Canal Cycle: Liverpool to Wigan Pier, 34.5 miles

March is my month of rebooting my New Year resolutions and doing lots of things that may not be enjoyable but are good for me. As part of my Big Plan to sort myself out I decided to start biking again. I haven't been out properly for ages. What better way to kick start the cycling habit than a 34.5 mile ride from Liverpool to Wigan? A statement of intent. 

The Start of the Canal in Liverpool

I woke up nice and early and got my bike ready, packed my lunch, stuck a waterproof in as a last minute addition. The streets were quiet and I got to Eldonian Village and the current terminus of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal about 9am ish.  There weren't many people about, a couple of drunks by the locks on the Stanley Dock Branch and a couple of dog walkers. The towpath is great at the Liverpool end, nice new tarmac so I was zooming along. Zooming for me is about 14/15 mph. Not so fast really but fast enough for me. I made good progress and it was only at bridge 7D that I had to stop and dismount to get through a anti-vehicle gate. The ones in the preceding 7 miles had been either open or just wide enough to cycle through. This one was an old one and had to be negotiated on foot.  

On the way I noticed a couple of mileposts I didn't think I had seen before, the 7.25mile quarter post and the 8.5mile half mile post. It didn't seem to take too long to get past Aintree Racecourse and up to Melling, leaving Liverpool behind. As far as The New Running Horses in Maghull the towpath is fine and I could make good time. After a quick stop to check my phone messages I was off again. From Maghull onwards the towpath is not so great. It is either grass or grass with a narrow rut in the middle. I dont know which I hate more. The grass is hard going, it makes my knees ache. The rut allows you to go faster but if you dont pay attention you can come out of the rut and start to wobble, which if you are a foot away from the canal is at times a bit of a wake up. Some bits of the rut were deep enough that my peddles caught on the grass either side. Pretty much from Maghull to Burscough the towpath is grass or grass and mud; about 10 miles. I was only managing 7 mph on the grass, even less on the really manky bits.  

I stopped at Halsall Cutting, 18 miles along the canal for a break, and inadvertently ate half my lunch. It was 11am though so we can call that elevenses .  It had drizzled a bit but by Halsall it cleared up, the wind was cold though and if I stopped too long anywhere I cooled down and my hands got cold. After what seemed like forever I got to Burscough. There was a shameful mile that I got off and walked, lycra clad races sped past casually on the road. If I did this again I would ditch the towpath and take to the roads between Scarisbrick and Burscough. Not with the full on lycra Tour De France get up though. 

Scarisbrick Marina

In Burscough I caught a passing glimpse of the new development in the canal depot. There was some upset at the depot buildings being demolished, but it looked very nice as I passed. There is a bar there too.

There was a fishing competition on, so every five fisherman had to shift his long pole off the towpath to let me past. Luckily they didnt go beyond the railway bridge by Ainscoughs Mill. 

The Rufford Branch

At the Rufford Branch junction I decided to have a proper break and eat the remains of my lunch. I should have rested more but got cold so pressed on. Noticed another new milepost, 25.25miles. After seeing number 27 though I gave up looking for them. My head had, as football commentators say, dropped. I was spending more time looking at the mud than the surrounding scenery. I thought about giving up and getting the train. But I knew the towpath improved towards Wigan so thought I would carry on as far as Parbold and see how I felt there. At Parbold I decided it was less than 10 miles so I may as well carry on. But I did stop for a quick breather at every (full) mile post I saw. The towpath improved again towards Wigan until it finally turned into a proper cycle path again. My speed increased again back up to 12mph. I am never going to break any speed records, but towpaths aren't about that anyway. Thats what I keep telling myself. 

Wigan Pier

I havent been to Wigan for ages but have heard about the redevelopment of the Wigan Pier area. As far as I could see nothing much has changed. The warehouses look a bit tattier and there is an air of abandonment. One new addition is sculpture. On Wigan Pier was what from a distance looked like a hoodie leaning against the wall. But the board next to it explained she was one of the women who sorted coal. There were four statues originally, but 2 were stolen in 2009. They have no scrap value so either the thieves were stupid or they love this sort of art. They didn't do much for me. The Orwell pub has re-opened, so that can go on the pub guide again. 

I left the canal and went to the station and got the train back to Liverpool. I got off at Edge Hill rather than Lime Street so I could free wheel downhill home rather than struggle up it. 

The ride was hard work for me. I really hate riding on grass. It was interesting to see how things change along the canal. There was a change from the hungover individuals in Liverpool to the happy families in Appley Bridge. The accents changed from Scouse Liverpool to old Lancashire. One fisherman informed me that "Gates th'open". It is good that such accents remain. 

Pub Reviews: Leigh and Wigan

I have slightly redesigned the pub pages on www.towpathtreks.co.uk so I thought I had better do some pub reviews and add some new pubs to the guide. I have a list of about 15 pubs to visit this year. Today with the weather being less than glorious I thought we would try just 3 or 4. We left Liverpool and headed off to the lands where Rugby preferred to Football, Leigh and Wigan. 

Driving to Leigh on a grey rainy Saturday is depressing. I lost count of the number of closed down, boarded up pubs. By Leigh Bridge there was the Bridge, the Ellesmere and the Bridgewater, all potential pubs to review and all closed down. 

Luckily our first pub was still open; the Waterside Inn in Leigh. It is on the Leigh branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal near its junction with the Bridgewater Canal. The pub building is a converted canal warehouse. The warehouse is two Grade II listed buildings. One half is a stone warehouse from 1821, the other is a brick warehouse from 1894. There is a carpark at the front so no worries about where to leave the car. There is a large ugly Aldi next door which would be handy for passing boaters. 

 former canal warehouses

It was one o'clock when we got to the pub and it was not busy. We sat near a window over looking the canal. There were some nice old photos of the canal and the warehouse before it was a pub. The bar seems more aimed at people drinking bottled beer, wine and cocktails than real ale. In fact there were only two real ale pumps and one was off. The pub was quiet and it felt like it was set up for a busy Friday/Saturday night crowd rather than lunchtime. 

There is quite a big main menu, a kids menu and Sunday roast specials. We chose the cheese burger and the scampi, together less than ten quid. The food came quickly and was nice and warm. The burger was tasty if a little unadventurous, though there were lots of other options which would have been more interesting. 

I am not sure if I would go out of my way to go to the pub again. It would be a nice place to go for drinks with friends in summer when the outside seating would be nice. 

Leaving the pub we went over to Leigh Bridge which is number 11 on the Leigh Branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and number 66 on the Bridgewater Canal. Its a very low bridge, I couldn't stand up straight underneath it. I hope to cycle the Leigh branch sometime this year, hopefully when the weather is nicer. The rain started so we went back to the car and headed to Wigan. 

After Leigh we drove to Wigan, passing yet more closed down pubs. Things change, peoples leisure activities aren't what they were 10, 20 years ago. People stay at home watching the X factor rather than going to the pub. The smoking ban gets a lot of blame, the price of beer in pubs is high compared to the supermarket. In many places there just isn't the population density to support so many pubs like there once was. 

We arrived at the Top Lock in Aspull, Wigan. Here at the top of the Wigan flight of 21 locks the Leeds and Liverpool Canal meets the southern part of the old Lancaster canal. The area here was famous for its coal. There was a huge iron works here too. Now there is a quite housing estate and some light industry. 

The Commercial Inn (closed)

The weather was getting worse and it was getting gloomier.  We walked down to the Commercial Inn to see if the rumours were true and it had indeed closed. The lights were on but there was nobody home. It looks like it has joined the long list of closed down pubs. Hopefully it is just a temporary closure but I cant see there being enough trade to keep two large pubs going in such a quiet bit of town. The other pub was open and has had a recent refurbishment. 

Kirkless Hall Inn

The Kirkless Hall Inn stands out among the late 20th century housing estate. It is a large black and white mock Tudor building. The inside is just as unusual as the outside. The decor is best described as 1970s London underground. The seats and carpet have a definite retro appeal, bringing back memories of coach trips in the 1980s.  Either it had recently been refurbished like this or the pub is in some sort of Life on Mars time warp. But it was all clean and new and the barman was friendly. There are two rooms with a central bar serving both. We sat in the bright canal side room which has framed photos of canal boats. On the other side of the bar is the pool room which had the TV on. The pub does food, nothing too pretentious, baked potatoes, sandwiches, soup etc; only the steak was over £5.00. Even the black pepper on the tables had a 1970s air about it. In a good way. I was pleased to see a bit of Christmas decoration hanging from the ceiling. Its something I always look for in a pub. Next time you go to the pub check the ceilings in the corners of the room, there will be a bit of tinsel or shiny plastic stuck there with sticky tape or a drawing pin. We were the only people on this side of the pub, the other side seemed to be favourite with locals. I know my place, I am just a passing tourist and will sit where I should. It would be interesting to know how this pub looked in the 1890s when the canal was still busy and the area was a hive of industry. 

With the light going we decided to call it a day and head back to Liverpool. Hopefully the next time I go reviewing pubs the sun will be shining. 

Canal Walk: Wigan - Scarisbrick 13.5 miles

Its a gloriously sunny day so a longer walk than usual was called for; 10 miles from Wigan Pier to Burscough Bridge. The train from Southport to Wigan follows the canal and crosses it more than once. It was while looking at the canal I noticed that the towpath at Appley Bridge was still closed to walkers. Not a good start to the day but the stoppage would be three miles into the walk so I carried on as planned.
Turning right out of Wigan Wallgate it is a short walk down hill to the old terminus of the Leeds Liverpool at Wigan Pier. The original 1770 warehouses are still there, now hemmed in by two very busy roads. The area around the pier is being redeveloped so I walked up to Wigan Bottom Lock (#87) to see if I could see any progress. Trencherfield mill has scaffolding on it and is now closed to visitors. There was a boat approaching the lock, the first of many boats enjoying the sunshine. I turned around at the lock and headed back to the pier. The museum is now closed and the area quiet once more. Near the pier is a milepost marked as 34 miles to Liverpool. The plaques are replacements and the location is wrong, this post is 34.5miles from Liverpool and should be a half mile post.
Leaving Wigan by canal the view is dominated by the JJB Stadium on the left and a large basin on the right. The hedges are now fully grown and the mileposts I found over winter have disappeared again like Brigadoon until autumn. I had a brief stop by the disused Crooke lock to feed a horse and put a plaster on my bleeding toe. The woods around Crooke and Gathurst were perfect for such a warm day providing shade and a beautiful leafy backdrop to the canal.
At Dean Locks the signs warned of the towpath closure and the lack of diversion. So I went onto the island between the duel locks and had my lunch. There were quite a few cyclists who went past only to turn reappear once they had been foiled by the closure.
As I ate a boat was descending the lock, I thought about asking for a lift past the closed towpath but not wanting to hurry my food I decided to head back to Gathurst and find the station.
The journey from Gathurst to Appley bridge on the other side of the closed path takes 4 minutes at most and costs £1, had I got on the second carriage I could have avoided paying but the inspector had just enough time to sell me a ticket before I had to get off.

I had missed about a mile of towpath by taking the train but it was all part of the adventure.
Leaving Appley Bridge I passed the 3 Appley locks, one deep and two shallow and the site of my childhood stickleback fishing days.
Next stop was Parbold where I had a sit down and a drink to let my feet have a break. Not long after Parbold I began to feel a bit weary so when I reached the junction with the Rufford Branch I stopped for another break and to use the BWB facilities.Afterr somesurreall heckling from children I pressed ontowards Burscough bridge. My break by the top lock had recharged my batteries so instead of catching a train at Burscough Bridge station I passed through Burscough and walked on to Heatons Bridge (#28) 3 miles further on. Here I stopped and had a well earned pint and a welcomed burger and chips. I had traveled about 13.5 miles and due to my boots being 2 sizes too small got a couple of blisters.
I recommend this walk, the Southport to Wigan line follows the canal from Burscough Bridge to Wigan and is useful for getting to and from walks. I saw the more boats on the move today than I have for a long time, but still the canal is quiet in comparison to other navigations. If my feet let me I have another walk planned for tomorrow...