We've spent a significant part of this year on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal; we went up the Wigan Flight in February and came down in July.

We cruised up to Stanley Ferry on the Aire Navigation, turned around and came back the same way.

During our time on this canal,  we noticed a significant deterioration in lots of ways. Obviously, the seasons changed during our time there and moorings we'd enjoyed heading towards Leeds were totally overgrown as we headed back towards Wigan making it impossible to get into the bank.

The Bingley Five Rise locks were leaking so much more on our return journey and it was entirely due to the CRT Volunteers that we were able to manage the flight safely and without incident.

Most of the locks along the canal take some managing as paddles are often broken and water levels are difficult to manage.

When we came down the Wigan Flight in July, there had been an issue between CRT and the regular volunteers on the flight, so there was no one to highlight the problems to look out for.

We did have a very frightening situation where the button fender on the bow got caught on a gate and we very nearly sunk...not an experience we ever want to repeat.

The Leeds-Liverpool is such a lovely canal with so much to recommend it and so many great places to visit, but if it isn't better maintained in the future, I feel it'll become a 'ghost' canal.

We've spoken to many people who've said 'never again' when talking about Wigan and it seems such a shame. We know the financial difficulties CRT are facing, but it's clear the north is falling behind in terms of maintenance.

What happened to levelling up?