The Leaving of Liverpool

The new Liverpool Link now means that canal boats arriving in Liverpool on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal can enter the dock system and for the first time, sail past the "three graces", which consists of the Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port Of Liverpool Building.

The Leaving of Liverpool is a photo sequence starting from the BW Visitors Mooring in Salthouse Dock and passing through the new Liverpool Link, heading towards the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

Visiting Boats can spend up to ten days on the mooring, which is plenty of time to enjoy the delights of the City.

Salthouse Dock is used for a multitude of purposes including powerboat racing, tourist trips and open water swimming. There is certainly plenty of "entertainment" just outside your porthole.

The slipway (far left - above) is used for Yellow Duck Tours and "splashdowns" occur at regular intervals.

This is the bridge between the Salthouse and Albert Dock - note the capstan by the lock gate - this would have been used to warp sailing ships between the docks.

The Albert Dock is pictured below.

This is the bridge between Albert Dock and the Canning Half Tide DockThe Tidal Lock into the Mersey and Lock-masters office (Canning Half-Tide Lock)

Looking across to Mann Island

The Pumphouse Pub in the Canning Half Tide Dock

The old Mersey Bar Lightvessel in Canning Dock - now a cafe bar

The first "new" BW lock at Mann Island - currently surrounded by new development

The sequence of five photo's below shows the new link, which alternates between open canalised sub-terranean sections connected by short tunnels. The new Museum of Liverpool facility is due to open next year. The link passes the three great iconic waterfront buildings which epitomises Liverpool. The central building of the three is the former headquarters of the White Star Line, which operated RMS Titanic. Its appearance has changed little since 1912.

Below is the Princes Dock Lock in Princes Dock. The channel for canal craft is buoyed - I'm not quite sure why as the water is over 20 feet deep. There are also "bubblers" releasing air into the static dock to keep the water oxygentated.



Note how the lock chamber is at the level of the tunnel to the pierhead area and different from the Princes Dock water level surrounding it.

Below is the imaginatively designed, but unimaginatively named, Bridge EE in Princes Dock.

The more ordinary Bridge DD which connects Princes Dock to the Central Docks

COMING: Memories of Liverpool.....