Congratulations to Maghull Canal Fest a brilliant event 200 yrs of the Leeds Liverpool canal

on board the Pride of Sefton 2 with the Mayor of Maghull (and Josh her consort), Peter Gill the chair of Aintree Parish Council (and his wife) and Bill Esterson.

As the clouds darkened over Melling I set sail on the Pride of Sefton at the head of a flotilla of narrow boats making their way into the Canal Fest in Maghull.

The Canal tow paths and bridges on our way were lined with people joining in the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the Leeds Liverpool canal.  Our destination was the Canal Fest being held at the Maghull Cricket ground.

On our way we passed many things of interest and we were lucky to have such an informed guide the Captain of the Pride of Sefton Dan

It is hard to grasp just how important the canals were to the growth of industrial Britain. 200 years ago the new canal had a transformative impact of the North of England. It would be good if we could have a modern day equivalent-say HS3?

Dan also pointed out the pill boxes that were build in WW2
and which I have posted about separately.

Josh, the Mayor of Maghull's consort, was also a mine of information, he frequently walks the tow paths and as a child had an arrangement with one of the local houses to stop off  to collect apples as he kayaked down the canal. Nowadays he fishes this stretch for pike. I was sorry to hear that he threw the fish back as I believe that it is good to eat

Arriving at Maghull cricket ground

When we arrived I met Adam Ryan who was very keen to come on board. Dan did the honours and after a photo gave him a tour of the boat

It was good to bump into my good friend Tony Robertson who took the next two photos. You can read his write up of the day here


As regular readers will know I had to choose the winner of a model boat building competition yesterday and I chose The Sarah after one of my grandchildren. This rather left her twin sister out of it so I was delighted to spot a boat in the flotilla named The Lily May

photo by Tony Robertson

The band entertained the crowds

By now the threatened rain had begun in earnest. Bill and I said words of welcome from the stage and headed off to the tea tent. The catering came from Scrummies Café in Maghull and was excellent. They had even baked a cake for the Mayor -but that is another story

another cake that got away......

Leeds Liverpool canal Wartime defensive 'stop line' still visible

the pill box we passed

 On board the Pride of Sefton on Sunday as part of the 200th anniversary celebration for the Leeds Liverpool canal I had the pleasure of the company of Captain Dan. As we made our way from Aintree to Maghull he provided a fascinating commentary on the canal and its history

Of particular interest are the war time defences that were established along the canal in this part of Lancashire. Dan explained the 'stop line' to me and pointed out the pill box that we passed.

Captain Dan explaining about the war time defences. Photo courtesy of Amanda Bennett

When I got home I 'googled it' for more information and found from the Tow Path Treks website that:

Lancashire has a coastline with flat beaches ideal for amphibious landings. Inland from the coast is the Lancashire plain, flat agricultural land which would be a good landing zone for paratroopers or for gliders and transport planes to crash land.  To defend against this a defensive "Stop Line" was built. The Western Command Stop Line Number 14 extended from Wigan to Liverpool and was based around the Leeds Liverpool Canal. Stop Lines were based on anti-tank ditches and pill boxes. Their aim was to slow down the enemy's advance and to allow counter attack. Villages would be defended to become islands of resistance. The canal and its embankment would act as the anti-tank ditch. Concrete pill boxes and fortified buildings were places at bridges and at points with good views over the fields below.  The stop lines were designed to combat light tanks and infantry not the Panzers and blizkrieg that the Nazis used so efficiently in Europe. The defences were built quickly, some are based on official designs others unique to their location.

To be fair that is almost exactly what Captain Dan explained to me