Before we report on today, there are a couple of photos from our shopping expedition in Burscough yesterday.
Firstly, this post box - it seems that there is a bit of a fashion at the moment to decorate red pillar boxes with knitted hats. This one is more ornate than some and looks fit for a day out at the races.
Close by is this former red telephone box - now re-purposed as a weatherproof home for a defibrillator.
This morning we had a slower start as we were going to the morning service at the small church in Appley Bridge. It was built on 1980's and is pretty much on the top edge of the village. Hence quite a step climb but we left time to do it at an amble and then to recover our breath at the top! More info can be found from the blog when we came here before in 2019. It felt as though it should have been longer ago but so much has happened in the intervening time. We had as warm a welcome as before - the first person to speak to us had recently been on a hire boat holiday to Llangollen.
By the time we returned to the boat is was past midday so we stayed put for lunch and set off afterwards.
Soon after we came to another swing bridge. Unlike those yesterday, this one is manually operated as it is only a footbridge, not one carrying vehicles. It is, however, very easy to open although the handle in the locking mechanism is rather heavy to raise.
Fortunately we did not have to open either of the next two swing bridges! The first, however, gave us an issue back in 2013 - see here.
Soon the high motorway bridge started to appear over the trees and then we could see the former, now abandoned, lock before the current Dean Lock. This was not at all easy to work - it first needed emptying but then neither of the bottom gates was at all keen on opening. The first that Mike tried did not open wide enough for our boat and the second was no easier. The top gate was only marginally easier to open and shut!
This is the view of the old lock from above.
We moored at Crooke, in much the same spot as on the way to Liverpool back in
2.4 Miles - 1 Lock
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