Previous Year : 2004 The Bona Boater's Trips Following Year : 2006

2005 - Silsden to Acton Bridge.

Crew : Pete, Dave, John & Chris, Stan, Ernie, Colin.

Boat : Dan's Drum

Route : Silsden > Skipton > Gargrave > Foulridge > Brierfield > Clayton-le-Moors > Adlington > Wigan > Parbold > Lathom [w] > Wigan > Patricroft > Manchester [w] > Lymm > Acton Bridge.

Coverage : 71 Locks and 139 Miles.

Notes : This trip included a trip off the direct route to go to The Ship (aka The Blood Tub) at Lathom, Wigan Pier, a hitch-hiking duck, an angry swan and our first exposure to Fruli strawberry beer. This was also our first (..and would be our last..) Sunday-to-Sunday trip. The level of boat movements and consequent slow progress we experienced whilst cruising over the bank holiday Saturday was something which - luckily - we'd never experienced before, and we vowed never to do Sunday-Sunday trip again.

Sunday 22nd May

Lunch : Silsden. When we arrived at the boatyard, we were advised that the boat was ready, but that we couldn't load just yet. As we thought that it could be ready any minute, we decided not to go to the pub. As the 'any minute now' gradually turned into half-an-hour then an hour, John & Stan got a bit pi$$ed off with being kept waiting, and they paid at least two visits to the pub before we got to load up. It appeared that the boatyard staff were giving each crew a detailed explanation with a working model of how to work locks - but were doing each crew separately, and we were last.

Mid Afternoon : Skipton. We eventually left Silsden amid alternating heavy showers & sunshine. Having largely missed the lunchtime pub stop, we decided to stop at Skipton for a much needed mid afternoon pint or three at The Woolly Sheep, which had some particularly good Timothy Taylor's Dark Mild on.

Evening : Gargrave. By the time we left the pub in Skipton, it was raining steadily. As we pushed on, the sky got darker and the rain got heavier. The exposed section between Skipton & Gargrave was particularly cold, blustery and wet. Pete volunteered to walk and open the swingbridges and he got thoroughly soaked in the process. We stopped for the evening at Gargrave and went to The Mason's Arms to eat and to warm up but mostly just to dry out. Unfortunately, we arrived just as they were about to stop serving meals. Luckily for us, the pub is run by a businessman who didn't want to turn down the opportunity to sell seven meals and several gallons of beer - he would have sold neither if we'd gone elsewhere to eat. They even offered us puddings well after they had stopped serving meals. Why can't more pubs be like this ?

John driving the boat amid the rain and gloom between Skipton and Gargrave.

Dry and warm at last.

Sorting out the payment for the meal at The Mason's Arms, Gargrave.

Monday 23rd May

Lunch : Foulridge. At lunchtime we tried to moor up near Barnoldswick but couldn't get in to the bank, so we pushed on to Foulridge. We moored on the tunnel approach and went to The Hole in the Wall, which doubles up as the village Post Office - another one for Pete's little book. After several pints here, we returned to the boat and set off through Foulridge Tunnel towards Brierfield. After taking on water at the top of Barrowford Locks, we descended the locks in cold and quite blustery conditions. We eventually arrived in Brierfield.

Dan's Drum moored at Foulridge Tunnel

The Hole in The Wall, Foulridge

The crew gather their strength for Barrowford Locks

Taking water at Barrowford Top Lock

Colin shelters from the wind and the spray being blown off the top gates.

Barrowford Bottom Lock.

Evening : Brierfield. After lunch, we passed through Foulridge Tunnel, down Barrowford Locks and on to Brierfield. We went to The Waggon and Horses. After our excellent visit here in 1993 , we were looking forward to this pub. We were to be sorely disappointed. They had no food and no Thwaite's Dark Mild, athough they did have the Thwaite's ordinary bitter. We decided to take a walk around the town in search of somewhere to eat. We found nothing, so we eventually returned to The Waggon and Horses for some beer. We ended up with a take-away curry on the boat after closing time. A sad end to a pub that we'd all so looked forward to after our last visit - albeit 12 years previously.

Tuesday 24th May

Lunch : Clayton-le-Moors. We stopped for lunch in Clayton-le-Moors, but we found that all the pubs were shut. Had they heard we were coming ? Pete took a photo of Stan outside a curryhouse called Balti Stan. After leaving Clayton-le-Moors, we headed for Wigan. On this section, we passed a nesting swan who took exception to his or her being disturbed and decided to see us off. It followed the boat for several miles along the canal, occasionally catching up with us and attacking the stern of the boat. Needless to say, the boat won and the swan eventually gave up the chase.

Stan outside 'Balti Stan' , Clayton-le-Moors.

The angry swan. At first, we just tried to outrun it...

...but just as it looked like we were winning, it took to the air and caught up with us again...

...then it attacked the back of the boat...

..but a short burst of full throttle made him back off.

Evening : The rest of Tuesday is a bit vague.. Did we have a later pub stop ? Where did we go in the evening ? There was some suggestion that it may have been Adlington, but no one can remember anything specific.

Wednesday 25th May

Lunch / mid-afternoon : Wigan Pier. Morning and lunchtime are still a bit vague.. Did we have a 'normal' lunchtime stop ? There was a 'fruitbowl' crisis on the Wigan flight. Pete W went on ahead to set the locks. As all these locks all require an anti-vandal key (.. to the Bona Boaters, an anti-vandal key is known as a 'fruitbowl' - see 1993..) he took a fruitbowl with him, not realising that he already had the only other one in his pocket as well. After walking down several locks unlocking and setting them, he then had to walk all the way back up to the top re-lock them all as well. We arrived quite late at Wigan Pier and managed only a pint or two in The Orwell. We then left Wigan quite late, just after 17:00.

The Commercial by Br.57 but was shut.

...so we pushed on down to Wigan.

In Wigan, we had a few pints in The Orwell...

...before passing the infamous Wigan Pier.

Evening : Parbold. We were intending to moor up at Hoscar and go to The Railway but when we arrived there, we found a big hole in the ground, (..sorta big and sorta round..) where the pub used to stand. With our plan in tatters, we decided instead to push on towards Lathom. Once we realised we wouldn't make Lathom that evening - well, not at any reasonable time in the evening, and far too late for food - we decided to stop at Parbold instead. We first went to The Railway where there was a big football match [Liverpool v AC Milan - and remember, we're not that far from Liverpool by now] on TV, and because of this, they had no food on that night so we decided go and look for another pub. En route, Pete and Dave tried a quick half in The Windmill only to be served a quite rare thing nowadays - actually sour beer. We all continued to The Wayfarer where they had just stopped serving food. Despite this, we decided to stay for a drink, but not only did we get short measure but the beer then ran out as well. To make matters even worse, the barmaid insisted on trying to charge John for the last nearly-half-pint of cloudy crap which had come out of the pump. John quite rightly refused to pay for it, and so the manager was summoned. With the round eventually sorted, we decided to have just the one pint and then we left and took our money elsewhere. We went back to The Railway where we found a fish & chip shop opposite the pub. We ate fish & chips in the street then returned to The Railway to find that the football had finished and the pub had returned to some semblance of normality. Numerous pints ensued.

Thursday 26th May

Morning / Lunch : Lathom. We left Parbold and set off for Lathom. This was a relatively short run, and we arrived at The Ship quite early - i.e. well before the pub was open. We had time to wind at the junction with The Rufford Branch, moor up and explore the locks all before the pub had even opened. The Ship is also known locally as The Blood Tub because story goes that a previous landlord used to make Black Puddings and allegedly would give a free beer to anyone who brought him a bucket of pig's blood. Unfortunately, BTS1 couldn't find any pig's blood, and considered giving a bucket of his own blood just to get some free beer.

Lathom Locks.

The Rufford Branch.

This leads to The River Ribble and the Ribble Link to The Lancaster Canal

Evening : Wigan. After lunch, we left Lathom and set off back towards Wigan. On arrival in Wigan, we went first to The Swan and Railway for a few beers before going for a Chinese meal then on to The Anvil. This had an excellent range of Belgian beers, including Fruli Strawberry Beer - this was the first time we'd ever seen it. It also had several excellent real ales on.

Friday 27th May

Lunch : Patricroft. We left Wigan and headed for Patricroft, passing through Worsley on the way. On arrival in Patricroft, we went to The Stanley Arms. Holt's Mild and Test Cricket on the telly. Heaven ! After lunch we left Patricroft, passed over The Barton Swing Aqueduct, and headed for Manchester. In Manchester we moored in Castlefields Basin and went to a few pubs in the City Centre.

Worsley with it's famous orange water.

The water is coloured by Iron salts (ochre) from the 46 miles of old mine workings.

Inside The Stanley Arms, Patricroft.

Throstle Nest Bridge, Manchester.

A "throstle" is a local name for a thrush.

The Castlefield Basins with Castlefield viaducts overhead.

Evening : Manchester - After mooring in Castlefield Basin, we first went to The Jolly Angler. Being Friday the pubs were all very busy. We had a Chinese meal and then went to The Grey Horse, which was uncomfortably hot and stuffy, loud and very busy. Suddenly, Stan just vanished. No-one saw him go or knew where he went, though we suspected that he'd probably gone back to The Jolly Angler. At closing time, we made our way back to the basin to find that the posh modern bar next to the boat was still open. It had no real ale but did have reasonable a selection of albeit rather expensive Belgian beers. Despite the price, a couple of us still managed a few bottles of Leffe Blonde. By this time Stan, who had suddenly vanished from The Grey Horse reappeared, just in time for the Port & Stilton.

Saturday 28th May

Lunch : Lymm. We headed out of Manchester toward Lymm, passing Old Trafford on the way. On arrival in Lymm we had a lunchtime session in The Spread Eagle. As it was the Bank Holiday weekend, we experienced our first ever bout of Bank Holiday Boaters. We would normally have missed them as we would usually have handed the boat back on the Friday or Saturday morning - but this year, as it was a Sunday-Sunday hire we would have to cruise all day on the Saturday as well. We all vowed never again !

Leaving Manchester, we passed Old Trafford..

Does it really say Manchester "Untied" ?

Evening : Acton Bridge. In the evening, after being stuck for miles behind a particularly slow party boat festooned with balloons and blaring out loud music, we eventually moored up at the boatyard and walked to The Leigh Arms where we ate and had some beer to calm our frayed nerves.

Sunday 29th May

Morning : The boat company provided a large people-carrier style taxi which returned us and our luggage to Silsden to pick up the cars. Unexpectedly however, we had to pay for this ourselves. The boatyard had not advised us of this. Good job we had enough money left between us.

Pete, BTS1 & Ernie then made their usual pilgrimage to The Karachi Restaurant in Bradford for a curry, a trip to The Al-Halal supermarket for provisions, then set off back to reality for another year.

Previous Year : 2004 The Bona Boater's Trips Following Year : 2006