JohnEW2912

We’ve just been up to our boat in Scarisbrick Marina, which is around half way between the breach and the lock at Appley Bridge. Daniel the owner was called at 11pm on Tuesday by CRT telling him to get his stop planks in ASAP. This was done by 3am, by which time the marina was down 8”. They have taken the planks out today and it’s still 6” down. The mainline is cruiseable although I guess if you have a deep draught maybe not.

The latest news from CRT also says that the towpath is closed from Spencer’s Swing Bridge, which is east of Burscough. That’s a huge distance and I’m not clear how that could be effectively enforced.

Disability Discrimination Act

The plaques are certainly still available, as we got one as we went over the Summit at Easter. A young woman and her small daughter came out from a house at the summit to offer us one. I've no idea whether they were related to Ray though. My son collects them and he said that it was quite a bit more expensive than others he had bought in the last few years, but I can't remember how much.

Appley Bridge is a large village but most of it is on the hillside some way from the canal at the bottom of the valley. The nearest shop is indeed a trek. The pub on the road bridge was demolished some years ago but there is one by the canal on the offside which was little more than a shed but has now been tarted up into a formula food pub. All in all it's not a great place to overnight but fine to leave a boat for a while. If you want pubs it's much better to press on to Parbold and Burscough. If you want countryside either side of Appley is lovely.

There most certainly is a train station in Appley Bridge. In fact it's a bigger station than Gathurst, which is the one near Dean lock. Pretty much all trains stop at Appley Bridge but only some at Gathurst. My suggestion was to moor on the towpath opposite the private moorings and pub, quite busy with people and close to the station. Mooring either in the side channel at Appley lock or on the main line below the lock are options, but further from the station and also less passing foot traffic.

No - Dean lock is almost under the M6. Appley lock (the last lock before Liverpool) is about 1/4 mile on from the road bridge in Appley Bridge.

RE Appley Bridge I meant near the road bridge and the station, not as far up as the lock, which is a bit more remote. Between the swing bridge and the road bridge there are offside permanent moorings and a pub and plenty of people about most of the time. Also it's nearer the station.

That's interesting. I've left my boat at Dover lock a number of times, including earlier this year with no problems, but that of course is no guarantee of the future.

Dover lock on the Leigh branch is OK but you would need a bus, a taxi or a healthy walk into Wigan station. Appley Bridge is as good as Parbold and a bit nearer or Burscough a bit further - both with handy stations as well.

From Parbold (or Appley Bridge or Gathurst), it's probably quicker to go back to Wigan and then take a train from there into Liverpool (although it will depend on connection times). From Burscough Bridge go into Southport and change. Or walk to Burscough Junction (about half a mile from the wharf) for a train to Ormskirk and change - trains from Burscough Junction are few and far between but you only need one. Or if you go to Scarisbrick (either into the marina or on the towpath), bus into Ormskirk and then train.

Must be the diversion to Jersey...........

That's interesting, google maps shows the canal on a very different line to apple maps. The latter has the Tame Valley doing an ox-bow type bend and therefore the M6 crossing twice very quickly. I've no idea which is right except that google generally has the better reputation.

Looking at online mapping I'm fairly confident the M6 crosses the Tame Valley three times very close to Spaghetti Junction, as well as three separate slip roads. And then again twice near Perry Barr, so five times in all for the main carriageway.

I make it the M6 crosses 15 different waterways, assuming the count BCN waterways by their individual names with a total of 20 crossings: - Oxford / Coventry / Grand Union / Birmingham & Fazeley / Tame Valley (5 times) / Rushall / Walsall / Wyrley & Essington / Lichfield & Hatherton (in water) / Staffs & Worcs / Trent & Mersey / Bridgewater / Manchester Ship Canal / Leeds & Liverpool / Lancaster (2 times, once the Northern Reaches in water)

You might think about the Leeds & Liverpool towpath from say Johnson's Hillock south to Liverpool? It's not perfect by any means but it's probably better than the Lancaster towpath.

Unless it's changed for the better this would be very hard work. A few years ago I walked form the terminus in Preston up to Bilsborrow and the second half was very, very muddy, admittedly in early March. It was quite hard work walking so I really would not want to do it by bike. You certainly wont be racing along!

Well up here on the Lancashire Riviera we had an excellent Spring and early Summer. Less good later admittedly but overall a decent year.

Those moorings are fine but not great if you're coming up the Leigh branch and going up Wigan, as you have to come through Henhurst lock twice to get to them. Henhurst is very slow filling and if you need to get to the ff side of the lock is a long walk round.

I use both Nicholsons and Pearsons. The former for mapping and knowing exactly where you are - you can't beat an OS map. Pearsons for the whimsical text which provides a goods background.

We went up Grindley Brook with a private boater (and had plenty of time to chat). He had been up earlier in the Summer (May I think) and again in August and August was by far the quieter time. The lockie at Grindley Brook also said that they were fairly quiet in August.

We have just had a few days on the boat going up the Llangollen to Ellesmere and back and we noticed the "September" effect - boaters not daring to go up there in August because of an assumption it would be too crowded, but lots venturing up there now. Couple with the fact that just about every hire boat around was out as well meant it was very busy. It took us almost 3 hours to get through Grindley Brook last Wednesday - the lock keeper said it had been one of their busiest days of the year. Conversely coming back down on Friday there was nobody there, mainly due to it being a big hire boat changeover day.

Trafford centre moorings are perfectly safe but a little dull. I would either stop short at Sale, go on to Worsley or divert into Castlefield in Manchester. Mooring at the junction in Wigan is again fine assuming you're staying on board. The moorings below Henhurst are better but you have to go twice through what was one of the slowest locks on the system to get there and back. Alternatively you could moor at Dover lock and set off era,y to get to Poolstock for opening time. Again mooring at Botany Bay OK but tyre are better choices just a bit further up either below or above Johnson's Hillock locks, one of the best on the network. Formula pub at the bottom, a better one at the top and some beautiful rural moorings a bit further up if you want peace and quiet. You won't get that at Botany Bay as it's next to the M61. Both Blackburn and Burnley are much improved. Eanam Wharf in Blackburn is safe and very close to the town centre and the same applies to the Weaver's Triangle in Burnley.

For what it's worth we had our boat on the back of a lorry in late April - it was 18 tons for a 58' Tim Tyler hull fully fitted with empty water tank and maybe 1/3rd full fuel tank.

About an hour in a car, but assuming it's by boat you could do it in two days at a push, three more leisurely. That's also assuming you mean getting to Tarleton, where you go on to the Ribble Link, rather than getting to the other end.