A photo to show how far out we moored last night. No matter - we left before anyone else came along.
And it was another bright sunny morning. Only one cloudy patch later on but with a gentle breeze it was again great cruising weather, so long as no locks.
We have seen a number of milestones in a new design with the dates 1810 - 2010. They look remarkably like gravestones! Looking at photos from 2013, it seems as if they have been erected since that visit here.
Just after Bridge 81 we met Abraham, sporting his special NHS branded helmet. He looked quite happy but did not say very much.
Bridge 83 is a bit more ornate than the standard Lancaster design - we shall see this idea again when we come to the Lune Aqueduct.
Milestone 8, just before Glasson Junction, looks very much the same as in 2013 and is the older design. Stylish but the plaques seemed sadly rather too attractive to light fingered visitors.
The entrance to the top of the Glasson Arm and a sight no boater wants to see: Canal Closed. It closed a couple of weeks ago as CaRT were having difficulty in maintaining water in the main canal as well as the pounds between the locks. It opened for a few days over the Bank Holiday weekend, but closed again, indefinitely, after Monday. Although the level in the main canal is down perhaps 150 - 200 mm is is at least navigable, even if we keep on scraping the bottom!
Galgate Marina is now operated by Aquavista and seems to have a self serve diesel pump, even if it is probably of the type that has a fixed VAT split.
Deep Cutting Bridge 94 now carries the A588 road over the canal but it also marks almost the end of a long series of quite deep cuttings - not quite as substantial as the Shroppie but very reminiscent. It is at times hard to realise the effort that went into creating the canal in this way as all the spare soil had to be shifted by manually with little more than a shovel and wheelbarrow. The flat section at the top of the arch is actually a sideways extension to the bridge, using steel sections, to accommodate modern road traffic.
Coming into Lancaster itself the first few houses are quite substantial and a couple of their own boathouse. Wonder if they have to have an Access Agreement with CaRT? Or is it just an End of Garden mooring? (Sorry about the sun getting in on the act)
We paused in the centre of Lancaster to use the sani station (just to the right of this footbridge), whilst making a decision about whether to moor here on the opposite side and walk to the shops.
In the end we opted to carry one with possibly a stop on the return trip. The next bridge just shows the spire of the Catholic Lancaster Cathedral.
This substantial, slightly late, brood of 'ugly ducklings' were all having a good scratch at their plumage which was about to turn. Coming-of-age is never easy.
With some difficulty we moored up just before the Lune Aqueduct in order to have our lunch and then take a closer look at this amazing piece of engineering and architecture. Rennie strongly believed that such structures should not only work well but also enhance to environment into which they have to fit. Alas it was also over two and a half times over budget and the main reason that the planned crossing of the Ribble never happened. An information board also said that this was an early example of the use of a steam engine to pump water out pf the cofferdams around the footings.
This bridge carries the extension of the A683 into Heysham and links with the M6 to the east. It was not here in 2013.
We carried on to Hest Bank where we hoped to be able to moor where Christine and Andrew stopped overnight with a decent view of the bay. Alas, since then the best stretch has been converted to long term Leisure Moorings with the visitor moorings relegated to a short distance away but in amongst trees with no view! We can but speculate about the reasons for this, especially as the take up of the moorings - in view of the local houses - has not been extensive. We plan to walk down to the water front in the morning.
11.9 Miles - 0 Locks
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