john4647

I almost never vote on polls that ask me if I participate in them

I know this is 'Off Topic' but does anyone have a map of the route that the proposed Lancaster Canal was intended to take to meet the Bridgewater

Just Received from Mike Webb @ Peel Holdings; BRIDGEWATER CANAL BARTON AQUEDUCT RESTRICTIONS / CLOSURE DURING INSPECTION 2009 Notice is hereby given that Barton Aqueduct (situated on the Leigh Branch of the Bridgewater Canal) will be closed and or restricted to navigation as detailed below whilst the structure is inspected. The inspection of Barton Aqueduct will take place on the 9th and 10th December 2009:- Wednesday 9th December 2009 (navigation restriction in operation) the Aqueduct will be available to navigation between the following times only 12.00 noon until 12.30 pm and 4.00pm until 4.30pm Thursday 10th December 2009 the Aqueduct will be closed to navigation. Owners are advised not to moor overnight at Barton Aqueduct suggested alternatives are at Worsley village centre, Castlefield or in Sale at the Kings Ransom public house. The Company regrets any inconvenience that these necessary inspection works may cause. The Bridgewater Canal Company Peel Dome The Trafford Centre Manchester M17 8PL email mwebb@peel.co.uk Telephone number 0161 629 8266 Website www.bridgewatercanal.co.uk Notice 12 23rd November 2009

I contacted the IWA to ask why they had not commented or indeed contributed to the BBC programme. This is their reply; Hello John, Thanks for the note , My apologies for the slow response but I have been in hospital this week. We were interviewed for the Politics show , and I spoke a great length to the producers giving them the back ground and history of the waterways , IWA and the funding issue and even suggesting the backdrop at Caen Hill on the K& A; Clive Henderson was due to be interviewed on camera but wasn’t subsequently required by the BBC in the event. We are very active on this at the moment and have orchestrated a political lobby in both the Commons and latterly the Lords to pressurise government – (who still haven’t yet indicated if the sale is to go ahead) - to drop any ideas surrounding a possible sale. The aim is to get them to back down in private – rather than make them entrench and publically come out and declare this as an intention. We are awaiting the publication of the prospectus sometime next week, our public stance will alter then depending on the outcome of our private lobbying . Kindest regards Jo Jo Gilbertson

The Taxpayers Alliance sound pretty keen if the timing is right Times clicky

Well the BBC seems to think so. BBC Clicky

It's at the Leigh Arms according to the posters. I was there on Sunday and there are already steam type machines in the car park. The Horns, incidentally, is still closed.

No, as far as I know Harry passed on the rights to Sooty et al to his son Peter (aka Matthew) Corbett. This is where he lives. Matthew operated the Sooty show for a while and (rumour would have it) sold on the franchise. I did however, once see Sooty naked, operating the tiller arm of a trad.

"We headed back for the car as the sky darkened and rain seemed imminent – but not before noticing this beautiful waterside property…" (From Blog) This is where Sooty's dad lives.

Quite a lot of the Bridgewater towpath has recently been resurfaced in tarmac. Now the motor bikes can go really fast.

Thanks Martin, this is the reason I asked the question. Surely better to buy from or via a club or member's site rather than just using a commercial outlet.

Quite right, I suppose you could actually Google most things instead of using a (mostly) friendly forum like this.

Where can we buy the books from please.

I think on one of these there is a plaque on the wall adjacent. We could not read the text from the boat but the heading said something about WW2 defences. Maybe gun placements? There are pillboxes on the LL nearby.

We find this ideal when it's not worth lighting the wood burner or just to take the chill off first thing in the morning. Clicky And a lot easier/cheaper to install than Eiberspacher or Webasto.

But what happens at tunnels or low bridges?

Very rare to spot a Landrover on the Bridgewater. Well a series two is rare.

We went down the link on Thursday 20th (to Eldonian). Then on Friday 21st to Salthouse. There were only 2 boats on both these legs with one boat leaving on Friday morning. Best Guess a dozen boats in Salthouse over that weekend. We left Salthouse last Monday with 4 boats in total leaving. However 6 boats (4 plastic and 2 nb's) passed us at Bridge 9 bound for Eldonian. The BW chaps told us that 6 per day was the maximum allowed through and that there were going to be that many per day until this weekend. This mainly for the Matthew St. music festival it was thought.

O/K, I need to come clean on this. It was in Eldonian village at the moorings outside the Leisure Centre and Village Hall. We had arrived early in the afternoon and had been watching some kids take kayak lessons, no trouble here. In the early evening some other kids arrived, armed with stones and attempted a pincer movement on a quite large flock of Canada Geese. They managed to hit some before my wife took exception and told them off. They then ran away and returned half an hour later to stone the boat from the top of the bank. This was around 7.00pm or so. I asked the Leisure Centre people when the gates would be closed, thinking this would solve the problem. The Lady insisted on calling the police who gave us a reference number but did not attend. The gates were closed at around 8.00pm but the stoning and abuse continued from the other side of the canal until one the residents chased them away. I don't know what problems the other boat encountered, only that they had experienced some trouble and preferred to moor at Litherland on the return. However, this was still a fabulous trip and we refuse to let two or three kids spoil the memory for us. Next time the Geese can look after themselves.

Just arrived back from a wonderful few days at Salthouse. Brilliant trip, very helpful BW staff. Just two points referring to the above. Eldonian does not have an Elsan facility unless it was installed after Monday of this week. At Salthouse, Electricity works fine but there is no water available on the pontoons (taps but not connected) On returning we decided (along with another boat) not to stop at Eldonian but to carry on to Litherland for our overnight. This was because we had problems with stone throwing kids at Eldonian on our way down. (as had the other boat) However, overall probably the best value trip on the canal system

Problem solved. Nice lady from BW just telephoned to say that they had sent out some 'old' paperwork. The latest version is the same as previously posted by Gaggle. Litherland Elsan facilities are available. Still nothing at Salthouse though.

I'm not sure how old Gaggle's document is but this is the one that arrived last week. A phone call to BW this morning did not help as nobody was available.

Thank you for your helpful comments. I have the Skippers Guide (2009) which says there are facilities at Litherland. However according to the paperwork received from BW last week the situation is as I stated in the opening post. That is, Litherland -No elsan facilites, Eldonian - No elsan facilities, Salthouse - No elsan facilities. "Bridge 17, by prior arrangement with Mersey Motorboat Club, Elsan facilities are available. I am basing my 'research' on direct information from BW received last week rather than hearsay on the forum. (Edited cos I carnt spell)