Haigh Hall - Leeds and Liverpool Canal

There were 5 boats waiting to go up the locks when they opened at 8 o'clock.  We managed to be one of the first with a couple we had arranged to travel with via the Wigan Flight Crew Facebook page.  (Well worth looking into if you are traversing these locks, it can match you up with other boats and the volunteers know who is needing help.)

Well we set off and got to the middleish bit where the boats on the previous afternoon had to spend the night, to discover that there was no water in one of the pounds above and we had to wait about an hour for the water to be stabilised.

Meanwhile David discovered the insides of a duvet around the prop which took him and the man in the boat behind quite a while to removed. He had a Prop Mate which was a kind of long hook with a round handle.  It was definitely the right tool for this particular problem.

So by now we were having to empty the locks first.  We did meet Ariandare on the way down though, but that was only for 1 lock.

The volunteers were excellent, they all worked very hard and it made a difficult journey almost a breeze.  I still ached all over by the top.

There is a metal structure at the top lock to keep the doors from collapsing (or something) and in the joint this wagtail had made a nest.  She kept popping back with food for the brood inside.



We arrived at the top of the locks at a quarter past one and went on to Haigh Hall for the night.  My, the trees have grown.  You used to be able to see right across to Preston previously.

I cheated slightly with card, the house and sign are bought toppers!  I diecut the pink patterned paper and the green one (which is dry embossed) and fixeed them to a white panel, matted onto orange and green card and then onto a white card blank.