Today's Canal - Leeds and Liverpool
We had a target for today to get as far as Burscough Junction, leaving us just the Rufford Arm for tomorrow. However, the morning was allocated to a couple of Zoom sessions, one for Christine in connection with work around dementia and the other for us both with a friend in Wadebridge.
The first call went well - we had checked out that the mobile signal was sufficient before we moored last night. However the second proved a bit less satisfactory - we never worked out what the problem was - and most of the call was just phone but eventually we did get the Zoom session up and running, It then worked rather well.
We eventually cast off just after midday. There were two locks on our schedule for today, the first called Dean Lock. Just before we passed under this railway bridge - no trains running today. This image however is misleading.
From the vantage point of the lock itself you can see how the mighty M6 towers over both the canal and the railway as it crosses the Douglas Valley.
There is more water below the lock than might be expected. Firstly, when the canal was originally built, boats would come up the River Douglas and join the canal via a lock just below this view.
Secondly, the present lock replaced an earlier one whose remains can still be seen alongside. Both locks are now part of a listed structure so, presumably, the old one will not be demolished. It at least has to be maintained so tha tit does not let water out of the upper pound.
We passed through the swing bridge just before the village of Appeley Bridge. It is now always with some relief after the unfortunate experience with the (new) bridge landing during our first expedition with Alchemy. The broken structure that caused the damage has since been repaired but we still avoided using it!
Our other lock, about two miles downstream from the first, is called Appeley Lock. Again, this is a newer lock that replaced two previously. Hence it is unusually deep with heavy gates. Even though they were replaced last year, Mike found one of the bottom gates exceptionally hard to close - it opened willingly.
Below the lock we were rather relieved to find that we could moor up for lunch. Somewhat later than usual, we set off once more for the final part of today's cruise.
As we came into Parbold there is a sharp bend with this arm providing mooring for just a single boat. Originally, just beyond was a graving dock where boats could come in for maintenance to their hull.
Parbold Windmill dates back to 1794, replacing an earlier one. Since it became redundant as a flour mill in the 1850s since when it has had various uses and now is a picture gallery. See here for more about the windmill's history.
A surprisingly thriving clump of arum lilies, not often seen in the canal itself.
Our final swing bridge of the day has recently been mechanised. However, two boats were just coming through and the lady operating the controls waved us through. A bonus for us but not for the few vehicles waiting for their road to re-open.
We moored just after the Ring O'Bells Bridge. The sloping sides to the towpath on this part of the canal meant that we had a defensive moat for night!
7.1 Miles - 2 Locks
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