Sunday May 27th - Burscough - Rufford

Another glorious morning, but this time without the stiff breeze of the last couple of days. This was, in fact, a two-edged sword as the breeze did help to take the edge of the heat.

Today we would be cruising new waters for the first time this year as we wanted to go down the Rufford Arm as far as we could. The Arm today gives access to the Ribble Link which utilises the tidal courses of the River Douglas and much larger River Ribble (huge in fact) to get boats to the newly navigable Savick Brook which leads through sea-doors and a series of locks to the lockless main line of the Lancaster Canal.

Before the Ribble Link was completed as part of the Millennium openings, the Arm saw very little traffic. It is busier now with boats travelling to Tarleton where it joins the tidal Douglas and back, as well as two recently opened marinas at Rufford.

There is always a sense of anticipation when you approach new waters. The adrenaline starts to pump a little faster as well. The fact that the locks were the same length as the majority of the Leeds & Liverpool locks at 62’ long meant that we would just fit in.

When we traversed the length from Wigan to Leeds and back again 4 years ago, we ended up pumping 35 litres of water from our bilges due solely as a result of the horrendously leaking top gates as we descended. Understandably, Elaine was a bit apprehensive about the same thing happening again, but as it happened the locks on the Arm didn’t leak very much at all (which says a lot about maintenance - or lack of it - on the L&L main line) and she coped admirably, bless her!

The area around the junction is just as you would expect a canal junction to be. A small community sprang up around the junction to service the boatyards and drydock that were established there, and much survives.

Rows of period cottages and houses, stone walls, cobbles, a swing bridge, dry-dock, and the first two Lathom Locks, complete with unusual paddles. Why Lathom Locks? I don’t know. The community is known as Burscough Junction. It’s one of life’s mysteries.

Dry dock & canal cottages

Lathom Locks & swing bridge from Junction bridge

Unusual paddle gear x1

Unusal paddle gear x2

Unusal paddle gear x3, Jack Cloughs in use on the Rufford Arm

Notwithstanding the mystery, it’s an enchanting spot and very photogenic. It deserves to be far better known than many of the more well-known junctions further south.

Unusually for such a remote length of canal, the locks and the top lock swing bridge are secured with full anti-vandal devices and have to be laboriously unlocked and locked again. Why? Do the farmers of this highly fertile area of farmland have some hidden compulsion to walk some distance form their farms to the canal and open paddles in the middle of the night? Another mystery.

After the flurry of activity around the junction with its swing bridge and two locks, it quietens down a bit thereafter and locks and bridges with names such as Runnel Brow Lock, Moss Lock, Chicken Lock and Prescott Bridge punctuate the arm’s lonely journey across what presumably was once marshland and is now wonderful land for potato growing. Fortunately John Prescott, that parliamentary mangler of the English Language, has nothing to do with Prescott’s Bridge.

Two railway bridges cross the canal, the first the Wigan to Southport line, the second the Liverpool to Preston line. The Southport line boasts a separate arch for the towpath walker.

A second swing bridge heralds the approach to Rufford which, with its lock and two new marinas, is now quite the spot for a Sunday afternoon stroll.

Southport line railway bridge on the Rufford Arm

Just after the Rufford - Parbold road bridge is the last winding hole on the arm that can accommodate 60’ boats. Here it was then that we turned and tied up on the visitor moorings. No mooring stakes needed here (for the first time since we left the Trent & Mersey weeks ago) – rings are provided as well as piled banking. We hope to stay here 2 nights so we can visit the adjacent Rufford Old Hall, a wonderful half-timbered building where we can get free entry with our National Trust membership.

Mooring at Rufford