LIVELY LIVERPOOL

 

The Captain, Norman and me

Our journey into Liverpool took up most of the last blog and I missed a few bits out. We had a couple of maintenance problem on the way to Litherland. The first was the engine started to over rev, and the Captain wasn’t happy as it was putting extra strain on the drive plate and gear box. We pulled over and he attempted a quick fix, but it wasn’t to be so we limped on a little further. When we had moored up for the night, and the engine had cooled down, he was able to find and fix the problem. Our other issue was our automatic bilge pump started running continuously and the Captain had to switch it off. He concluded that the sensor that controls it must have been blocked by the grease and oil in the bilge water. This made it think there was water in the bilge, hence it needed to run. The seals on the stern gland also needed changing, and this was causing water to drip into the bilge as well. Once we were moored in Liverpool the Captain changed the seals and sorted out the pump, ordering a new one to be picked up in Wigan. He is definitely a handy man to have about.

Not so a boater we met, I could see what I hoped wasn’t smoke, coming from a moored boat with no one in sight. Then a guy popped out of the boat, thank goodness. The smoke turned out to be steam, the engine had overheated, we asked if there was anything we could do, but he assured us he would be fine and thanked us for our concern.

The bird life has been quite interesting on this trip, and I know I haven’t really been keeping you up to date on what we have spotted. The most unusual for me were Oyster Catchers in the fields as we cruised by, we normally see these birds on the side of rivers and round lakes, with their bright red beaks and legs making them stand out from the crowd. Reed buntings have been plentiful, and I spotted a lovely reed warbler singing his lyrical song as I walked by. We have also seen a couple of kingfishers darting down the canal, their bright blue bums glinting in the sunlight. A strange looking Muscovy duck caught our eye amongst the more run of the mill Mallards and Canada geese. And the odd Lapwing here and there. Also one of my favourite birds, a sleek snowy white Tern.

Muscovy Duck

Right back to our adventures in Liverpool, our friend Norman who lives in Liverpool came to visit the first afternoon we were there, and it got messy. But before we set off on our pub crawl with him I caught up with Liz and Finley, her lovely dog off NB Adaigo. We had met on the Weaver when I asked if she wanted to come for a pint with us, but her friends were already in the pub so it was not to be. We chatted for a bit and I invited her to join us, but once again she had already made plans, maybe one day.

So off we went with Norman starting in the Baltic Fleet, a very good real ale pub near the docks. It was then on to the Post Office, a rowdy rough locals pub, and finally the Cornmarket, a great place with Theakstons Mild on for the Captain. As I said it did get messy.

Next day and a quiet start before we headed off to meet the Captains daughter Hannah her husband Simon, and kids Stanley (6) and Olive (8mth) for a meal at Mowglis, which was lovely.

https://www.mowglistreetfood.com/menus/liverpool-water-street/food/

We finished the afternoon in the Cornmarket before they headed off home to watch the footy, and we headed back to the boat to do the same. We played well but lost, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

It was an early start to leave Liverpool next day, the infamous Sid was at our boat before 8am seeing if were ready to set off with the 4 other boats leaving that morning. We paired up with a single hander on NB Peace at Last for the journey, and with the help of Sid and the volunteer lockees we had a quick uneventful trip. Sadly we did find out that Sid is retiring at the end of the summer, a true canal character, he will be missed.

Our return journey to Wigan was a lot faster than our trip in, as the Captain wanted to be back in Wigan (or at least near a railway station), for Thursday to go to his friends funeral in Manchester, so it meant a few long days for us.

We did stop at Parbold for the night and tried the 2 pubs there, The Windmill and the Stock Tavern, there were no darks on for the Captain so he made do with Tetleys, the beer was better in the Windmill, but neither pub really inspired us. They both do food but I can’t comment on it as I didn’t see any come out.

Wigan Pier

Just before the last lock of 5 locks for the day, I started chatting to a lady on NB Time for Wine from Doncaster, she was moored on the pontoons in Wigan with another boat, NB Professor Pat Pending, but wasn’t happy with the area. She asked me how far until what I thought would be safer moorings, and unfortunately I had to tell her Crooke, which was 2 locks and a couple of hours cruising. As she had done the Wigan flight already that day, she wasn’t impressed with the thought of more locks. I had to leave her with her dilemma of did she stay or go, as the Captain was waiting for me to do our last lock of the day.

We moored up and headed for Wigan Central for a well earned pint.

I had a quiet day when the Captain went to the funeral, I didn’t know his friend so decided to stay with the boat. He went with Neil, and then they both came back to the boat for a late tea.

Neil and his daughter Rosemary offered to come and help us do the 21 locks of the Wigan flight, which will be great.

We had a couple of days to kill in Wigan, so I decided to be brave and go and get weighed at the local Slimming World meeting, I was sure I would have gained, but lo and behold I lost ½lb. As long as I am not putting it on I’m a happy bunny.

Eddie, the Captains old boss had arranged to visit us, but had to cancel at the last minute due to grandad duties, and his visit was rescheduled for the next day. Unfortunately he was unwell so didn't make it, we will have to catch up another time.

The Wigan flight is notorious, and many boaters have found the experience a nightmare, us included. Our first visit in 2015 was blighted by low water and horrible things round the prop which took over an hour to remove, it took us about 8hrs (you can do it in 4 if everything goes to plan). With this in mind, I posted on the Wigan Flight crew page on Facebook to see if any other boats were heading up on Sunday, this handy page gives out helpful information and tips about the flight, and boaters use to to find out if any other boats are heading their way. It appeared we would be joined by at least 2 other boats, so fingers crossed another will turn up on the day so we can all pair up.

36 miles, 11 locks, 14 bridges, 3 tunnel and 1 canal.