So much for hunkering down

We are in Gathurst! Having checked the weather this morning we saw no bad weather was due until around 4pm so getting to Gathurst would be no problem (or so we thought). Also, we were obviously moored outside of a heavy engineering facility of some kind last night. I don't know what they make but it involves a hammering process that actually made the boat tremble. Thankfully they didn't run a night shift!

So we had two good reasons to move on and off we went, leaving a very deserted Wigan behind us

Not quite like the summer months!

Elaine walked down the towpath to set the first lock and I immediately had a problem following her. Such was the accumulation of leaves and debris behind the boat I could barely get it to move at all. A bit of forward and reverse enabled me to limp into the first lock to find Elaine fired up because all of the anti vandal locks to the paddles and sluices had been left unlocked. And this in an area that is frequently drained by vandals even when the locking devices are used!

I struggled to get the boat to the side to get Elaine back on board after the lock so it was obvious that I still had a problem. After crawling past Wigan pier and under Seven Stars bridge I had to stop. Time to strip down to the t shirt and get armpit deep in the weed hatch 😡

The culprit turned out to be a heavy plastic bag like our coal comes in and ,once removed, Lottie was back to gliding down the canal again. Pagefield Lock next (Behind the DW Stadium) and, again, everything was left unlocked. At the next lock, Ell Meadow, the gates had actually been left wide open.

Straight in!

These gates tend to always swing shut and are held open by metal props that stick into the ground. Clearly the lazy so and so who came up the locks couldn't be bothered to close them - and presumably couldn't read the sign saying vandalism was so rife around here that these locks are padlocked closed every night. Selfish git!

After this lock the canal adopts a distinctly rural tone and, even though it's cold just standing on the stern, we revelled in the quiet, calm stillness. With the trees losing more and more foliage by the day we get to peek a little into the undergrowth.

Sorry it's a little blurred!

Also, with us again being the only boat on the move its beginning to feel like our personal canal. No one rushing up behind us or hurtling towards us round the tight bends, no pesky insects or boats zooming past our mooring. We are loving it!

Having tied up at Gathurst and fixed the fire (some idiot (me) didn't put the throat plate back correctly when they last swept the chimney and it has fallen into the coal) we walked the 3/4 mile up the valley to the shops to stock up for a couple of days. I think we might stay put here for a while and perhaps catch the train to Manchester for the Christmas markets - bratwurst and beer beckon!