Ince Moss Shale Pit Nature Reserve

We're off cruising for the weekend................

A sudden downpour delayed our departure but it soon brightened up and we headed off towards Plank Lane where we stopped for lunch while we filled up with water.

The traffic wasn't too busy and the bridge opens fairly quickly but it could do with a bit of grease as it squeaks something awful!  

Just past the lift bridge we came across this boat with it's land-based transport attached on the stern.

I've never seen a motorbike decorated with canal art before!

My tomatoes are coming along really well and although they're quite small they taste like "proper" toms, rather than the insipid ones you get in the supermarket. Little mouthfuls of summer!

We'd planned on turning the boat around in the winding hole just past bridge 2B but this proved to be a bit problematical to say the least. The winding hole has a fallen tree in the apex plus it's very shallow and could do with dredging. It's also very shallow on the towpath side and there must have been some rocks under the water which popped the rudder out of the skeg. Luckily there weren't any boats about as it took Roger about 20 minutes to sort things out and repair the rudder.

Eventually we managed to turn the boat and reverse about a 1/4 mile to moor beside Ince Moss Shale Pit Nature Reserve.

It's a lovely spot and has given me plenty of opportunity to play with my new camera while Roger drowns a few maggots. He says the fishing's good and has already caught a few bream & perch.

The zoom is pretty amazing. This is a close up of the little island you can just see in the centre of the photo above.

Crooke

Wednesday
Surprisingly we’ve actually seen 4 moving boats today! We haven’t seen anyone for days but I expect as they were all going towards Liverpool they plan on being there for the weekend.

Roger checked and topped up the batteries this morning and then we carried on to moor at Crooke village for the night.

The towpaths along this stretch are really geared up for cyclists, even the signposts  are measured in cycling minutes rather than miles.

Crooke is a small village with a marina in the centre. We took Chico for a walk around and came across the Crooke Hall Inn. Looking in the window we noticed several hand pumps and a dart board so after taking him back to the boat we returned for a pint and a game.

The pub has just been refurbished and is really smart inside.  It’s tied to the All Gates Brewery which is one we haven’t come across before and had 8 different beers on. I had the All Black which was a really nice chocolate mild. The dart board was brand new and we had a few games, I even won one!!

Tomato harvest

After last years disaster with tomato blight, this year has seen us having a bumper crop of beautiful, sweet cherry tomatoes. This is about a quarter of the crop.

We’ve already eaten the same amount, there’s another quarter in the drawer ripening nicely and the same again still on the plants.

I decided to have a go at roasting them with garlic and herbes de provence, so after halving them and drizzling with olive oil I left them in a very low oven for 3 hours.  They can out all sweet and tasty and I’ve bottled them in more olive oil to be nibbled at over the coming few weeks. They should also be good on my home-made pizzas.

We continued our journey today, cruising back the way we came 2 weeks ago. This time it was nowhere near as windy so the many swing bridges weren’t quite the battle as before.  As we stopped for Maghull swing bridge I spotted a Morrison’s through the trees so we moored up and I did a quick dash to stock up. We’ve had a few showers this afternoon but it’s now quite sunny again and we’ve moored for the night just before Burscough.

On the move again

Yesterday we took the ferry across the Mersey to Birkenhead and went to the market. The only problem I’ve had with Liverpool is that there is a distinct lack of butchers and fish mongers but I suppose that's the same in most cities these days. There are plenty of Tesco's but I only shop there when I absolutely have to as I don’t like their meat, or the prices they charge.

looking back at Liverpool from the ferry

Birkenhead is a VERY depressed town, full of charity shops and “cheque converter” shops and the people all look downtrodden and grey, as if they never eat fruit or veg.  The food market had 4 butchers and 3 fish stalls so I took the opportunity to stock up. One fish stall was selling Fluke, which is a member of the plaice family and huge 1lb fish were £1 each. That’s what we’re having tonight. I’ll let you know what they were like tomorrow.

It was very windy and the river was rough so we decided to get the train back to Liverpool. The rail system here is brilliant. The trains are frequent, clean and cheap but the buses aren’t. One we went on was dirty, expensive, £1.90 each for a trip which took less than 5 minutes, (simply because we got lost) and the driver was really stroppy that we didn’t have the correct change.

We were due to leave Liverpool this morning and thankfully it was a lot calmer than when we arrived. We were the last in a convoy of 7 boats and were met at the first lock by the same 2 guys from B.W. who had helped us coming down.

I have to say that these 2 guys put up with a lot of stick from other boaters.  The other boats in the convoy were from one of the local boat clubs who are apparently notorious for their arrogance and rudeness; needless to say I made sure we weren’t associated with them in any way. 2 men on a plastic boat in front of us were muttering and moaning when we caught up with them at the first of the 4 locks out of Stanley Dock. They didn’t think it was right that they had to work the paddles and open the gates, that’s what the B.W. guys were there for!!! And they couldn't be bothered closing gates behind them either. Enough said.

The weather this morning was pretty bad and it rained for most of the journey.  We’re now moored up just past Bridge 10 and the sun’s come out and it’s lovely again. We're in the middle of nowhere and all we can hear is the roar of the motor bikes at Aintree Race Course. We caught a glimpse of them through the fence as we passed but unfortunately we couldn't moor up and go for a closer look as we were still part of the convoy at that stage.

Another Place

After the gales we’ve had for the past few days, the weather today has been glorious; hardly any wind with full blue sky and warm sunshine.  We decided to make the most of it and took the train to Waterloo (£3.15 each return from Central Station) then down through Crosby Coastal Park to the beach and a 3km walk along the sands following the iron statues that form “Another Place” by Anthony Gormley.

Although these statues started life by all being identical, the sun, sea and sand have weathered each one differently and they now have individual characteristics. Some are hardly touched and still smooth whereas others are more rusty and appear to have scaly skins.

the 'basic' model

Others have been “interfered with” and sport a bikini or swimming trunks

One was carrying an oar

One was wearing a charm bracelet and another was wearing a hat!

They are mounted on 3m deep pilings buried in the sand although a few can be seen standing proudly on their mounts others are being buried by the sand.

They're all facing out to see, some are 1km from the promenade.

This was definitely one of the better things we've seen whilst we've been in Liverpool, more interesting to me than a couple of the museums that's for sure.

Liverpool

We’ve had a fantastically busy weekend, with visits by both our children. Our daughter and her partner came on Thursday and gave us the wonderful news that they are getting married and I’m going to be a granny!!! Then on Saturday our son and his partner came and we had a really good time with them too.  A couple of friends also popped in for a visit.

Today it’s been just the two of us again and now that the festival is over we’ve started visiting some of the tourist destinations.

We started off by having an excellent lunch at the famous Philharmonic Dining Rooms in Hope Street. It’s supposedly one of the most lavish and ornate pubs in the country and is most noted for its marble urinals which are still original from when the pub was first built.

stained glass ceiling lights

carved mahogany, ornate plasterwork
& brass friezes everywhere

one part of the bar

After lunch we went to see the Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral which was opened in 1967. It’s a very modern design and is beautiful inside with a huge stained glass tower.

looking up inside the tower

The more imposing Anglican Cathedral was next.  It’s a huge building and cavernous inside.

traditional stained glass window

Of the two I preferred the Catholic Cathedral which is known locally as “Paddy’s Wigwam”.

On the way back we passed the street sculpture known as “A Case History”.  It looks like a pile of left luggage and each one has a luggage label with the name of someone famous.

River Mersey Festival

So far the River Festival has been fantastic!  We’ve been really lucky with the weather because although it’s incredibly windy we’ve only had one shower (and we were in a restaurant at the time) and it’s actually been quite sunny.

We saw the Isle of Man catamaran ferry the "Manannan". It’s very impressive and you can see right through it between the hulls. We were told that someone had once jet-ski’d  through it - and been jailed for the privilege.

We took a tourist trip on the Yellow Duck and although I was sceptical at first thinking it would be the usual rip-off I can’t recommend it enough!  We started with a road trip around all the sights of Liverpool and the guide was entertaining as well as a mine of information.

The ‘bus’ then took a dive into Salthouse Dock, right by our boat, and we had a tour of the docks.  It lasted an hour, cost just under a tenner and was worth every penny.

Yesterday saw lots of things going on all round the waterfront.  There were jet skis in Albert Dock, although the practice sessions were in Salthouse Dock right beside our boat. There was P1 power boat
super stock racing out on the River Mersey and wakeboarding, also in Salthouse Dock.

There were a few street theatre acts performing throughout the day, mainly around Albert Dock, and then in the afternoon there was an aerial display by the Russian Yakovlevs display team over the River Mersey.

we came through this tunnel on our way into the docks
(minus the fish of course)

The main stage over by the Pier Head had live entertainment on all afternoon with a concert by soul singer Beverley Knight rounding off the evening. By that time it was getting quite cold and was still very windy but I was surprised how few people were there, especially as it’s all free.

Most of the narrowboats in Salthouse Dock have put up bunting and quite a few, including us, also have fairy lights so it all looks quite spectacular.

Salthouse Dock by night

I looked out of the window on Wednesday evening and someone was swimming past the boat!  I looked closer and about 40 people were swimming past the boat!

the floating stage just behind our boat
- swimmers changing room?

one of the many swimmers

It was Liverpool Open Water Swimming Club having a training session by swimming round the perimeter of the dock. They must be mad, as although the water is very clean it’s really cold.

The Queen Elizabeth cruise liner was docked in Liverpool for the day yesterday so we walked over for a look. If you're interested you can find out more about the ship HERE

It was due to leave at 21.50 with a spectacular fireworks display to see them off. We went down to the dock to watch but unfortunately there was a problem with the electrics on the pyrotechnics barge and after 3 fireworks went up they suddenly stopped. We hung about for half an hour and then everyone gave up and started to walk back and wouldn’t you just know it….. they started again!  Not the best display I’ve ever seen but pretty good considering the problems.

On the way back the wind dropped away to nothing and the water in the docks was like a mirror. The views were spectacular and I hope the photos do them justice.

"Mercedes" one of the tall ships

"Mercedes" from the other side of the dock

Salthouse Dock by night, our boat on the left