Mr Brocklebank's World Wide Web Log

so canal boaters told you about running the gauntlet through bootle , well i have travelled through bootle on at least ten trips and have seen nothing that would make me think about not going through again on the boat.
so what tales did these boaters tell you , i was there on my boat in the salthouse dock and i did not hear any tales about "bandits" in bootle.
plenty of roofing sheets from an old warehouse were evident in the waterway but i seen no vandals , thugs , yobs or anything else that made me wary.
on the return trip back up the canal one boater said a couple of kids aimed a stone at him "in litherland not bootle" so i asked him to show me the photographs he had taken of the alleged offenders.
of course he had no photographs to show even though most boats will have a digital camera to hand in order to show potential troublemakers they will be caught on camera , it was noticeable that the alleged stone throwers turned up when no other boats with crew aboard were handy to witness the activities.
i wonder if you were talking to the same boaters who complained about the lack of facilities at the salthouse/albert dock and eldonian village , i also asked that group why they had travelled through the canals from preston brook along the trent and mersey canal , the bridgewater canal and the leeds and liverpool canal before they rang a radio station to complain about lack of facilities for boats on this rally.
they had passed through lots of places including manchester but waited till they got to liverpool to say no refuse collection from boats was available omongst other things.
i think roger phillips made the mistake of giving them air time and i also think you are wrong to print the allegations you say they make about bootle.
have they provided you with any evidence ie photographs of yobs attacking boats or making obscene gestures or verbal abuse.
if they or you do not have the means to prove the accusations , well they should not be given the time of day.
i have pictures of people , kids , youths and adults along the towpath in vauxhall ,bootle ,litherland and the rest of the way through to the running horses in lydiate and they all show the delight on their faces at seeing the boats.
and yes people will use the new canal link at the pier head , i have spoke myself to one person about viability of a trip boat to go aroung the link and up the stanley locks.
see you in the salthose when the link has opened.