From the Cheshire plains to the Caribbean

If I was to get to the Timmy Tree do on Thursday, the I had to get up the Wigan flight, The Johnson Flight, and the Blackburn flight.
I rang CRT, and they said if I could be at the bottom of the Wigan flight 8:30 Tuesday, then I would have assisted passage, sharing the locks with nbCopperDragon.  This required a plan.

I drove the car to Wigan, and abandoned parked it at Wigan Pier.  Then I got the train to Warrington (20 mins), then the bus to Lymm (ages, and ages).  I finally got to Lymm and set off at 10:50.

I arrived at Stretford Marina by two, and filled with diesel.  I set off up towards Leigh, passing Worsley.

I arrived at Plank lane bridge at 17:40, but I couldn't open the bridge until 18:00, so time for a cuppa!

This has got to be the slowest lift bridge in existence! It took a full ten minutes to lift, then a further ten minutes to drop again after I had gone under.

I arrived at Poolstock bottom lock at 19:30, and passed nbCopperDragon.  Up two locks and I was at Wigan Junction at 20:00.  I turned right to go down Henhurst Lock.  This is a terrible lock when you are by yourself.  It is leaking so badly that you need to open all the paddles to fill it up.  This means opening one, then going up onto the main road, over the bridge and back down the towpath to the other side to open that paddle.  Once full and the boat was in, you had to repeat the running around to shut the top paddles, and open the bottom ones.  By the time I had got through the lock, I moored on the right at 21:20 in the dark.  An hour and a half to do one lock!

However I had managed 28 miles in one day, and I was ready for the Wigan flight, so it was time for a couple of pints in Wigan Central.

At 8 in the morning, I turned around and went up through Henhurst lock.  The volunteers ware already there, and I joined nb Copper Dragon.

Some of the pounds were very low, and some were overflowing with the backwash from two boats coming down.

At the top, I filled up with water, but snapped the chain on the water filler lid, and lost it in the cut. Bugger!

A steady cruise and I arrived at Botany Bay at half five.

Wednesday morning, I called into the bakers in Botany Bay for a fresh loaf of bread, a slice of still warm bread and butter, then set off for Blackburn.

When I got to the bottom lock of the Johnson flight, all of the paddles had been left slightly open.  I closed the top paddles, and went up the lock.  By the time I got to lock 62, the water level was so low that there was only 18" clearance on the cill.  I had to go up a flight and let water down so I could clear the cill.

It took me 2 1/2 hours to reach the top lock.  Pretty good going.

I had to stop at Feniscowles to untangle several bin bags from the prop, and reached the Blackburn bottom lock at six, where Rob was waiting to do the locks for me.  I arrived at Eanam by seven and then got the train back to Wigan to collect the car.

A lovely trout was waiting for me when I got back to the Calypso Restaurant!