Botany Bay & the Canal Festival
Thursday 24th August 2016
We set off around 10am from the peace of Withnell Fold heading for Johnson’s Hill Locks.
Jeremy was chasing me today for a change, that’ll teach him to say I cruise too slowly!
There are 7 Locks here & all relatively easy & in good condition, it was another scorcher of a day & I need my “Sisco Kid” hat on a Jeremy delighted in calling it.
We both needed water so we stopped at the top lock, we spotted a couple of other boaters that we had seen on our travels recently & realised they were headed to the same place as us.
As you get closer to Botany Bay you are directly parallel with the M6 motorway & the constant drone of traffic is always in the background.
Botany Bay loomed ahead along with another building resembling a very modern but huge Church, we later found out that it is the UK head office for the Jehovah Witness’s.
Botany Bay refers to an area on the outskirts of Chorley alongside the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. It was instrumental in transport for the North West of England and was home to several mills during the Industrial Revolution.
During the construction of the Lancaster Canal, Botany Bay played host to the canal workers, and it is believed the name Botany Bay originated from around this time, due to the navvies occupying the area the locals saw it as an area to be avoided, much like the penal colony at Botany Bay Australia. By 1816 The Leeds-Liverpool canal had come to incorporate the Lancaster canal and by this time Botany Bay had become an important loading and unloading area due to its warehouse size and proximity to the canal
Due to the canal Botany Bay became a hub for transport, as early as 1830 services ran from Botany Bay wharf to Manchester, Wigan and Liverpool as well as others. This contributed greatly to Botany Bay’s importance in both the cotton trade and increasing communication in the local area.
There were a few boats here already & markers for the designated area for the trip boats & we had been warned that the bank was very uneven & shallow in places so we managed to pick the best section right in front of the mill complex & carpark for trading over the Bank Holiday weekend.
3.5 Miles 7 Locks 0 Swing Bridges 3.5 hours
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