Wigan (are there cons of living on a boat?)

Yesterday, I mentioned the plight of the boaters stuck in the dock at Liverpool because of the breach at Melling.  I was mainly referring to the poor couples and families who were using their boats for a holiday; it must be so frustrating for them.  I also mentioned, that because Dave & Barbara live on their boat, they were quite happy to be marooned there as they had electricity, water and refuse disposal all on tap so to speak.  We would normally feel the same, but it wouldn’t be fair having Buddy cooped up in a city all that time. 

It got us thinking about the cons of living on a boat – the only one I could think of is having cracked thumbs, but at least that only happens in the winter 😉  Karen’s main concern is not having a base to settle to when we’re finished with the boat life.  I suppose that’s the main difference between us in our views as I cannot (at present) contemplate living in a house again. 

The other thing I forgot to mention yesterday was that I saw my first kingfisher for about three weeks.  It was flying just in front of us as we went through Parbold and every time it landed and we caught up with it, it flew on another few yards to perch on another tree.  The funny thing was that it was on the towpath side and none of the people walking along the towpath seemed to notice it.  

It was due to rain all day on Saturday but, as it seemed to be holding off, we cruised the four miles and three locks up to Wigan.  We stopped just outside Wigan Pier, so we could visit the nearby Asda.  We weren’t particularly happy about leaving the boat where it was, but with black clouds looming we felt it would keep any miscreants away.

Doesn’t look too bad in the picture but we wouldn’t have left the boat here for long

For cheap wines we have found Asda to be the best supermarket for the last few years and we were getting dangerously low.  As usual, we got a little bit more than just wine, and managed to fill two big rucksacks and several 6-bottle wine carriers.  Whilst in the store the black clouds burst, and torrential rain fell for about quarter of an hour.  The rain stopped just as we staggered out with our loads back to the boat.

When we were back we moved the boat around the corner to the disabled moorings below the bottom lock of the Wigan flight.  I say disabled moorings but there are no signs and we have made the assumption they are for disabled people because there are ramps up to the high towpath.  For some reason the water level is much lower than the towpath here in Wigan, than you would normally find in a town, so it’s not easy climbing up onto the towpath to get off the boat.

Yes, I know we’re not disabled, but the mooring was empty with room for two boats.  Obviously, if two boats arrived with physically disabled needs then we would move.  To be fair we had only seen one boat on the move all day and, with the effect of the breach we were unlikely to see any more.

Moored at the easy access pontoons next to Trencherfield Mill

Looking the other way down to the junction at Wigan Pier

Along the towpath through the town there are statues representing various trades related to canal history and they can be a bit uncanny.  When we moored up to go to Asda, I saw what I thought was a shady character either on the phone or having a ciggie against the wall just beyond the boat.  It was ages before I realised it was one of the statues.

One of the statues – this one represents a bargee

As you can see from the pictures of our mooring above, the sun came out and it turned out to be a lovely warm evening in the centre of Wigan.

Tomorrow we will head up 23 locks to take us up 215 feet to the northern end of Wigan when we will then be back out into open country again.  Due to water conservation needs, there are two one-hour slots each day when boaters can enter the flight; 8-9am or 12-1pm.  We currently plan to start at 8 but we will see 😉