In my Liverpool Home

 

Salthouse Dock, where the visitor moorings are, is very quiet, just 6 boats on the pontoons.

 

 

It’s also quieter than last years with no shrieks from passengers on the yellow DUCK as it launches into the dock, and no waves rocking us afterwards.

The DUCK tours have had to stop after one sank earlier on in the year, with the passengers being rescued by quick-thinking narrowboaters.

 

 

As the name suggests, the dock was a transit terminal for the salt industry, bringing salt from the Cheshire Wiches. The rock salt was refined here in Liverpool and then shipped on to its next destination.

This morning we have visited the Museum of Liverpool and just now Ian is back at work on the painting jobs.  After finishing this blog I shall get out the patchwork quilt, which is almost finished. Then later we are booked onto the Mersey tunnel tour, which no doubt you’ll hear about tomorrow.

Nightime view of Salthouse Dock

Liverpool Link

After the last three days which have been quiet and slow, with only about 12 miles to travel, and no locks just swing bridges, today has been much more exciting. However we Ian has made good use of the dry weather and has got a bit of rubbing down and painting done on the gunwhales, starboard side.
Right on the dot of 9 this morning, as arranged, two C&RT men appeared to operate the road bridge, nb Tadpole had just arrived too, and there was just the two little ships going down into the docks today.



And we were off, it was rather misty, and a bit damp, but boater’s don’t stop for that, not when your passage to Liverpool is booked anyway.



The canal runs beside Aintree racecourse, but we only get a small glimpse, it is hidden behind a wall.



It is urban cruising, with signs of the previous industry along the banks.






Some elegant cast iron bridges span the canal, the high-rise towers of Liverpool just showing through the foggy skies.






And just about mid-day we turned to  the top of four locks taking us down to the docks.
The sun began to break through, There was a team of 3 volunteers as well as the 2 original C&RT guys, so I got to ride on Tacet and take pictures!



 
As we leave lock 4, the Stanley dock is dominated by the enormous Tobacco Warehouse.


So big, I couldn’t get it all in one frame.
According to Wikipedia, the building is grade II listed and is the world’s largest brick warehouse. Built in 1901 it covers 36 acres, has 14 storeys and built with 27 million bricks, 30,000 panes of glass and 8,000 tons of steel.

Various plans have been unveiled for the Tobacco Warehouse to be redeveloped into several hundred apartments as part of a larger development of the whole Stanley Dock site. The plans involve hollowing out the centre of the warehouse to create a garden-filled courtyard.
 

Views of Stanley Dock, with a hazy view of New Brighton across the Mersey just visible behind the harbour wall.







And turning on to the link route through the empty, quiet, silent docks.




The Liver building comes into view.



Converted warehouses and modern apartment towers.




Through a new lock, with the Liver building getting closer.





The water was so clear, we could see loads of jellyfish, and mussells down at the bottom.

   

Passing right below the Three Graces; The Royal Liver Building, Cunard Building, Port of Liverpool Building.



   
Under the Museum of Liverpool and into another new lock.
 
And through a couple more docks into Albert Dock then to our moorings in Salthouse Dock, where it has been a warm, sunny afternoon, making plans for our week here, loads to see and do.

Monday - Wednesday
Burscough – Liverpool, 25 miles, 6 locks, 11 bridges

Rewind to Preston

For one reason or another I missed posting about Preston.  We returned there at the end of our fortnight on the Lancaster Canal because when we arrived we had made arrangements to have a new carpet fitted to Tacet.

So Friday was the day, and as is usual with such things; phone calls not returned or made when promised, things not in stock, plus the complication of non-boaters understanding about boats that don’t stay in the same place……… eventually the fitters arrived with the right carpet and settled down to the job. 

And a good job they did too, after a lot of cutting around odd shaped bits and pieces. A great improvement on the old one, which was showing its age with wear and tear especially after the last two years of our feet and an often wet dog!

The town centre is quite a long walk from the canal, there are frequent buses, but we chose the exercise. It has a distinctive covered market, which I failed to get a picture of, with a tall canopy covering a large area.

borrowed from Google Images

The outdoor covered market is a Grade II listed landmark structure which was built in the 1870’s.  It is built of cast iron pillars with a lattice work iron roof, originally with a wood an glass roof. It has a 90 foot span, the pillars just round the edge, leaving a large clear open space for the market stalls.  The rainwater drains from the roof into a hidden gutter and is sent away down the inside of the iron pillars.

The glass skylights have since been removed and lighting installed, the original cobbled floor has gone too.

An impressive Town Hall and Museum & Art Gallery at its centre,

 

and a ‘Marmite’ Bus Station.

The Preston Bus Station is massive with bays for 80 buses and it seems people either ‘love it or hate it’. There is a multi-storey car park above the station with room for over 1,000 cars.

It was built in what is known as the Brutalist architectural style in the late 1960’s.

The building has been threatened with demolition in the City Council’s redevelopment plans. This has led to various petitions and applications for listed building status over recent years.  Earlier this year it was granted Grade II listed building status. So perhaps now its future is secure.

 

The Marina area is a popular leisure time destination, with the large out of town shops, eateries, a steam railway, swingbridge and lock at the entrance from the river.

  

 

Steam train crossing over the ‘road bridge’ across the harbour entrance, just before it swung to let the sailing boat through into the marina.

 

Preston was yet another boomtown of the Industrial Revolution gaining its prosperity from textile manufacturing. In more recent years it has faced hardship with the close of its engineering industries and the commercial docks.