Reaching Liverpool

2/10/2017


From our mooring outside Liverpool, near Aintree racecourse, we start the scheduled  run of about 10 miles into the city at 9.30am, when the locked road bridge is swung to allow us through. For about 6 miles the canal is a green channel, slipping past homes, fields, gardens,  towards the city centre. The canal terminus is in Stanley Dock,  with a link opened in 2009 to the lower docks on Mersey side.  The massive brick Tobacco Warehouse lies at the dock, now being renovated for use as units, offices etc - carefully, as peregrine falcons are nesting.

We descend the 4 locks from Stanley Dock, beginning a canal experience we have never had before. The route tracks directly towards the river, then turns 90° to traverse multiple docks, ducking into tunnels, following buoyed channels, stopping for a tidal lock. A last sweep from Albert Dock ( the Tate, maritime museum) and we're in Salthouse Dock,  the oldest dock in Liverpool. JJ manages a tricky reverse mooring to our allocated pontoon, gusty winds not assisting,   and we have a deserved late lunch and a siesta.

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