The day was generally bright and sunny with a fresh breeze - excellent cruising weather. By the time we were looking for an overnight mooring some darker clouds came overhead by sunshine returned once we were tied up.
The first move was just to cross the canal to the service block that was almost directly on the opposite bank. Once we had done the usual 'full service' we moved a boat length onto a 1 day mooring which was handily empty. We had heard that the small village Costcutter was well stocked and indeed it was. Our main aim was to pick up milk so that we did not have to carry it far if we stopped on Garstang where the shops are somewhat further from a mooring. We took a few more items 'just in case' we did not reach a supermarket today.
We then set off properly. Not long before we crossed John Rennie's Brock Aqueduct. Today, perhaps many boaters crossing over will barely recognise it, but for the plaque. However, in 1797 this was a remarkable undertaking for engineering knowledge of the time.
For some distance the M6 and the West Coast Main Line follow closely the route surveyed for the canal, and here they are about the closest. The A6 is nearby as well.
This image looks as if it came from a sci-fi movie - space invaders have landed! It is actually a highways depot. In the past we have seen that places like this store salt and grit for wintry conditions. Why it is located here is not obvious as it is some distance from a motorway junction, even though the M6 is only a few metres away and the A6 is a couple of miles down country lanes.
At the Calder Aqueduct, some maintenance work seems to be underway but we could not see exactly what. (Well, we all need a break at times!)
We did encounter a couple of wide beam boats - there seem to be many more than when we came here first in 2013, but that is a debate best left to social media!
Nearing Garstang we spotted Greenhalgh Castle on the skyline. We might have stopped to take a close look but before we set off on this trip we discovered that there is no public access.The castle was originally built in 1490 by the Early of Derby to protect his properties nearby but was largely demolished in the Civil War to prevent it from being used for military purposes. Subsequently it is said that many of the stones found there way in numerous local properties!
We moored in Garstang very close to the bridge that is the nearest route to the shops, opposite the basin that contains Th'Owd Tithe Barn pub and restaurant, bating back to the 16C.
The town was at its most prosperous soon after the canal arrived. Alas, the railway ignored the town and it went into decline, further exacerbated by the A6. As a result the main street is narrow with many old buildings still remaining, even if re-purposed, such as the former Temperance Hotel.
We found one or two items in the small shops, including an excellent small pork pie from a butcher, but most had to come from Sainsbury. we returned to the boat, stowed away and had a well deserved late lunch.
It was almost three o'clock by the time we set off, soon passing under the unmissable Fylde Water Board pipe bridge from 1927. The pipe itself is carried in the trough formed by the two parapets of the bridge, which is generally not accessible.
North of Garstang we found long stretches of online moorings, about 80% small cruisers, some of which were also wide beam. We still felt the need to pass them slowly but did not consider that they merited a photo! Nor did we capture a large mobile home park - here the vans were very close together, unlike one we saw earlier that was part of the marina development.
Mooring became an issue. Most of the places that were marked on our maps were taken but did seem good choices for location. (That's why they were taken!) We had or mind on a couple of possibilities just after bridge 78 and indeed they were no boats moored at all. The first would not have had a sat tv signal so we pulled in at the second. At first we thought that, like boats moored at all the previous options, we would come alongside but it was not to be and we had to accept being on a floating island for the night.
We needed the plank whilst mooring but pulled up the drawbridge as soon as possible! At least we were not an obstruction as several boats passed us later (it has been much busier here than on the previous couple pof days) including one which we think was a DIY electric day boat. It is claimed on social media by their proponents that one if the benefits of electric propulsion is so quiet and peaceful compared with noisy diesel engines. Well, if they all very loud make the high pitched whine that this boat made, cruising would need ear plugs, even for those of us who are hearing challenged!
10.28 Miles - 0 Locks
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