Another fairly grey day but at least the rain held off - helpful as Mike really did want to wrap up this phase of painting maintenance!
Mike made an early foray into the shopping centre to look for a newspaper only to discover that it does not open until 10am! Late night shopping seems to be more popular than early bird! The route through to the Asda supermarket which we have used in the past was also blocked with extensive construction works, perhaps part of those associated with the latest Metro extension.
Back at the boat a quick change into painting clothes and a start on the latest coats of paint. At this stage we are largely dealing with smaller chips, just a few larger damaged patches where the paint has lifted.
Then there came a lengthy phone call for Mike and whilst dealing with that Christine returned to the shopping centre - by now open.
It was after 11 by the time we were ready to leave and, alas something happened with the camera for the first part of the day so limited photos. Although this route is more urban and there are points of interest, it is not that exciting.
Well, the passage over the Barton Swing Aqueduct would have been a highlight if not for the fact that all the pictures are missing! We are left with just a picture of it receding into the background.
Worsley was the impetus for the original construction of the Bridgewater and, fittingly, there are several significant features. At the wharf we passed one of the restored fly boats - these at speed, pulled by horses must have been some sight when alternative transport was minimal, little more than shanks' pony and the occasional horse ride.
Just round the corner is another one - and since we are short of pix, here it is!
That's the iconic picture at the point where the canal originally linked into the coat mines behind.
The service block at Worsley remains definitely closed so we carried on to Bridgewater Marina at Boothshall. They were very friendly and welcoming even though we were not (directly) paying customers. We filled with water (just as well as the washing machine was rapidly depleting our tank) and emptied the elsan. After our experience here and yesterday we are beginning to wonder if this is a Peel policy to locate the facilities at boatyards or marinas who can then look after them.
We only went a couple of hundred metres beyond the next bridge to moor up for lunch.
Towards Astley we could see a team of workers laying tarmac on a section of towpath which seems to be being upgraded for a better cycling experience.
A little further and around a bend a boat coming the other way shouted a warning to us even though we could not make out what they were saying. Clouds of diesel fumes also alerted us. We soon saw that there was a blockage as two workboats were manoeuvring alongside a loading wharf. They apologised and said that they would be around 20 minutes. They were picking up a load of top soil which would then be taken down to where the new towpath is being finished in order to tidy up the edges alongside the tarmac. Although the colour of the surface is currently black, once it has had a chance to set properly it will be top coated with much lighter coloured chippings. Fortunately we were not in a great hurry.
Once on the move again we soon passed under the East Lancs Road. This was constructed in the 1930s and was the country's first purpose built inter-city highway. Phase 1 opened in 1934 and runs from Liverpool to Salford. There were several innovations including the very straight route that was taken. The second phase, which would have linked to East Lancs (and justified the name) was never built. the road remained isolated From the rest of the country's growing road network although eventually have interchanges with the M57, M6 and M60.
We continued until just outside Leigh - with a still rural outlook although the houses of the town do start on the opposite bank. The reason is that tomorrow is the car shuffle day. Normally we do this on the day before we return home but public transport from here back to Uplands Marina is almost non-existent on Sundays. The planned route for tomorrow involves three buses so lets hope that tomorrow's log reports successful timekeeping! We will need to make a prompt start in the morning to move into the town centre.
7.6 Miles - 0 Locks
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