed off to Dover Lock Inn, Abram to moor up for the night.

Scotsman's Flash, Wigan

Ince Moss with Rivington in the background

Paradoxically, Dover Lock doesn't have a lock. The locks here were removed when the canal suffered subsidence and were relocated nearer to Wigan. Tomorrow we head for Manchester.

Wigan

Today, Thursday, we got to the top of the Wigan Flight ready to tackle the flight of 21 locks. Pearson states " if there is a more gruelling flight of locks in the country, it does not spring readily to mind". However, that is for tomorrow, what of today?

The Top Lock Inn, Johnson's Hillock Locks

Entering the bottom lock, Johnson's Hillocks Flight

Walton Summit, Lancaster Canal (left) and Johnson's Hillock Bottom Lock

About to crane out a widebeam boat at Botany Bay Wharf, Chorley

The wonderful warm weather continued and we enjoyed some delightful boating through Chorley and Addlington. Chorley is a particularly significant place since I was born there.

The Johnson's Hillocks Locks were as expected, leaky, but they are in a delightful location and I have got used to getting wet as we descend. One lock side was also leaky and that caught me out sending a jet of water into the engine room - the side doors were open.

We stopped for a pump out and diesel at White Bear Marina. The fuel delivery system - based on a credit card reader and self-service was quite different from other marinas. We enjoyed there take-away sandwiches - made to order and delivered to the boat.

This evening we went down the flight to Ince to do some shopping. Many of the lock pounds were dry. Lets hope we have some more water in the morning. After a hot days boating the BW showers at the top of the flight were put to good use.

Johnson's Hillock, Wheelton

In the end on Wednesday we left Blackburn with NB Bees Knees and NB Ellie May followed us with another boat, Anna . The six locks below Eanam Mill were not that easy to operate. The first four leaked quite badly and Albert being 60 ft I got soaked. We were also low on water so we stopped at Nova Scotia Wharf (after lock four) at the water point and Ellie May and Anna overtook us.

Unfortunately, a dead dog was floating in the pound among some rubbish. I pulled it out and some sympathetic local workers disposed of the carcass. The fifth lock down the flight not only had water surcharging over the gates but it also flowed over the lock side. There must have been something amiss, but we shall never know what.

Ivy Leaved Toadflax on the canal bank, Eanam Wharf

Eanam Wharf, Blackburn

Too much water! Blackburn Locks

Unusual gate mechanism, Blackburn Flight

Nova Scotia Wharf, Blackburn

Below the lock the canal was filthy. There was so much jetsam. However, as we left Blackburn the canal became cleaner and the scenery became delightful. The canal made its way through some leafy woods towards Chorley.

Rubbish in the Canal at Blackburn

Near Feniscowles

Fallen Tree

We stopped overnight at Wheelton at the top of the delightfully named Johnsons Hillock Locks. The locks look out over some pretty rolling countryside, as the name suggests, and the moorings are alongside a CAMRA pub. We ate there (steak and ale casserole) and had a game of Scrabble. The warm weather had brought out lots of walkers, cyclists, and motor bikers, not to mention locals, enjoying the evening sun. They were doing a roaring trade.