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Bootle has always been seperate from its neighbour Liverpool. As the docks of Liverpool expanded along the banks of the Mersey rich people like dock engineer Jesse Hartley moved from their riverside villas to new houses in Bootle. Bootle's most notable landmark is the Triad building, a tall office building which over looks the area. Below the Triad is the Strand Shopping Centre. The high street looks a bit run down these days but there are new buildings going up around the Strand and the bus and railway stations have been refurbished. The area around the canal was regenerated in the 1980s.
There is access to the towpath at bridge #2A, Bootle The Strand Station is within walking distance. |
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Flats now stand on the site of a Goods Warehouse, the basin and wharf remain |
A wharf side curiosity |
Bootle Basin |
Bootle
compare with this view from the 1900s
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#2A Stanley Road
Changeline Bridge
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MilePost
LPool 3 Miles
Leeds 124 ¼ Miles
By Stanley Rd |
Willow Trees |
Towards Litherland Road Bridge #2B |
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Litherland Road Bridge #2B |
Dedication Plaque on Litherand Road Bridge |
Litherland Road Bridge #2B |
Information Plaque |
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A large brick wall backs on to the towpath. Looking towards Bootle |
Marsh Lane Bridge #2C |
Marsh Lane Bridge #2C |
Bricked up archway |
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Gas Works |
Bridges 2D and 2E |
Bridge #2E |
Information Plaque |
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Empty Buildings by the Canal |
Looking towards Bridge #2G |
Information Plaque |
Stop Plank Slots under Bridge #2G |
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L'Pool 4 Miles
Leeds 123¼ Miles |
Bridge #2G |
Ruins by the Canal |
The Canal near Litherland |
In the 1907 book "Liverpool" Dixon Scott describes Litherland and the canal. "...across a frail little swing bridge; and whilst one end of the bridge is immersed in that bad-tempered outburst of industrialism, the other shares an atmosphere of positively Quakerish demureness. Mild old Georgian residences, placidly sunning themselves among their groves and lawns, are respectfully waited upon by an irresistable village street of shops and inns and a post office. [...] It is that highley prosaic thing, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, that has apparently served to keep this idyll unspotted by the world. It curves like a defensive moat between the birdsong and the harsh imbroglio a biscuits-throw beyond, and upon the frail structure tha crosses it not the mostreckless electric car in the world would ever dream of venturing. It is the weakness of that bridge that has proved the place's strength."
Seaforth and Litherland Station is within walking distance of the Litherland bridges 2I and 2J |
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Looking towards
Bridge #2H |
Bridge #2H |
Tescos and Bee Hives at Litherland |
Litherland BW Depot |
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Litherland BW Depot |
Looking towards Bootle |
Litherland Bridges and Bridge House |
the site of the old Litherland electronic lift bridge built 1922 with its 1975 replacement behind, Bridge 2J. |
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Site of Litherland Lift Bridge with the footbridge #2I and bridge keepers house |
Bridge #2J |
A Litherland Boathouse |
Bridge #3 |
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New Housing with Bridge #3 |
L'Pool 5 Miles
Leeds 122¼ Miles |
next to a winding hole, the former site of Sefton Tannery with Bridge 3A |
New Housing by the Canal |
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Litherland |
Litherland |
view south from Bridge #4 |
Site of an old Swing Bridge looking towards Bridge #4 |
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Bridge #4 |
view north from Bridge #4 |
Site of an old Swing Bridge |
Site of an old Swing Bridge |
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Rimrose Valley Country Park |
L'Pool 6 Miles
Leeds 121¼ Miles |
Gorsey Lane Bridge #4A |
Cooksons Bridge |
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Gorsely Lane Bridge #4A |
Canal-side Housing |
Swifts Bridge #5 |
Fleetwood's Bridge #5A |
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Fleetwood's Bridge #5A |
Milepost
LPool 7 Miles
Leeds 120¼ Miles |
Along the towpath in Netherton |
Along the Canal |
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Netherton Swing Bridge #6 |
Netherton Swing Bridge #6 |
Along the towpath in Netherton |
Looking towards Copy Bridge #7 |
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Copy Bridge #7 |
MilePost
LPool 8 Miles
Leeds 119¼ Miles |
#7A Dunnings Bridge |
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Aintree is famous for its Grand National Steeplechase and was once home to the British Grand Prix in Forumla One motor racing. On race days you can hear the horses and commentary from the towpath. As the canal leaves Aintree it leaves the urban and enters a more rural setting with suburbas and wasteland alongside the canal.
Old Roan Station is a short walk from Old Roan Bridge #7D |
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The canal in autumn |
Bridge #7C and #7D |
Old Roan Bridge #7D |
The canal in Aintree |
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Towards Bridge #8 |
MilePost
LPool 9 Miles
Leeds 118¼Miles |
Looking over Aintree Racecourse |
Blue Anchor Bridge #8 |
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Blue Anchor Bridge #8 |
Blue Anchor Bridge #8 |
Along the canal at Aintree |
Hancocks Swing Bridge #9 |
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View from Hancocks Swing Bridge |
River Alt flowing under the canal |
L'Pool 10 Miles
Leeds 117¼ Miles |
Looking towards Hancocks Swing Bridge #9 |
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The M57 |
Ledsons Bridge #9C |
New housing by the canal at Waddicar |
New housing by the canal at Waddicar |
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Holmes Bridge #10 |
Holmes Bridge #10 |
View from Holmes Bridge |
A weedy canal nr Melling |
The 15th Century church at Melling is built from locally quarried stone. Melling remians a village and is much smaller than its rival Maghull. The name Melling suggests the village dates back to the early Anglo-Saxon invasions. A field near the border with Maghull called "Six Butts" is likely the place that the menof Melling went to practice the longbow as required by law. Today the most noticeable feature from the towpath is Melling Stone Bridge, a fine red sandstone bridge in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal style. Melling had its own pottery industry and stone jars were made here and taken along the canal to Hartleys Jam Works at Aintree. Scottish potters came to Melling to work. The potery works were destroyed by fire in 1928. |
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MilePost
LPool 11 Miles
Leeds 116¼ Miles |
#11 Melling Stone Bridge |
Looking towards Melling Stone Bridge #11 |
M58 in the background
former Clare's Bridge in foreground |
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World War Two Defence at Melling |
Guarding the Railway |
#11A
Melling |