Canal Cruise: Farmers Arms to Spencer's Swing Bridge

Today we met the Albatross at the Saracens Head. There is a new sign by the Nudey Navvy which tells you all about building a canal. At long last Halsall is getting its recognition as the starting place of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.

The new sign at Halsall

While we drove back to Southport Albatross carried on to the Farmers Arms. There were some electricians working on the bridge, there had been problems with the key. We met up again at the pub but didnt stay long. We carried on through the swing bridge by the Slipway. Again Albatross carried on while I moved the car. We met once again at the Blood Tub.

At the Farmers Arms

Albatross approaching the Rufford Branch

Albatross passing by the Rufford branch.

A huge fish from the Ship (Blood Tub)

Bridge control panel

We left Albatross after Spencers bridge, they continued on their cruise and we walked back to the car. Our own holiday is about to start, the Tavistock and Bude canals await.

Canal Cruise: The Stanley Dock Branch and Dock Link

Today Albatross sailed from Eldonian Village to Salthouse Dock. I walked down in the morning to meet them at Eldonian Village. On the way I passed the Green Man, made famous by the Boys From the Black Stuff. Its about the only pub on this road that is still in business as a pub.

The boat and crew had survived the night intact. Troy had put his life jacket on, it means he cant bend in the middle but also makes him easier to see and grab hold of. He doesn't mind it but it isn't his favourite outfit.

We were early for our trip down the locks so we went for a walk up the canal a little way. The bridges have been repainted and now look very smart in black and white. The area around the canal and the junction with the Stanley Dock Branch has been done up.

We were very early for the trip down the locks, Troy had a sniff round the locks. We thought another boat was coming with us but they had only come to Eldonian for the night and gone back again. So it was just us today.


The two BW men turned up on time and we set off down the locks. There is a whole world of slime on lock walls. Some of the walls have leaks which you have to watch out for. The new gates hold the water very well compared to some on the system that leak like a fountain. It didn't take long to go down the locks, the wind blew us about a bit but there were no problems.


I have walked down the locks many times before, this is the first time I have been down them in a boat (that I recall). Out of the locks and into the docks. The scale changes and suddenly the canal boat is in a different world of huge warehouses and wide expanses of water.


Through Stanley Dock and under the lift bridge (which is being demolished sometime). As we headed towards the clock tower the batteries in my camera died, and so did the spares. So I switched cameras (photos to follow later).

There isnt much of a view up to Princes Dock, some landscaping is in order! We arrived at the lock in the dock at the same time as the BW crew and were soon locked through into the first tunnel. I have watched this tunnel being built so it was good to finally be sailing through it. There are stalactites already.

My sister arrived on cue to film us sailing in front of the 3 graces. Through the tunnels and on to Mann Island. The last lock into the south docks looks a bit different to the usual locks. Above it massive new glass buildings are being constructed.

Out of the lock and it was a short trip through the Albert Dock to our mooring in Salthouse Dock.

Canal Cruise: Canal Walk Scarisbrick to Melling

As part of the on-going mission to take the Albatross to the Albert Dock today we were going from Heatons bridge at Scarisbrick to Hancocks bridge near Aintree.

My role today was opening the swingbridges. This end of the Leeds & Liverpool is infamous for its swingbridges. Today there were six to get through.

I dropped the captain of the boat off at Heatons Bridge and while the crew sailed on towards Lydiate I drove up to Maghull.

I parked by Dicconsons Bridge and walked towards Coxhead Bridge, where we planned to meet up.

Today was a perfect day for being on the towpath. The sun was shining, the flowers blooming, the fish jumping and the butterflies fluttering by.

The towpath was busy with walkers, cyclists and anglers.

I noticed a small pile of oyster shells by the side of the canal. Clearly something had collected them up and eaten them here. What would do this? Some kind of bird or maybe even an otter!

Oyster Shells

I was approaching Coxheads Albatross was arriving from the other direction. Not only are there too many swing bridges on this canal they are all different. They are all opened in different ways. the trick is to pay attention and read the instructions.

The first bridge was an easy one, all electric. You just put the key in and press a button. The barriers close and the bridge spins round. Once the boat has gone through you press another button and the bridge spins back and the barriers go up. As long as you remember to hold the button down you dont have any problems.

Through the bridge and back on the boat we all headed off to Maghull. The next swing bridge we came to is Bells Swing Bridge by the Running Horses pub (which was open for business). This bridge is electric but the difference with this one is you have to move it yourself. the trick is to pay attention to the display and when it tells you its ready push the bridge open. I am not sure why they couldnt make the bridge move itself like the other one...

Next is Methodist Swing bridge, once blown up by the IRA. This one you need to close the barriers yourself then open the bridge with the key and control panel. It was at this bridge that the local kids found us and subjected us to a barrage of questions. "Eh lad how fast does your boat go?" "Lad, where are you from?" "Have you got a cooker on there?" "Are you going to Liverpool?" "Are you going to Leeds?" "Your boats dead slow, lad"

They followed us up to the next bridge, Shaws Swing Bridge. This bridge is just a foot bridge so there are no barriers to close. You just open the anti-vandal lock with a handcuff key. The kids took great interest in the key, asking where they could get one, whether they could have mine etc They wanted to ride on the bridge when I opened it, I tried to get them to help me open it instead but it was obviously more exciting to ride on it as I pushed it open. Luckily none of them fell off or were squashed.

We left them behind and carried on in peace through Maghull up to Maghull Swing Bridge. This one you have to close the barriers yourself, unlocking them with the handcuff key, then open the bridge using the water mate key and the control panel. I managed to stop a good number of cars here, always satisfying.

Leaving Maghull behind the canal enters the countryside. With the sun still shining you wouldnt think we were heading to Liverpool. This bit of canal is every bit as nice as any on the system (as long as you ignore the floating cans and bottles.

Even with the new canal at the docks in Liverpool there are not many boats on this stretch. This means the canal is quite weedy. Not just weed, whole rafts of yellow water lillies. There was even someone harvesting water cress from the edge of the canal. If you eat water cress in a Liverpool restaurant you know where it comes from!

At the last swing bridge we caught up with another boat heading the same way. They had just gone through the bridge so I still had to open it. This bridge is manual. You have to use the handcuff key to open a guard which then lets you use the watermate key to unlock the handbrake. The instructions say a quarter turn but I eventually found you need to turn it more than that. Once you have undone the two locks and lifted the handbrake you can push the bridge open.

Melling Stone Bridge

We were now 3 miles from my car so rather than carry on to Hancocks Swing bridge where Albatross is spending the night I jumped ship and walked back. On the way back the questioning kids asked for another ride on the bridge, but sadly for them I didnt have my key.

Tomorrow Albatross will go through to Eldonian Village and spend the night there. Tuesday we will be going down the Stanely Dock branch and into the docks, then along the new canal to the south docks for a couple of nights. Then back home to Nantwich.

Canal Cruise Parbold to Scarisbrick 6.5 miles

Today I was press-ganged into the crew of the Albatross to help with the swing bridges. We were moving the boat from Parbold to Scarisbrick. In a couple of weeks the Albatross will be going to Liverpool and down to Albert Dock via the new canal.

There were plenty of boats on the move, the new canal linking the docks in Liverpool seems to be bringing boats to this quiet stretch of canal.


The swing bridges are easy as long as you read the instructions! We did have to wait while I slowly remembered to hold the button down rather than just press it. The worst bridge is the one by the Slipway. It really should be replaced with an electric one. The best bridge is Glovers Swing Bridge which even puts the barriers down for you and has traffic lights!

The weather wasnt so great, windy and a bit chilly but by the time we got to Scarisbrick the sun had come out and it was warm enough to take a couple of layers off.

Its been 10 years since I sailed on this stretch of canal and 20 years since Albatross was last in these waters. It was nice to be back on the water and great to see so many boats on the move.

Canal Cruise: Wrenbury to Nantwich

This Sunday I met the Albatross at Wrenbury on the Llangollen Canal. I parked opposite the Cotton Arms. The sun was threatening to shine so we hoped for a sunny afternoon cruising back to the marina at Nantwich. But the hope didnt last too long and the black clouds started to gather. There was a queue for the locks, mostly due to one of the locks having only one ground paddle.

Canal Cruise: Nantwich to Bunbury

It was Good Friday, the sun was shining and it was the perfect day for a sail on the Shropshire Union Canal. There was a lot of traffic on the road and for once the canal was a faster way of travelling. It’s a short sail from the basin a Nantwich to the staircase locks at Bunbury.
I was a good thing that I was sailing rather than trekking because the towpath was closed for maintenance. Hopefully they will continue this work along the canal as there are some very poor bits of towpath around there.
We stopped for lunch near Hurleston Junction and could hear the clatter of the lock paddles being wound up as boaters came back from their holidays on the Llangollen Canal. A little further on is another junction at Barbridge, the Middlewich Branch of the canal.
As well as he usual ducks, moorhens, geese and swans there was a cormorant on the canal. A bird I am more used to seeing in the docks in Liverpool
This is a rural landscape but there is some sign of industry. An old brick kiln can be seen by the canal, now covered in trees. It is hard to see how this could be restored in any useful way other than as a holiday home for TeleTubbies.
At Bunbury there is a two rise staircase lock which is popular with onlookers. By the side of the lock is a stable block which once housed the horses used to pull the narrowboats along the canal. There is a shop by the lock which was very handy for me to buy the latest Canal Boat and Inland Waterways magazine.
We didn’t go down the locks, instead we filled up with water and turned around and headed back for fish and chips at the new Olde Barbridge Inn.
A round trip of 12 miles and for once my feet weren’t hurting! Canal cruising does have some obvious advantages over towpath trekking. The Shropshire Union is one of my favourite canals and it is interesting to compare it to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. There is much more traffic on the Shroppie and it is much more closely connected to the rest of the canal network. It was nice to see some classic cabin cruisers amid the modern narrowboats. There were a few wrecks which is always a shame given how expensive it is becoming for new boaters to start a life afloat.
Tomorrow it is back to the Leeds Liverpool and back to the towpath for me.

A Shropshire Sail

The sky looked unconvinced as is often in England in September, it could have been a hot sunny day or a chilly rainy one. We climbed aboard at Nantwich Basin and set off towards the Barbridge Inn at Barbridge Junction.
At Nantwich basin there is the interesting Nantwich Junction Bridge which is a changeline bridgetaking the towpath from the canal to the basin. The canal passes through Englands green and pleasant land of rolling green fields with dairy cows and oak trees. We soon reached Hurleston Junction and looking right we could see the Hurleston locks and the start of the LLangollen Canal. Not much further on but before the next junction is the Barbridge Inn formerlly the Kings Arms Inn. As luck would have it a boat was leaving as we arrived and we managed to moor up right outside the pub.
After the meal we turned around at the junctiona nd headed back to Nantwich. On the way we spotted a kingfisher on a branch before it became a blue streak, flying up the canal.
There had been no sign of mileposts all day until leaving the basin in the car I noticed on by the bridge in the basin.