Scarisbrick - anyone moored there between 1970-1980 ?

[jradley]

Hi,

 

This is a longshot, but was wondering if anyone on here had a boat moored at Scarisbrick between 1970(ish) and 1980 ? That's when my parents had a boat there (Tzigane) when I was a kid. Many happy memories. Would be lovely to hear from you.

 

John

[Guest]

2 hours ago, jradley said:

Hi,

 

This is a longshot, but was wondering if anyone on here had a boat moored at Scarisbrick between 1970(ish) and 1980 ? That's when my parents had a boat there (Tzigane) when I was a kid. Many happy memories. Would be lovely to hear from you.

 

John

My late dad moored his boat on the Scarisbrick MMBC moorings for a little while, by the Red Lion bridge, but that was slightly earlier about 1968. We used to sail in that area a great deal but I don't recall your boat name unfortunately. Perhaps a pic would jog my memory.
Our boats at those times were: Bambi, Tudor Rose and Lola. We were usually somewhere between Appley Bridge and Haskayne.
I do remember that Bambi ended up back on those MMBC moorings after my dad's friend bought her.

Edited July 26, 2019 by Guest
Added pic of Bambi

[jradley]

Thanks !!

 

That was the the mooring. I had forgotten the name of it (and the pub name). I'm not sure if I remember Bambi or not - your dad's friend didn't have a daughter who was born around 1969 did he ? As long as I can remember Tzigane was always moored about 10 or 12 boats or so down from the entrance gate, so we never got to see many of the boats moored further along particularly close up. We nearly always had a blue GRP tender chained up to the fence that ran alongside the yard that was alongside that initial stretch of the mooring, which marked our spot. Regular visitors would no doubt recall me and my brother tearing around in the tender creating havoc

 

Here's a photo of Tzigane that I just found

 

 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, jradley said:

Thanks !!

 

That was the the mooring. I had forgotten the name of it (and the pub name). I'm not sure if I remember Bambi or not - your dad's friend didn't have a daughter who was born around 1969 did he ? As long as I can remember Tzigane was always moored about 10 or 12 boats or so down from the entrance gate, so we never got to see many of the boats moored further along particularly close up. We nearly always had a blue GRP tender chained up to the fence that ran alongside the yard that was alongside that initial stretch of the mooring, which marked our spot. Regular visitors would no doubt recall me and my brother tearing around in the tender creating havoc

 

Here's a photo of Tzigane that I just found

 

 

Ron had a daughter though a bit older than that. Probably born early 60's.
Don't remember you boat sorry, but I do know where it is moored in the pic, as I lived there for 40 years; looks like Parbold. (I still have a small house behind there somewhere.) Also the boat next to yours is (I am 99% certain) called Mary which also moored at Scarisbrick and later at the Slipway, Burscough. I have a pic of Mary somewhere that I took as a kid. Will dig it out.
Tenders where the thing that kept me interested in boats, we had a couple

[Guest]

1. My late dad on his boat at Parbold about 1968 (old bridge and mill still standing)

2. Mary the boat in your pic. (I think)

 

Edited July 26, 2019 by Guest

[jradley]

Wow - you have a better memory than me !!

 

You are almost certainly right about the pic being taken in Parbold, as I know that was one of our regular destinations. The fact Mary was there makes me suspect it was a club outing, but could have been random chance. That was taken in 1972. I'll see if I can dig out any other photos (slides).

 

The family I was thinking of their daughter was similarish age as me (born '67). I know this because when I fell in the canal aged about 8 my mum had no dry clothes for me, so asked if she could borrow some of their daughters. I was horrified at having to wear girls clothes for the rest of the day. Their boat was similar to your dad's, but then many were rather similar I suppose.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, jradley said:

Wow - you have a better memory than me !!

 

You are almost certainly right about the pic being taken in Parbold, as I know that was one of our regular destinations. The fact Mary was there makes me suspect it was a club outing, but could have been random chance. That was taken in 1972. I'll see if I can dig out any other photos (slides).

 

The family I was thinking of their daughter was similarish age as me (born '67). I know this because when I fell in the canal aged about 8 my mum had no dry clothes for me, so asked if she could borrow some of their daughters. I was horrified at having to wear girls clothes for the rest of the day. Their boat was similar to your dad's, but then many were rather similar I suppose.

Could have been Ron's daughter I suppose. She was called Tracey.
Must have been a local custom falling in at Scarisbrick, I took a dive out of my mate's canoe there, and many years later fell off my bike into the canal near there
Just remembered that there was another historical boat there called Eileen. She was a beautiful wooden boat with a schooner stern and allegedly an engine from a Model T Ford car. I really regret not taking photos of this boat.
My mate had a similar cruiser to your boat, called Nimrod. She was usually moored at Glover's Bridge, Burscough.
Another mate had a converted wooden lifeboat called Kantara.

[jradley]

I think I remember the boat Eileen

Thinking back, I'm amazed we didn't fall in more often - me & my brother palyed a game, once only, of "walking along the canal bank with our eyes closed" to see how far we could get. I cheated, my brother got wet LOL.

Can't remember the girls name unfortunately. The family I'm thinking of sadly sold the boat due to tragic circumstances not long before we sold ours due to my dad's ill health - probably around '79.

Before Tzigane (and me) my parents had a converted lifeboat too, called Romany. It was blue and a model of it was (might still be) in the Ellesmere Boat Museum. We saw it visiting at Scarisbrick and chatted to its new owner. It had changed its name, but yet again I can't remember what to.

 

Here's another photo from the Parbold meet (I'm sure that's what it was) - this time not back-to-front, and one of us that looks like where we used to go blackberry picking from the tender near Haskayne.

 

 

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, jradley said:

I think I remember the boat Eileen

Thinking back, I'm amazed we didn't fall in more often - me & my brother palyed a game, once only, of "walking along the canal bank with our eyes closed" to see how far we could get. I cheated, my brother got wet LOL.

Can't remember the girls name unfortunately. The family I'm thinking of sadly sold the boat due to tragic circumstances not long before we sold ours due to my dad's ill health - probably around '79.

Before Tzigane (and me) my parents had a converted lifeboat too, called Romany. It was blue and a model of it was (might still be) in the Ellesmere Boat Museum. We saw it visiting at Scarisbrick and chatted to its new owner. It had changed its name, but yet again I can't remember what to.

 

Here's another photo from the Parbold meet (I'm sure that's what it was) - this time not back-to-front, and one of us that looks like where we used to go blackberry picking from the tender near Haskayne.

 

 

That does sound like Ron's boat (our ex boat.) He died of a heart attack around that time so quite likely.
I definitely remember a lifeboat called Romany, and another fine one called Cirrus, owned by a Scottish family.
The pic at Parbold takes me back to when most boats were wooden/steel/Alloy converted lifeboats, or purpose made plywood or GRP cruisers. Narrowboats were not the norm on the L&L in those days. Good shot of Mary too, I often wonder what became of her. There was some claim to fame with that boat, but I can't quite remember now.
I think the fourth lifeboat back from Mary was called Green Lady.

Edited July 26, 2019 by Guest

[jradley]

Yes, you have confirmed it was definitely Ron, Tracey and your boat Bambi that I was thinking about. We knew them quite well and were really saddened when Ron passed away. They are about the only people I remember at all really to be honest, simply because Tracey was similar age and so we would play together sometimes.

There was another family that moved to the mooring about a year or two before we sold our boat and their lad who was a bit older than me had what I think was a Mirror dinghy that he used to play around in. We used to hang out together on the water in our respective toys but I can't remember his name, just that he had long frizzy hair.

Many many fond memories of being on the canal (just don't ask me names)

 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, jradley said:

Yes, you have confirmed it was definitely Ron, Tracey and your boat Bambi that I was thinking about. We knew them quite well and were really saddened when Ron passed away. They are about the only people I remember at all really to be honest, simply because Tracey was similar age and so we would play together sometimes.

There was another family that moved to the mooring about a year or two before we sold our boat and their lad who was a bit older than me had what I think was a Mirror dinghy that he used to play around in. We used to hang out together on the water in our respective toys but I can't remember his name, just that he had long frizzy hair.

Many many fond memories of being on the canal (just don't ask me names)

 

Ron's wife was Jean. They were great people,and used to take Bambi up to the old locks just before Appley Bridge. We used to camp out there a lot travelling by dinghy so would often have a laugh with them. Ron worked for the AA car recovery thing. There was a twin boat to Bambi kicking around called Turtle, same colour and everything.
My own kids had a Mirror dinghy on loan for a while which we used to tow behind our first narrowboat. Truth be told I used it more than my kids

[Nightwatch]

No connection with this thread at all. But can I just say, great isn't it. All those years have passed and memory can be dug out from the archives with a simple comment. 

[Nightwatch]

I've just written my life story of being near the cut at Chorley. Pressed wrong digit and it's gone.

 

i hope you two can progress this thread. I find it fascinating.

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

No connection with this thread at all. But can I just say, great isn't it. All those years have passed and memory can be dug out from the archives with a simple comment. 

That is what I love about the canals. I was about 13 (51 years ago; where did that go?) when we started out in my dad's boat. We got to know many great people (sadly mostly dead now) but the memories are very much alive and kicking. The more I think back,the more that memories resurface. As youths we built this unusual boat atop an old Glastron speedboat that we were given in exchange for some work.

I took a break for far too many years from the cut when I bought my first house, got married, started a family etc then by chance we hired the day boat from L&L cruisers from Chorley with some friends (I'll guess 20 years ago.) My better half, who hated boats, was instantly hooked and within a very short time we had bought a sorry looking, but basically sound little narrowboat. We grew to love the boat and after restoring her, we sold her on to buy our current boat. My wife cried when we handed the keys over. 

27 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

I've just written my life story of being near the cut at Chorley. Pressed wrong digit and it's gone.

 

i hope you two can progress this thread. I find it fascinating.

I used to have a cat that did that frequently.
I would be interested to read your experiences at Chorley.

[Guest]

Just recently we stayed at Leigh Flashes on the Leigh branch of the L&L which is a very beautiful area. This canal was somewhat different 50 years ago when we first went down there. The coal boats were still working and we always exchanged greetings with them. We hitched a lift a couple of times. There were some small wooden boats that I believe were left over from going into the mines at Worsley, and I always intended retrieving one of them but of course never did. This is where the Old Boatyard Inn moorings are. These were later sunk in the flashes that are now the big Marina at Leigh (Boothstown?). They were dug out again many years later when the marina was built.

[Guest]

Before and after on the L&L Leigh Branch (about 50 years.) I don't take credit for the monochrome image, photographer unknown.

[Guest]

99% certain this is Scarisbrick mooring. Photographer unknown, it looks about early 60's to me.


 

[jradley]

 

On 26/07/2019 at 19:31, Nightwatch said:

No connection with this thread at all. But can I just say, great isn't it. All those years have passed and memory can be dug out from the archives with a simple comment. 

Yes. I want to say thank you so much catweasel for your contribution to this thread. I really do appreciate it. I knew it was a long shot that anyone on a modern day forum would have info from one specific mooring from almost 50 years ago - it's quite amazing.

 

I remembered some info about the lad and his dinghy... their boat was called "Maid Of Noplan". It was a home built plywood boat that had literally been made from no plans. It probably came to the mooring about 1979.

On 26/07/2019 at 21:07, catweasel said:

99% certain this is Scarisbrick mooring. Photographer unknown, it looks about early 60's to me.
 

Definitely Scarisbrick... I recognise the fence !! The crane is where the slipway was. Where the garages are is where the industrial yard was which was across the fence from where our boat was moored, our dinghy being chained to the fence there. Me & my brother used to cross the canal to the woods in our dinghy and explore.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, jradley said:

 

Yes. I want to say thank you so much catweasel for your contribution to this thread. I really do appreciate it. I knew it was a long shot that anyone on a modern day forum would have info from one specific mooring from almost 50 years ago - it's quite amazing.

 

I remembered some info about the lad and his dinghy... their boat was called "Maid Of Noplan". It was a home built plywood boat that had literally been made from no plans. It probably came to the mooring about 1979.

Definitely Scarisbrick... I recognise the fence !! The crane is where the slipway was. Where the garages are is where the industrial yard was which was across the fence from where our boat was moored, our dinghy being chained to the fence there. Me & my brother used to cross the canal to the woods in our dinghy and explore.

I was quite surprised when I saw your question! I am more than happy to reminisce. If anything else comes to mind I will post it. I recognise a couple of boats in the old black and white at Scarisbrick, and will point them out when I get a minute.
ps. Maid of Noplan is a cracking name!

Edited July 27, 2019 by Guest

[TheBiscuits]

On 26/07/2019 at 19:38, Nightwatch said:

I've just written my life story of being near the cut at Chorley. Pressed wrong digit and it's gone.

 

On 26/07/2019 at 20:04, catweasel said:

I would be interested to read your experiences at Chorley.

 

Me too.  We usually return to around Chorley area as we have family thereabouts, but we haven't seen you round there for a while - we met on passing boats at Botany Bay and again at Simpson's Fold a few years ago - I was the odd bloke shouting "Hello I'm the Biscuits!"

 

We know a lot of the old boaters in the area, so please try again - just copy the text before posting in case it get eaten by the internet again!

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

 

Me too.  We usually return to around Chorley area as we have family thereabouts, but we haven't seen you round there for a while - we met on passing boats at Botany Bay and again at Simpson's Fold a few years ago - I was the odd bloke shouting "Hello I'm the Biscuits!"

 

We know a lot of the old boaters in the area, so please try again - just copy the text before posting in case it get eaten by the internet again!

Seconded  I am very interested in this area.

[Guest]

easier than I thought

The boat with green arrow I believe to be Mary in our other pics. I have remembered that she was the first pleasure boat on the L&L canal.
Boat with blue arrow i am 75% certain became my mate's boat Kantara.
Orange arrow is (99% certain) boat Eileen, the one with the Model T ford engine.
Yellow arrow is definitely Albatross. I have other pics of Albatross somewhere. She was one of the boats that went to Dunkirk in WW2. Also an ex customs boat. A forum member also once owned her. Pretty certain Albatross was broken up.
 

[The Bearwood Boster]

What a cracking thread.?

[Guest]

Just found this pic of the aforementioned Albatross, credit to towpathtreks.co.uk



 

Edited July 27, 2019 by Guest