Mersey Heritage 2007

[gaggle]

the run up to O8 CAPITAL OF CULTURE.

see the link update presentation and work in progress (cuts allowing)

[gaggle]

bw report a great response from around the country,only 120 boats will be allowed to go onto the mersey so it is first to respond with forms and refundable deposit.

them that dont get to go on the river are invited to enjoy events along the canal and the eldonian village.

[gaggle]

bw report that 120 boats will make the journey up the river for this event and events as follows

 

10 may - press launch - bingley five rise

 

19 may -pendle event-nelson palatine club

 

26/27 may -burnley event -weavers triangle

 

2 june -wigan event -wigan pier

 

4/7 june -boats proceed from bridge 16 to eldonian village and into nelson docks

 

8/11 june- passage along to the south docks - the first group will go up the mersey on the 8th and another group on the 11th sixty boats in each group.

 

16/17 june- mersey maritime festival in north and south docks.

 

 

just got my papers so i am laughing,hooray hooray what a happy holiday

[cheshire~rose]

bw report that 120 boats will make the journey up the river for this event and events as follows

 

10 may - press launch - bingley five rise

 

19 may -pendle event-nelson palatine club

 

26/27 may -burnley event -weavers triangle

 

2 june -wigan event -wigan pier

 

4/7 june -boats proceed from bridge 16 to eldonian village and into nelson docks

 

8/11 june- passage along to the south docks - the first group will go up the mersey on the 8th and another group on the 11th sixty boats in each group.

 

16/17 june- mersey maritime festival in north and south docks.

just got my papers so i am laughing,hooray hooray what a happy holiday

 

Wow that looks like it could be an impressive event Gaggle!

 

I must try and get up that was for at least one of the events

[gaggle]

coal and cotton event will now finish at wellington and sandon half tide docks and not the south docks .

city council have made this decision for whatever reason.

info says 9 vessels will be berthing in sandon but does not say if they are canal boats ,warships or tall ships ,it does state hms albion will be on the liner berth terminal.

bit of a mess but what will be will be, been invited to withdraw from event if dissappointed with lack of goings on at the albert dock complex.

all to be revealed on waterscape it says.

speaking to bw man ronny at canal turn saturday and he was looking forward to the turn out which he said far exceeded the expected 120 boats.

just looking at the date on letter and it is 3 april, wondering if bw know that boaters go boating at easter holidays.

[gaggle]

 

leaving langton lock the mersey is calm with very little to be worried about

 

 

all boats safe in the salthouse dock down the southend of liverpool although one boat had a collision with a rather large bouy marking the shipping lane.

quick trip home to get a new tv arial because one over eager lady snapped mine throwing rope across instead of waiting a couple of seconds to place it in the hand of the intended recipitent.

Edited June 10, 2007 by gaggle

[Noah]

Good photos Gaggle, keep ‘em coming! I’m on the L&L in Appley Bridge and I’ve seen hundreds of boats heading for Liverpool over the past week. Not much water left in the pound though as the deep lock has been in constant use. Local boats are on the mud!

 

I didn’t manage to get a boat ticket for the event but I’m going by train this Saturday morning. I won’t be happy if there are engineering works and the trains are not running.

 

Weather like this and you need to watch TV?

 

Noah

[gaggle]

my radio is on the same aerial and i like to hear whats on re- the boats by radio merseyside.

a run around the docks is planned i believe on saturday and the boaters themselves will i think parade around the salthouse and albert enmasse on friday of their own accord.

tall ships(nine in all) are at the sandon docks and wellington docks with hms albion .

albion is open to the public at some time and music is provided on the stage by the big jazz band and others free, a free bus service from paradise street bus station which is only 100 yards away from the canal boat pontoons will take you along to the other docks and entertainments.

loads for kids to do ,pirate stuff with ipods and stuff as prizes for best pirates so any kids going-dress up and try for a prize.

Edited June 13, 2007 by gaggle

[gaggle]

 

this is a big lock

 

some pics showing the passage through the docks to the lock

[gaggle]

a lively trip back up the mersey was looked forward to and lively it was.

one thing i have learned is that when sixty boats are told to move on out , they will all be intent on doing so at once and it seems the longer the crew have been boating they are convinced they have more right to move than others.

the mersey tide was incoming as we left the albert dock complex and while not quite as flat as it was on the inward trip it was ok , until we reached the approach to the langton dock when we had to move closer in to the river wall to allow some sailing ships a clear departure line out of the lock and for the lock to level with the river.

as we were all trying to hold position and the tall ships were leaving the lock a bow wave from a passing ship arrived and lifted our boats no small measure , the wave then rebounded off the river wall and the swell of the water and waves coming from all directions was something i wont forget in a hurry especially as i was in the middle of turning a full circle to escape a smaller boat that was quite intent on keeping to his chosen line no matter if another boat was in that line.

 

your taking my water , your taking my water.

the whole of the mersey to play in but some people insist one particular part is for them alone and seem prepared to ram onyone who comes close.

a turning tide sucking boats in all directions ,propellers 3 foot out of the water on the swell and twice as much boat length to be pushed by the breeze dont register with the complainent so he is best ignored or better still ask for a smile and take a picture.

 

pulled out of the lock by a tug this ship heads south up the river and it then puts out its full set of sails and turns to race out of the river heading into the irish sea.

as we had sailed into the lock when it passed fulley rigged i missed the chance to get a picture.

 

the river trip finished time to enjoy the sunset over new brighton.

[gaggle]

just to finish , it was asked on another well known site by a boater who was present on this rally why inconsiderate boaters continue to dump rubbish and litter at the above location despite the sign in clear english language instructing them not to do so.

sad to say one of the first boats returning from the coal and cotton rally this morning took the time to dump a further bin bag of rubbish that will no doubt be in the water by late evening.

i shall not name the boater that fly tipped the rubbish as he has now sailed off into the BLUE HORIZON.

shame on you sir.

[Pie Eater]

Gaggle

 

I am just back from helping some of the rally boats through Wigan. Lots of complaints about the amount of rubbish in the canal. Is it really that bad?

 

Steve

[gaggle]

the roof sheets that have been removed from this building can be found from aintree racecourse all the way through to eldonian village.

some of the sheets are 30 foot in length ,all are sprayed with foam to a 4 inch thickness and the metal sheets have in some cases been seperated from from the foam and has sunk.

the sprayfoam backing is used by kids as rafts and on my return i came across two men who were also having a fine time paddling along on some of the sheets to all intents and purposes having a day out on them.

so yes the foam is everywhere on that stretch and it is in chunks rangeing from 4 inch sqaure to 30 ft by 3 ft.

it is a disgrace and i myself have contacted sefton council and bw in order to try and have something done , bw have and still do try and remove some of it but with the factory being demolished a steady supply is there to be taken and launched as and when kids want to do it , the council seem unable or unwilling to force the owners of the factory to secure the site or remove the sheets as they are taken off the building.

apart from that problem the canal down this way has seen a reduction in the amount of weed and general improvement is happening , i went down the weed hatch once during the trip to remove a bin bag and shopping bags from various supermarkets and that was quite easy.

it is getting better.

some of the boats that have been on this rally seem to have arrived in liverpool with the idea that they are of some importance ,i have heard them on radio merseyside complaining of all manner of things from lack of facilities to lack of publicity and lack of visitors they have had coming to see them and the boats.

bw invited people to withdraw from this rally because the council had cancelled or moved events from the albert dock in the south to other docks in the north , it was fully explained to me in a letter from bw and more than likely to all other participants some months ago.

despite being fully informed they still chose to come and when they arrived the first thing they done was complain.

some people like an american couple off the narrowboat california came and they went out to see the city and they would arrive back each evening stating to me what a wonderful city i live in and how much that they had enjoyed visiting the different attractions , they came to see the city other boaters it seems expected the city to come to see them and hardly moved away from the mooring pontoons for the ten day visit.

eldonian village they said had one toilet one shower one tap and it was not good enough , they complained cassettes had to be emptied down a manhole and that they had come all the way from preston brook with no rubbish points , i asked why they had waited to get to liverpool before they phoned a radio station to complain about a council of bw ,they had passed through several different council areas but waited to get into liverpool before they decided things needed to be complained about.

i have asked them about facilities on the route to liverpool to empty cassettes and i know of places with just a rusty six inch pipe sticking up a couple of inches out of the ground for the purpose but they insist it is worst in liverpool than in other places.

bw men were at litherland moorings about 4 miles from city centre and they asked for any rubbish from boats and took it away to load on bw truck but one person complained that no rubbish facility was available , the fact that bw men would take it from you to their truck did not matter to them they said a skip or some other receptable should be there .

the boaters had a whip round for the bw lads who looked after us and worked very hard and then some and it was only some had the the two faced cheek to go on local radio and try the old rabble rousing.

at albert dock the council arranged for a rubbish collection each and every morning , this rubbish would be collected from the north end of the pontoons we were all told , despite being told how and where to put the rubbish for collection some boaters insisted on leaving the rubbish on the south end of the pontoons which meant the council worker had his workload being doubled , and i will let you guess who the culprits were.

 

i had a great time , i went and did not think i was important enough that i was going to be feted by the populance of the city.

listen to the complaints they tell you off but take them with a huge pinch of salt.

on the whole i think i was among a decent group of boaters .

[Noah]

Gaggle

 

Shame there were some self-important and whinging boaters. I’m sure they are a minority but the obnoxious ones always stand out from the crowd and are remembered.

 

The river trip looked fun. That ship was the Polish sea-cadet vessel, the Dar Mlodziezy. We had a look on board last Saturday morning and it was HUGE. Would have loved to have seen it in full sail going back out of the river. They wouldn’t let us go below deck though, unlike a couple of the other tall ships that were there. Some details on: www.liverpool.gov.uk/News/newsdetail_2134.asp

 

Even though we went by train we had a brill day out and can’t wait to take the boat down soon. First time at the docks in years. In the afternoon we found some awesome pubs on the way to the free, African music and food festival at Sefton Park.

 

Noah

[gaggle]

the african musicians were playing in the radio merseyside building when we called in there , oye yez or something simalar and i enjoyed an half hour of them.

a group of gospel singers who were playing outside the maritime museum held a good crowd and they sung a lot of well known songs for the crowd to join in and enjoy , a gospel chior that had one singer doing the song rapper style , excellent and all for free.

i took the kids down to see the ships on sunday morning but they side tracked me into the heritage market to get breakfast and then relieve me of some cash for bits and bobs they found.

as for pubs ,well i found myself in the baltic fleet on wapping drinking russian lager and that lager was deadly , i got a taxi back but ended up home instead of at the boat. good lager.

am i right in thinking lots of food was free at the festival?

[Noah]

am i right in thinking lots of food was free at the festival?

No such luck! Just free admission, which is not bad considering most two-day music festivals are around 100 quid just to get in.

 

Noah

[Pie Eater]

Gaggle

 

Thanks for the reply re: the rubbish, I hope BW and Sefton council take action. Mike & Bonnie, NB Californian are members of Lymm Cruising Club and come over to England every year for a few months sailing and do tend to visit all the local attractions wherever they go.

 

Steve