Up the hill at Wigan

 Prior to going up the hill at Wigan we pootled along the lower section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and took the opportunity to see our friends at the Slipway pub, Burscough for knit & natter and the spinning group at The Cricketer’s, Ormskirk. To tell the truth, we were actually waiting for Edmund to come up to help us up the 21 locks on Wigan flight.

We met Edmund at Appley Bridge, a super mooring near the disused 2 locks, overlooking the local railway line and the River Douglas valley.

We had a super sunset towards the new deep lock and a photo of us in the said lock.

The ‘Hippy Boat’ was trading at Appley Bridge and I got a new frock to wear to Ada & Dale’s party.

We got water in the shadow of the M6, a tricky water point right on the lock landing. We ended up with a queue of 2 boats waiting for water behind us.

Wigan Flight has a Facebook page where you can post, to see if anyone wants to share the journey with you. We teamed up with Jan & Colin on nb Polako to go up. It was an overcast day, perfect for such a journey.

Some of the locks are pretty tough to use, so it was great to have Ed to help.

We all had a chuckle at the graffiti on lock 78!! Plus, there is a new mural on one of the buildings.

After doing the flight, it’s nice to relax at the top overlooking the valley. However, the next day was a teacher strike & we were looking after our two little lads for Heather, so we carried on to Chorley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heather dropped Magnus & Lance bright & early when she walked the dog before work. The boys took uncle Ed litter picking. We had plenty of time for snacks while the water tank filled.

We cruised past Malthouse Farm with its Premier Inn. Lots of friends & family were staying there the following weekend for Ada & Dale’s party.

Ada & Dale’s pre-baby party was above a new little pub, ‘Nelly Potts’ in Chorley. It was a wonderful afternoon being with family and seeing all their friends we’ve not seen for ages.

 

Quite a few of us met for breakfast at The Sir Henry Tate the following morning.

I watched the coronation on the laptop & spun 100g wool. 

 

The forecast was very good for the day after the coronation, so we had a breathtaking stroll up onto the West Lancashire Moors, a route we’ve done many times. The 3 reservoirs Anglezarke and Upper & Lower Rivington were all very low.

Bank holiday Monday was very different, with torrential rain. The towpath beside us was flooded and a street drain was blasting water into the canal.

Lance got a lift back from an inter-school golf tournament, but not before getting ice cream at ‘Frederick’s, as a starter before a tea time cruise.

We had a few spots of rain and a beautiful rainbow to accompany us. We dropped Lance off at the bridge near them, where Heather met us. We weren’t able to stop as we’d already had our allotted 2 weeks moored there.

So we carried on, to have a lovely evening cruise and moored below Johnson’s Hillock Locks overlooking some super houses.