Emergency repairs at Poolstock

As reported yesterday, British Waterways were unable to re-open the canal through Poolstock in Wigan at the weekend because it was found that emergency repairs needed to be carried out to the wash wall above Poolstock Locks on the Leigh Branch.

Unfortunately, as the de-watered pound is the pound that includes the junction with the main line of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Wigan lock flight also had to remain closed, preventing any boat movements through Wigan.

The photo of the work being carried out (below) was kindly sent by Stephen Fahey.

Photo: Stephen Fahey

Some local boaters have commented that the wash wall has been collapsed and cordoned off for a while, and wondered why the repair couldn't have been carried out at the same time as the nearby lock repair, which closed the canal for two weeks.

BW is going to issue an update regarding the stoppage on Friday 26th November.

Two boating friends have been given publicity in the media this week after claiming that they have been "marooned" above Wigan Locks for more than 3 weeks, which seems like exaggeration, since the Wigan stoppage only began on 8th November. It appears that the couple, who are heading home to London, only checked the initial stoppage list issued by BW in the Summer, and did not know about later additions to that programme. [News report]

The latest stoppage information for canals in the Pennine Waterways area is shown on this page.

Update, 29th November:
The repairs have been completed and the canal has now re-opened to navigation.