No fuel like an old fuel

Our plan today was to refuel in Wigan, and then press on to somewhere on the Leigh branch for the night. However when we started to search for places to buy diesel, it became clear that there was nowhere on our route, all the way onto the Bridgewater and down past Leigh. So we would not get a refill today. The gauge was on the top of the red, and we thought that we would probably not run out before we got to a diesel point on Thursday. But only probably – until we actually run out we will notknow exactly where zero is, and we have already noticed that when we fill the tank the gauge only shows ¾, so we are not wholly trusting. We would be nervous all the way to getting refilled, and we would also be reluctant to run the engine to give us power at night. Without the alternator the lights would get steadily dimmer, and the heating would cut out. So in the end we decided to go back to Burscough, a couple of miles behind us, where the map said we would find diesel.

Views of Parbold

One of the things you discover on a canal is that the direction you are pointing matter hugely. The boat is longer than the canal is wide almost everywhere, so we couldn’t just swing round and motor back to Burscough. First we had to go forward a couple of miles to Parbold, where there is a winding hole. I did try in a couple of places where the canal looked wider, but as soon as you start to swing the boat around you realise that you have no chance. After turning in Parbold we came back on our tracks, reaching our overnight spot after about an hour. We went on into Burscough (through two swing bridges) and past the end of the Rufford Branch. We passed a huge old building, a mill of some sort, which has been renovated and turned into apartments – it looked very good. In the centre of the town we came to Burscough Canal Services, a very small business which could, however, sell us diesel. They don’t have a pump, though, they would have to pour it out of plastic 20 litre containers. And could we wait while he went to buy a funnel, as he had mislaid his?

Ainscough Mill

Burscough Bridge

Burscough Canal Services

I walked to Tesco to do our shopping while we waited, and when I got back he had started filling. It took 100 litres, and we had a good chat with the man while he was doing it. He is semi-retired and works for this business, which has two working boats which go up and down the canal with diesel, Calor gas and coal to supply boaters, especially liveaboards.

After we left him we were, of course, pointing the wrong way. The first winding hole was a couple of miles away, through two more swing bridges. Loulie took the dogs off to walk down and work the bridges, then they waited while I went a bit further, turned and came back to pick them up.

Now we were heading towards Wigan, but it was several miles and more bridges before we finally arrived where we had begun this morning, about five hours earlier. We continued through Parbold, and came to the first lock of the day, a deep 12-footer at Appley Bridge. We worked through that, and then the final swing bridge. Here Loulie got off again with the dogs, and I went on ahead, eventually reaching Dean Lock, under the shadow of the M6. I worked this mostly on my own, though another boat coming down arrived as I was filling the lock, and helped with some of the final bits.

The Douglas Valley

The others arrived as we were finishing, and we went on, though not very far, just through the village of Gathurst and half a mile beyond, where we found a very nice mooring in the trees and alongside the Douglas River, another paradise for the dogs. I walked back and explored Gathurst, which I have seen hundreds of times from the M6, and I found there was a nice-looking Indian restaurant beside the bridge – it used to be the Navigation public house. We ordered a takeaway and I walked back to collect it – very nice.

Wednesday Night's Mooring

An oak on the bank opposite.

Exhausted

Today: 7 hours. 15.6 miles. 2 locks. 9 bridges.

Voyage: 38.5 hours. 79.5 miles. 24 locks. 25 bridges.

Branching Out

A few squawks from the pheasants overnight but they didn’t wake the dogs and once again we had a relative lie-in until 7:25. We made our usual leisurely start, with a walk for the dogs and then breakfast for us all, and we were under way by about 10:20. It was turning out to be a lovely day, typical for October actually, with bright sun that was almost hot, though late on the clear sky made for a cold evening.

Parbold Mill

Parbold Village

We quickly reached Parbold, a delightful village with a disused but well-preserved windmill, and a sharp bend in the canal. Here it was planned that the Leeds & Liverpool would strike out north west, cutting south of Preston and straight to Burnley. In the end it never happened, and the route loops south through Wigan and then back up to the north.

Spencers Swing Bridge, Burscough

Passing through the bridge

We had a couple of swing bridges to do before we reached Burscough, both automated, and no trouble for Loulie – the second one was very satisfying, with flashing lights, sirens and barriers dropping. We than reached a lovely arched bridge marking the entrance to the Rufford Branch.

Entrance to the Rufford Branch

The Rufford Branch takes the canal due north, to the estuary of the River Douglas, which in turn gives access to the Ribble. This route allows you to cross over to the Lancaster Canal near Preston, as that canal does not link up with any others in the network. You have to book ahead to make the crossing, which is done in a supervised convoy, and only in the weather and the tide are favourable. We are not going that way on this trip, though it is on the list.

As soon as we entered the branch we encountered the first lock, but fortunately there were also two C&RT volunteers, who helped through the first three on the way down. This was lucky, because the Rufford locks have a strange variety of mechanisms for the lock sluices, and in addition some of them are very stiff to work.After we had done those three we moored for lunch, and Loulie took the girls for a walk while I went into town for provisions (especially chocolate and wine).

After lunch we had four more locks to do, unaided, and these were tough. At one lock I had to work the sluice gear because Loulie simply could not move it. At another we thought for a time we would have to give up, as we could not work out how to unlock the C&RT padlocks, though eventually we did it. There are no instructions – you simply have to know how, or figure it out. We also came to three swing bridges, which are not powered on the Rufford. Again the toughest part for Loulie was operating the locking mechanism – swinging the bridge across was easier than moving a tough lock gate.

We had intended to go right to the end, to Tarleton Lock, which gives out to the tidal river, but we realised that we would be getting there as light was fading, and we weren’t sure we would get a good mooring. So we selected a good spot by swing bridge 9, with solid Armco on the bank – a lot of the banks on the Rufford are very weedy and overgrown – picturesque, but hard to moor against. We are near a village called Sollom, famous for racehorse training, and in the morning we will do the few miles down to Tarleton before turning back to tackle the locks again. We are moored in very flat land, getting down towards the Ribble, and quite like the Fylde to the north of the river – good rich soil with lots of drainage ditches. We had a lovely view from our window to the west, with the setting sun and the clear evening sky.

Today: 5.5 hours. 8.2 miles. 7 locks. 5 bridges.

Voyage: 24.5 hours. 53.8 miles. 15 locks. 7 bridges.