It was decided that it would be very helpful if we could “bank” our day ahead and turn it into an earlier arrival at Salthouse Dock. Canal & River Trust was contacted and by chance our booked pontoon was being vacated on the 25th, so for payment of the additional daily charge all sorted. Given that we want to spend a night at Litherland (hoping moorings are available) for in depth shopping and pumpout it was necessary to arrive at Bridge 9 tonight for transit tomorrow. In the event, it only took us 40 minutes 
more than our daily planned cruising time of 6 hours. We have entered swingbridge territory so not long after leaving Parbold we encountered our first. It has obviously been upgraded since our last visit. It look a little bit of hunting to find the operating pedestal as it is just a tiny flat plate with a keyhole and two buttons set at and angle on top of a thin black steel post. If approaching from behind, because of the angle, the flat plate is invisible. The next had a much larger stainless cabinet, again towpath side and easy to spot from the canal approach. The same pattern followed, easy to spot. Bridge 16 however got me big time. There was the familiar stainless cabinet with the keyhole and two buttons. Key in, press “Open” and keep pressed. Lights flashed, noises, barriers down, bridge seen to lift off the wedges - then nothing. I waited, finger on button, nothing. I recycled the bridge. Barriers up. Started again- nothing. Then I saw the little LED lit in the centre which was labelled “bridge released” and under it “Push gently to open bridge”. I felt such an idiot and nobody said a dickybird watching all this! Bridge 12 was under repair but no delay as it was worked by the workmen. But from then on the canal has become very weedy as the photos show, so progress was very slow. Fortunately there was a bit of clear bank to tie up to and there is a row of bollards on approach to the bridge 9.
The Canal and River Trust website really tries to extol the virtues of the canals for everybody, not just boaters, but there is a boating section. If you drill down you will find a paragraph about rubbish disposal in which it states there are hundreds of sites available around the system for rubbish disposal and recycling. Leaving Leigh we wanted to dispose of some and the first site we came to was not at Wigan (sort of expected) but at Moss Bridge. This photo is it. It is hidden in a depression in the ground behind some bushes, so mostly invisible from the canal. The next opportunity is at Litherland. So that’s just 2 sites out of the hundreds described. 
Comments