As mention in the last blog the dear old Captain was having problems scheduling our next 2 pump outs. A plan had been agreed to return the 3 locks and one swing bridge to Plank Lane were there is a CRT machine. But it was obvious that this plan did not sit well with him. As Friday was meant to be a nice day he decided we would do the run from Wigan to Scarisbrick marina, a total of 15miles, 5 locks and 3 electric swing bridges in one day (a very long way for us). This meant passing through Burscough, a small town that I wanted to stop at, as there is a large Tesco there and I needed some shopping. He said not a problem, we would get the pump out and return to Burscough next day. So this is what we did.
It also meant I could dispose of our rubbish (or so I thought) as there are bins just outside the town we have used before, and if not a small bin compound at Burscough wharf. But it was not to be, the first bin, which is actually a skip was full, with rubbish bags all a round it on the ground, and even on top of the skip lid. I couldn’t add to the mess, so on to the wharf, only to find out this had been closed a few weeks earlier due, according to CRT, to misuse. This means that there is only the 1 bin location for over 80 miles from Anderton boat lift to Liverpool, and it was unusable. I have reported this to CRT via Twitter, and emailed the regional director and the CEO of CRT with the pictures that I took. It is not really good enough, and with more people taking to the water the problem will only get worse.
As we cruised through Burscough I was hailed by the Captain of NB Union Belle who reads my blog. Thank you very much sir.
We reached Scarisbrick Marina and phoned them to book our pump out for next morning, then moored up for the night.
The gentleman who did our pump out next morning was very chatty and friendly. We also bought some coal, which is a terrible thing to do at this time of the year. But hopefully, we shouldn’t need it until October, fingers crossed.
We were soon on our way back to Burscough where we squeezed in behind Union Belle. We had a chat with her Captain (who is starting his own blog) and a passing boater called Ken. The conversation soon turned to the situation with the bins. We were all in agreement that CRT are not doing enough for boaters. Union Belle’s Captain also informed us there are bins at Appley Bridge and Litherland, but these do not appear on the CRT facilities map. So how are boaters to know?
My complaint to CRT has had a number of interesting responses.
As the regional director was on holiday my complaint was handled by Liam Cooper, Boating and Customer Service Manager, who replied to all the points I raised in a very detailed email. I agreed with some of his answers, but not with others, so I fired off another email and then had a surprise phone call from him to discuss the bin situation, and other boaters concerns around the facilities in the area. It turned out he is a boater, which didn’t come across very clearly in some of the answers in his email. He is based at Red Bull, which we will pass on our way back to Coventry, so I hope to say hi to him there in person.
Ken turned out to be a member of the National Association of Boat Owners and tried to recruit me. I am thinking about it.
Helen Hutt a Boaters Rep on the CRT council has taken up the baton about the bins also.
And finally, I got a mention on Peter Underwoods ‘News from the Water’ podcast, fame at last.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/26001922752/user/1272544109
At least I seem to have made a small difference, making life better for boaters.
In the midst of all this we found a lovely little bar at Burscough Wharf called The Thirsty Duck. They had a Rum porter on for the Captain, and I was very happy with Freedom 4 lager. We also tried a packet of Black Pudding and Mustard crisp from Fiddlers, interesting.
We continued our journey towards Liverpool, next stop was the Ship Inn at Haskyne, but not before passing NB Huffler, whose Captain recommended an all you can eat Asian buffet in the St John’s area of Liverpool, we will definitely be looking into his recommendation. At the Ship Inn no darks as usual, but the Captain took a liking to Manchester Craft lager by J W Lees. I will convert him back to lager eventually.
Along this stretch of canal there are quite a few swing bridges, and I was very pleased as some of them had been converted to all electric operation since the last time we were here, so all I do is put the key in and push the button. Even the ones were some manual input is required (pushing the bridge open) seemed easier than before.
As we cruised I spotted a sweet little water vole climbing out of the water and disappearing into the bank side, and a heron caught a fish as we passed by. The Captain even spotted a kingfisher, but I missed it.😟
The night before we were due to go down the Stanley flight into Liverpool, the Captain received a phone call from Sid the CRT employee who organises the passage on the locks, asking if we wanted to go down earlier, around 10am, as opposed to the normal time of 1pm, this been due to youths jumping in locks and making a general nuisance of themselves. Of course we jumped at the chance. We were joined by Sam and Mark on NB Scallywag and Frank on NB Hector.
We stayed the night at Litherland, the bins there weren’t in great shape either, but as we moored up a skip turned up and a guy from CRT started clearing the mess, and he made a very good job of it too.
An early start next morning, and we set off in convoy with us leading the way. At the first lock I was pleased to see a plethora of volunteer lockies, and of course the all important Sid. These are double locks, so we paired up with Scallywag and I jumped off to help out. We were soon down the 4 locks and we led the way having done the trip before, and although Sam is a true Scouser it was all new to her.
The trip to our moorings in Salthouse dock is amazing, as you see Liverpool and its docks in a completely unique way.
Our time in Liverpool is for next time folks.
If everyone told CRT what they found then maybe they will get the message.
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