Burscough Wharf Canal Heritage Week 2012

Kennet

Today I went to Burscough to see the newly refurbished Kennet having its re-dedication. The weather was not too bad considering the week we have had. As I parked up I could hear music wafting along the canal. 

I haven't been to Burscough for a while, Southport FC haven't been in the same league as Burscough FC for a few seasons now. While the football club has gone downhill the rest of the town seems to be doing okay. The Waterfront pub is now the Packet House, going back to almost its original name. Hopefully the pub will have a better reputation than it used to have. 

Canal Horse

I was a bit early so I walked along the towpath to the Rufford Branch. The towpath is pretty bad on this stretch and the recent wet weather. It would be a good stretch for BW or the council to improve. It is a popular stretch and links Burscough to the Ship Inn at Lathom. As I got the junction bridge I met a group of cyclists. They were heading from Wigan to Southport. It is always nice to see cyclists using the canal and this group was certainly a diverse one; it included a nurse, Captain America, Wally (from Where's Wally) and Santa Claus. 

While I was at the junction I tried a 360 degree panoramic photograph. Here is the result:

http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=59f1cec3-fb08-4c88-9d3a-ca99a6c6ae1b

On the way back to the wharf the cyclists passed me, Santa bringing up the rear and not looking enthusiastic.

Back at the Wharf the Mayor of West Lancashire was just starting his speech. There was a good crowd on the towpath by the wharf. Unfortunately another larger group of cyclists came along and had to detour around us.  The rededication of the Kennet involved breaking a bottle of beer on its bow. The sight of this  brought a tear to the eye of many a bearded man on the towpath. The mayor got a round of applause rather than an ASBO for this act of vandalism.

Rededication of the Kennet

With the ceremony done the Wigan Ukulele Club started up again, no Stairway to Heaven but they did do some classic tunes.

Wigan Ukulele Club

Its good to see the Kennet looking so smart and getting some attention. The Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society and the Friends of Kennet both do a great deal of good work promoting the canal and educating people about our heritage. 

Burscough Wharf

On the way back I stopped off and took a new photo of the former Scarisbrick Arms, now called the Gastro bar and grill. Updating the pub guide on my site I noticed that it had been hacked by Israeli porn sites. Luckily not many people look at those pages so I doubt anyone noticed the 800 comments about a pub in Netherton that had more to do with anatomical improvement than canal side drinking.

Canal Maps, Treks and Events

Today is the Solstice, the longest day of the year. I'm still not sure if we have already had our Summer; I hope I haven't missed my chance to go walking and cycling in the sunshine.

Google Maps and Canals

The most exciting news for a long time is that Google Maps are going to start mapping the canals and river footpaths and cycleways. It has been very frustrating using GoogleMaps to plan walks and bike rides along canals. At the moment google cannot see towpaths, so to get from point A to point B on a canal may take you via point C,D, and E, on the road. I look forward to planning bike rides and being able to quickly get directions and distances and times on an easily accessible website.

I have tried to create my own maps in Google of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. My maps are useful but they do take time and effort on my part and I am a naturally lazy person who gives up on things like this, which is why the maps are mostly incomplete. So to have Google do the hard work, and produce a more accurate map than me is a good thing.

This could however take a lot of traffic away from canal websites like mine and others who are based on helping people plan canal routes. And traffic is the life of a website. Not just for the advertising that pays for it, but for the interaction with other people who like canals and can be encouraged to use them.

Hopefully towpathtreks.co.uk and other sites can use the new google maps feature to continue to promote the canals and enhance our service.
http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/902687-google-maps-to-begin-charting-britains-canals-and-rivers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/19/google-maps-uk-rivers-canals?newsfeed=true

Burscough Canal Heritage Week

This week is the Burscough Canal Heritage Week 2012. Last year the weather was hot, sunny with a couple of showers. The forecast for this weekend is not as optimistic. Last year there were a good collection of former working boat. Burscough Canal Heritage Week 2011 blog I intend to head up to Burscough on Saturday to see whats going on and take some photos. It is hard sometimes for heritage events not to look twee and irrelevant, but at Burscough Wharf the new development shows that canals are very much a contemporary feature in English life.

Other Days Out

Sunday is the Africa Oye in Liverpool so I will be there for that, weather permitting.

Next weekend I am off to the east end of London to have a walk and see what the canals around the Olympic site look like.

I have a medium sized bike ride planned around Runcorn Widness, and I am hoping for the weather to do that over the next few weeks.

Burscough Canal Heritage Week

Today was the last day of the Burscough Canal Heritage Week. Kennet, the Leeds & Liverpool Canal Short Boat was visiting Burscough, the nearest it has been to Liverpool for a while. So I thought I had better make the effort to get up there and take some photographs.

Kennet at Burscough Bridge

The towpath was busy and there were lots of boats moored at Burscough. I was pleased to see Ribble had joined Kennet and Ambush. The first time I have seen two river class barges in the same place at the same time. Kennet and Ribble are Short Boats, Ambush is a Long Boat. All three are Wide Boats. Ambush used to work for Ainscough Mill in Burscough. All three boats were empty and sit very high out of the water. When full they would swim through the water like whales with only a few inches of boat above the waterline. Kennet has a very snug looking cabin at the front which is quite spacious compared to the Narrow Boats. You would still have to be good friends to share it though. 

Ambush at Burscough

 We walked along the canal to the top lock of the Rufford Branch. On the way we passed a hairy caterpillar crossing the towpath at some speed. It was hot and humid today and got hotter as the day went on. 

Creepy Crawly

Back at Burscough Wharf we had an ice cream and I took some photographs from the bridge. I am very impressed with the redevelopment of the old canal depot. It has been empty for years but now it is full of life. There are shops and a couple of bars and cafes. It is a definite improvement and a big plus for both the canal and the town. I notice that the Waterfront pub nearby is closed and for sale. 

Burscough Wharf

Burscough Wharf

In other news towpathtreks now has a twitter account @towpathtreks for those who do that sort of thing. If anyone has any good suggestions for canal related people or places to follow on Twitter do let me know. And you can still become a fan of towpathtreks on facebook