Summer Cruise Day 13 Burscough to Aintree

We left Burscough at 9.20am this morning in cooler weather with the sun shining.  We stopped at the services to dispose of the rubbish and got under way.

Shortly after leaving and as we approached a bridge we heard the familiar "ting ting" of a bicycle bell.  This heralded the start of what was to be an immense group of cyclists going full pelt.  God help anyone walking as they would have been bowled over as they passed.

This is but a few of the cyclists

At Pinfold we came to Scarisbrick Marina and decided to pull in for some diesel.   It a small marina and the only place there was the coffee shop.  We had quite a wait until someone came along to fuel us.

Scarisbrick Marina coffee shop

 An unusual boat is located on the moorings here.  I'd hate to cruise this one as it has an extremely low free-board.  Looks like even the waves on the cut would be too much for it, however, it makes for a lovely home I would think

Barely 6 inches free-board on this house boat

For those of us moored in Tattenhall Marina, you think our entrance is tight try this one.  Room for only a 55 footer to swing, AmyJo  barely got in and out and took several shuffles to get round.  To make things more awkward there are iron railings on the banks either side with 90 degree corners as you exit.

Only 50 foot ahead and not much space to turn 

Back out on the cut and its more lovely countryside.  We passed the Saracen's head on the way and it looked inviting.  May be a stop for lunch on the way back.

At Hallsal on the approaches to Magull is this sculpture of a Canal Navvi can be found.  The stone sculpture by Thomson Dagnell is on the site where the first sod was cut for the canal on the 5th November 1770 by Col. Mordaunt. The Statue was unveiled 2006 to commemorate the work of the predominantly Irish "Navvies" (Navigators).  Unfortunately from this angle those with dirty minds may think the Navvy is not holding a shovel.

That is a shovel by the way, I checked.

Magull looked quite nice and the gardens and moorings well maintained.  Here the Mersey Motor Boat Club dominates with nearly all the long term mooring space owned by them.  Plenty of Yoghurt pots (sorry plastic cruisers, no offence intended) are moored along here

Some nice cruisers on well tended moorings.

One has to negotiate no less than 5 swing bridges in Magull.  The first two like this one arlectrified.  The only obstacle was the large group of canoeists that took ages to move so I could pass through.  It wasn't until I was almost about to run them down did they get out of the way.

At this point they were just launching and by the time I got there they were spread across the cut.

The cut is really nice along here

The next three bridges like this one are all manual.  Two are on minor housing estate roads and one a walk way.

This manual bridge serves only pedestrians

We saw several of these lovely garden benches along here.

 Once through Magull we were nearing our destination for the night.  Advised not to moor beyond Magull our mooring for the night was bridge 10 on the outskirts of Magull.  The canal here is over run with lilies and weed.  Only a narrow passage in the center is free where boats have passed.    We met another boat at some narrows and stopped to let him through and in doing so picked up some weed on the propeller.    A trip down the weed hatch when we moored up.

Lilies line either bank with barely room for boats to pass through

 Once moored I cleared the weed from the prop and also had to remove a huge clump wrapped round the bow too.  We had only been moored an hour when the sky darkened and rain fell, light at first then the heavens came down with a torrential downpour.  It got really dark and the clouds looked really angry.

Dark clouds and the rain began

Hammering it down and really black low cloud

With in a half hour the rain passed and the sun shone again, though more dark clouds were on the horizon.

Our mooring for the night at bridge 10 and a dark sky 

Tomorrow we complete our trip as we pass through Aintree, Bootle and Litherland before finally entering the docks.  We have to be at Bridge 9 for 9:30am so and early start is required.  C&RT only operate the swing bridge between 9:30 and 10:30 so we only have an hour window to get through so I want to be there early.

As I type I was reminded why we love this lifestyle so much.  This is my view out of the back hatch.  How can you not enjoy life watching this with a glass of red in your hand.

This is straight from the camera, no retouching.  I stood for ages watching the sun go down.
I feel so grateful for the life we have right now.

Total distance:13.22 miles Elapsed time:5h57m30s Locks:0 Bridges:35 

Average speed:2.22 mph (2.22 lock/mph)