Today’s walk was originally planned for July but, bizarrely for England, was cancelled due to the hot weather! Because of holidays and other commitments our number was reduced to thirteen this time.
We parked our cars at the Ship Inn at Lathom and took taxi minibuses to the river lock at Tarleton where the canal meets the River Douglas. Here David Scott gave us a short talk on the history and origins of the canal branch, earlier known as the Lower Douglas Navigation.
Setting off south, we passed a mixture of modern and (very) tired looking moored boats. After skirting round the Tarleton Boatyard we rejoined the towpath, but this soon petered out into a trodden path through long grass, weeds and (pretty but apparently invasive) Himalayan Balsam. The vegetation grew higher as we progressed and single file was the order of the day. We reached the A59 where the “towpath” continued on the other side of the canal and was more like a path through open fields. It was good to get away from the undergrowth although, at times the canal wasn’t visible because of the bulrushes. The canal parallelled the River Douglas for half a mile or so and then meandered its way to the old lock at Sollom, where the canal used to enter the river. We had a drinks stop here and David explained that there are no longer gates on this lock since the canal now enters the river through the one at Tarleton. We now had a proper towpath and the canal parallelled the A59, coming within a hundred yards of it at one point. Soon we passed Rufford Old Hall on the far bank and reached the two marinas at Rufford. We had a comfort stop and ice cream at Fettlers Wharf before setting off again past Lock No 7 towards Lathom, with the Ormskirk to Preston railway line on our left. After a swing to the right and then left we passed even closer to the A59 (about twenty yards) and then under the railway bridge. A couple of narrow boats navigated one of the locks before we passed under the Southport to Wigan railway. Shortly we reached the final three locks and the Ship Inn at Bridge No 1. We admired the pretty cottages at the junction with the main Leeds Liverpool Canal before retiring for our well earned meal in “The Library” at the Ship.
Thanks to Anne Blundell for organising the walk (twice!)