Another Car Shuffle

Today's Canal Bridgewater, Leeds and Liverpool

Today was planned for car shuffle as tomorrow is Sunday (we go home on Monday) and there are very few buses on Sunday, whilst excellent services on other days.

We were off in good time from our overnight mooring so that we could find a mooring closer to the centre of Leigh. We were rather fortunate (as this is a popular stop over) that the spot nearest to Leigh Bridge was empty. This is why the Leeds and Liverpool is included in Today's Canals - even though we have only done about 25 m!

Luck then ran out: as Mike brought the boat alongside the towpath the engine suddenly cut out. It could not have been Christine as the ignition warning was sounding. We quickly established that there must be something quite substantial around the prop as it stalled the engine when we again tried to start up. We had made good time up to here so it was just possible for Mike to take a look down the weed hatch. Weed it was not! A large amount of mesh-like stuffing with what looked like the outer cover of a piece of upholstery. Yuk! Piece by piece it was pulled free with the help of our trusty patio weeder! In the end it took several plastic bags to contain it but there is no immediate place to dispose of it safely.

Somewhat overheated, Mike was able to wash, change and collect what he needed for the journey back to Uplands Marina - and still catch the first bus!

The departure point was not far from Leigh Bridge at the bus station in town. The first bus arrived on time and efficiently transported Mike to Newton-le-Willows Railway Station and bus interchange - newly refurbished and extended it would seem.

Whilst waiting for the Number 22, as on the schedule, another bus labelled Warrington Interchange arrived and, after checking that it did not take longer, Mike hopped aboard. This would give just a little longer in Warrington to locate the third bus.

This too set off on time and in under two hours altogether, Mike was walking from the stop next to the canal at Anderton and picking up the car.

Of course, the even better factor was that all of this was done with a bus pass so no money changed hands when boarding each bus. Makes the £2.10 for a mug of latte at Warrington look rather indulgent!

The car ride back to Leigh was even swifter, around 40 minutes via a couple of motorways and country routes at either end.

Meanwhile, Christine was slaving away on the boat with a Dyson, mop and cleaning materials. The last few days have seen us moored alongside very recently mown towpath verges. The cut grass is left and is rather easily carried by feet onto the boat - not very easy to avoid. Hence the boat was dirtier than usual.

After lunch we walked into town - there are one or two places we recall from previous visits including a local butcher with pork pies and the indoor market. We still had to visit Tesco for milk and other remaining items.

The latter part of the afternoon saw us pack away all the paint tins and equipment that had been occupying the front cabin for most of this trip. At least the outside looks a little less worn but the rust for the next session is already growing!

1.6 Miles - 0 Locks