Need to be near train station to go to Rugby on Thursday.

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Train to Rugby to vote. Collected polling card from the council offices. Collected mail from Hope 4. Castigated Specsavers AGAIN for sending post to Hope 4. Called in at doctors to have my blood pressure taken, all OK. 240 mile round trip.

Shopping in Wigan, found a Farm Foods which is occasionally good for really cheap fruit when it is in season.

Both water points out of action but managed to empty elsan. Contacted CRT but there are no volunteers available for tomorrow. I think I have a summer chill, but then I am a bit of a wuss, probably hay fever.

Did a 5kg of fruit and veg for £1.50 at Lidl today. Such good value for money and it gives me the opportunity to experiment with both fruit and vegetables that I would not normally buy.

Still waiting to see if there are any volunteers available.

I think that we are going to have to bite the bullet and work the flight on our own as there has been a dispute between the volunteers and CRT, something to do with health and safety. One or more of the volunteers was not following procedure and hence putting others in danger.

At last. Will, a guy that we had met somewhere previously had agreed to help us work our way up the flight while he was back from his day job on the oil rigs. I get the impression that his wife is only too happy for him to be out of the house. Quite near the top of the flight, probably the last three or four locks, a couple of volunteers assisted, one of whom had a prosthesis, but it did not stop him leaping around the locks.
Used the facilities (to good effect) in preparation to tackling the rest of the journey to Skipton.

Even though it is a mile to the bus stop I can still get the daily provisions from here so we are good for a few days.

Found a pharmacy that could provide me with a sample bottle and a post office to send it from so got that all organised while we were here, better late than never.

In need of a bottle of gas we called in at White Bear Marina.The manageress was out, due back in fifteen minutes or so and no-one else could sell me a bottle of gas. I mooched around for a bit but was sort of made uncomfortable because there was a couple on a boat moored by the fuel pump wearing nothing, Stark naked! In the buff, enjoying nature. He was occupied somewhere almost out of site but she was stood by the hatch eating cereal from a bowl. A few moments later the manageress returned and told me that she was in the middle of dinner and that she would be out later. Somehow she is not a customer services orientated person. We left and continued on to the boatyard at Chorley

The guy who was there couldn't put the bottle in my gas locker as he has 'buggered his back' but a passing boater did the job for me. I couldn't help noticing that there was a James Comet 98c motorcycle in the workshop. Memories came flooding back.
When we lived in Emsworth in a top flat of a converted big house the guy who lived in the bottom flat gave me a James Comet 98cc motorcycle which I managed to resurrect. The start of my motorcycling carer.

Iowner.

Telephone consultation with doctor, everything fine, blood pressure, cholesterol etc.

Rick Cooper.

Dropped phone in the canal, and thereby starts along story.
Bus to Preston, Shafi at EE couldn't (wouldn't) organise a new sim card without some form of government issued photo id. He would accept a current drivers license or passport, but NOT a Concessionary Bus Pass. Convinced me that the only way I could get my phone working today was to take out a new monthly contract, so, reluctantly, I did. then he noticed that I had another device on my account and said he could save me money by upgrading this and altering that. I ended up with a new tablet and a new Chromebook. I did query y=the Chromebook and was told it was much faster than my existing Chromebook. Turned out to be exactly the same. I will never trust an EE salesperson again, I will want everything they are telling me written down. LIDL GB WIGAN WIGAN.

At one of the locks the gates would not close properly so I had to call out a CRT guy who eventually arrived after two and a half hours and removed the obstruction, a tyre.

Had breakfast at the cafe at Rishton where we were given details of TEAMUP the volunteer organisation for the Leeds & Liverpool canal, except for the Wigan flight. Booked some volunteers for the Borrowfield flight for Thursday.

First swing bridge would not close properly, in fact I had to jump from the bridge to the tow path. The second swing bridge could not be locked in the open position because the mechanism was faulty.
I am glad we are no longer around the Southport area after yesterdays stabbings.

Filled up with water at Rose Green facilities. The Elsan disposal and the toilets are out of order and have been for several days.
My No2's water tank emptied into the bilges during the rest of the journey.

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