Busy Bank holiday

In need of the facilities at Burscough we left Gathurst yesterday and it was slow progress indeed. Lots of boats on the move plus a cruiser with a broken gearbox meant that it took us 4 hrs to get down to Lathom, just a short hop from Burscough. Still, it was a beautiful day and we were in no hurry.

Leaving Dean Lock

I wanted to run the engine for 4 hrs anyway because we had an afternoon session in Wigan on Saturday and didn't run the engine at all. We just had a normal few drinks and a bite to eat

But others had a different agenda

We met up with a few people we had met previously, some last year and another couple from before we had our boat. A lot of boats are heading to Liverpool to see the tall ships on Friday but we are tied up nicely here and might only move on tomorrow. It's a hard life!

Freshly provisioned!

We just had a visit from the Tesco man and are fully stocked up again so, before getting some jobs done, I thought I'd bring things up to date.

We've been here at Gathurst since Monday night and it's a brilliant spot, good pubs and walks and a train station on our doorstep. We will be using the train to nip home tomorrow (we have another viewer for our house) then moving on on Sunday or Monday.
I didn't bother writing about our trip back to Worsley again as its nothing new. However, I thought I would share this trip because I can include some photos of Crooke village.

We love this sleepy little place! It's just a relaxing, picturesque spot, never too busy but with a proper, award winning pub. Also, they're a few good walks to be had and we are averaging 20 miles per week now (no, I haven't lost any weight!). Our last walk was through Dean Wood and it's yet another great spot for an easy stroll in stunning woodland.

There are so many places to explore every time we tie up! Before coming here we stopped near Dover Lock and discovered the 3 sections of Viridor Wood in the Bryn/Bamfurlong area. By just doing a little investigating we are finding out so much about our local area that we didn't know. Why go travelling miles away when there's so much here to be enjoyed?
Well it's time to wash the boat now so deep heat rub and paracetamol stat for my poorly back. I've found out that walking 20 miles a week is poor preparation for running up and down the towpath teaching Logan how to ride his bike!

We made the most of it.

Well if that turns out to have been Summer at least we enjoyed it! We set off on Sunday for an evening cruise towards Astley Green to enjoy the last of the sunshine and get set for a glorious Monday. Having use of our car, we stocked up on all the heavy shopping (water, beer, wine!) before getting under way.

Cheers!

We are usually tied up at this time of day so moving slowly down the canal as the sun was setting was quite a pleasure, knowing that we had a good day weather wise to look forward to.

We pressed on past Astley Green and came upon a lovely spot we hadn't used before on the opposite bank to the towpath about a quarter mile or more from The Moorings pub. This side of the canal has lots of pathways to explore and we put our pins in at a small open area perfect for camping. In fact, for a couple of years previously we have seen people here in motor homes.

When we got up on Monday we set up for an afternoon barbecue with the strong winds necessitating the use of our cheapo windbreak!

Before eating (and drinking!) we checked some of these unknown footpaths with the derelict Astley Green pit head gear always there to remind us of bygone times

I always feel a little less guilty about partying when we've put a couple of miles in! To make sure we had nothing to be ashamed of we went for another walk in the evening before packing everything away to avoid the forecasted rain during the night, then this morning headed for Worsley to avoid this afternoon's rain, which didn't quite work out as we got chatting to another couple before properly tying up. Still, "it's only water Grandad", as Logan once told me!

A quick catch up

Not much to report since last time but I like to keep up to date. I often look back at the blog just to remind myself what we've been up to!
We need to use Elsan services every nine days or so and would usually head along the Bridgewater to do so if we are staying at Plank Lane. This time, however, we decided to use the facilities in Wigan, stay there for a couple of days, and hit the town (well, as far as us two oldies can hit anything!).
The trip down was a very wet affair

Got the shorts on though!

But things dried up later as the rain turned to hail the size of bullets

Still, we got our jobs done and next day (Friday) we scrubbed up, went to Franco's Restaurant (please try it, you won't be disappointed) and painted the town red (OK, a kind of pale pink then). Tell you what, you ask for a pint in Wigan and prepare to be amazed!

I borrowed this just for the photo!

Returning on Saturday we shared the two locks with a couple who had been holiday cruising for 36 years and we're heading down to Oxford. I reckon they'll get there rather quickly too as they deemed the next safe moorings were in Astley then nothing until Dunham Massey. When we told them we were stopping at Dover Lock then Plank Lane next day they looked at us like we were crazy. Well, nowhere is 100% safe but in my opinion if you think there's danger lurking at every mooring you will miss out on a lot. As I write this we are in Boothstown for diesel in a perfect spot that the other couple wouldn't look twice at. Still, that's more good moorings for us I suppose.
So, back to Saturday and at Dover Lock we had three visitors but only two of them left at the end of the day. We walked for over two miles (my legs are short enough, imagine how Wilson gets on!) and after a drink and some goodbyes I put our visitor to work washing dishes

Suitably worn out, he settled down to a spot of television before hitting the hay, and that was another day over!