The dogs were a little earlier
today, just after seven, but we had our usual leisurely start and did not get
under way until after ten. The first task was the bridge beside which we had
moored and then we headed north towards the end of the branch. At the next
bridge, which also had the remains of an old lock, the nature of the canal
changed. Apparently from this point on it follows the old course of the River
Douglas – though the river itself still runs in its in its new course just to
the east. The canal looks just like a river here, winding about between rushy
banks, with no towpath at all.
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Our mooring beside swing bridge 9 |
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The canal near Tarleton looking more like a river. |
After a couple of miles of this we came into Tarleton, the end of the line. We moored just short of a boatyard there, and walked with the dogs down to the end where a major lock gives access to the tidal Douglas, and thence to the Ribble. The engineering is on a much larger scale than the inland waterways locks we are used to, and it should be a dramatic trip when we finally make the crossing to the Lancaster Canal. Several of the craft moored around the end of the canal are clearly seagoing craft, yachts and small old-fashioned motor boats.
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The final swing bridge just outside Tarleton. |
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Tarleton Lock, down into the tidal River Douglas and then to the Ribble. |
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Sheep watching us turn at Tarleton. |
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Some odd - and very tame - geese we encountered at a swing bridge |
Our original plan was to go down
the main line towards Liverpool for a bit, before turning for home, but as we
worked our way up the Rufford locks it became clear that we would be struggling
to get on to the main line at all, before dark. As we found yesterday the locks
are very heavy, and all the padlocks and handcuff locks mean that you can waste
ten minutes easily just opening and closing these security devices at each lock.
We were also held up a bit when a man came to ask us if he could borrow our boathook to fish out a spaniel which had got into a sluice channel which runs around
the lock, and couldn’t get out. He was just a passer-by himself, helping the
two women who owned the spaniel. I went to look, and the dog was not in danger
of drowning – the water was only about two feet deep, but it was down a steep
overgrown bank, maybe ten feet high. And it did not want to be rescued – it kept
dodging away from attempts to hook its collar. We tried offering it treats, and
we were contemplating sending our Labradors down to show it how to get in and
out, when it was finally hooked and dragged out, very muddy but otherwise
unharmed and looking pleased with itself.
Yesterday we had help from
C&RT volunteers at the three top locks, but by the time we arrived today
they had gone home. The top lock itself has only one working sluice on the bottom gates, which Loulie was unable to work, so I had to get off to turn it. When Loulie was re-locking the handcuff on one of the upper sluices she dropped the handcuff key into the canal. We have a spare, but I decided to try out my fishing magnet, which I bought for just such an occasion. Rather to my surprise I lowered it into about four feet of water, and when I pulled it up, there was our key, nicely attached.
It was after 6pm when we worked our way out of the top
lock, and we decided that we didn’t even have time to go to the shops. So we
turned east on the main line, and in the gathering dusk started looking for somewhere
to stop. This stretch of canal has inclined banks, not vertical, so there is an
awkward shelf almost everywhere. After trying a couple of spots, and going
through two more swing bridges, we finally had to settle for a mooring on a
bend – not bad in most respects, except that we are three feet out from the
bank. For the first time we have used the blue plank that we carry on the roof
as a gangplank for humans – the dogs of course have their own which we use at
every mooring. But the gap is too wide for us to jump reliably, especially in
the dark, and Loulie is reluctant to reprise her triumphant dive into the
Shropshire Union.
Late update - I spoke too soon. I took the dogs out for their final tiddles, with the three Labradors on leads so they can't run off - and all wearing their illuminated collars as well, in case they get loose. Ruby was not leaded up, she won't go far. So I walked up and down, and got them to do their business, and then persuaded them to walk back along the gangplank onto the boat - tricky because they have differing levels of confidence. Anyway I got all three down the stairs then turned to deal with Ruby. She had paused on the bank, between the two gangplanks, and then suddenly to my horror she gathered herself and jumped for the boat - falling short by a long margin. I reached forward and grabbed her collar as she went under, and dragged her up and eventually onto the boat, though she was wriggling and tangled in weed. At first she seemed reluctant to stand up and I thought she was seriously hurt, but in a minute or two she recovered, and indeed started to charge around the boat madly, wiping her ears on the blankets and clearly no worse for her third lifetime fall in the canal.
Late update - I spoke too soon. I took the dogs out for their final tiddles, with the three Labradors on leads so they can't run off - and all wearing their illuminated collars as well, in case they get loose. Ruby was not leaded up, she won't go far. So I walked up and down, and got them to do their business, and then persuaded them to walk back along the gangplank onto the boat - tricky because they have differing levels of confidence. Anyway I got all three down the stairs then turned to deal with Ruby. She had paused on the bank, between the two gangplanks, and then suddenly to my horror she gathered herself and jumped for the boat - falling short by a long margin. I reached forward and grabbed her collar as she went under, and dragged her up and eventually onto the boat, though she was wriggling and tangled in weed. At first she seemed reluctant to stand up and I thought she was seriously hurt, but in a minute or two she recovered, and indeed started to charge around the boat madly, wiping her ears on the blankets and clearly no worse for her third lifetime fall in the canal.
Today: 7 hours. 10.1 miles. 7 locks. 9 bridges.
Voyage: 31.5 hours.
63.9 miles. 22 locks. 16 bridges.
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