Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be :


Q1. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal


Q2. Burscough


внимание друзья! for question two, the Leeds and Liverpool canal has more than one branch, there is a branch at Burscough, called the Rufford branch, which goes north to the river Douglas, which then joins with the river Ribble and a Branch which appears to start at Leigh and go northwest to Wigan. The Eastender is taking  a punt on Burscough being the correct solution, as it is listed as a village whereas Leigh, is listed as a town. (Burscough is also marked as 'Burscough Bridge' on some maps).

A little bit tricky this week but the initial clues seem to place us in the city of Liverpool, specifically at the Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse building, which was according to some of the sources I checked, built by one Anthony George Lister (born c 1852). The edifice is said to be constructed from around twenty seven million bricks and thirty thousand panes of glass. Stanley dock is connected to the Leeds and Liverpool canal.

Travelling two and half miles southeast of the tobacco warehouse, would likely bring us to the site of Williamson's tunnels, at Edge Hill. Williamson, according to some of his bios was a tobacco merchant (born c 1769). No one is too sure why the tunnels were built, they were either an eccentric folly or a philanthropic venture to provide employment in the area. He became known locally as 'The Mole of Edge Hill'.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal navigates past Aintree racecourse, which seems to have had it's foundation stone laid c Feb 7th 1829, by Mr William Lynn. The musical impressario, Brian Epstein (b 1934), is said to be buried in Long Lane Jewish Cemetery near Aintree, Liverpool (Section A, grave H12). Mr Epstein signed the Beatles c 1961, after seeing them play the Cavern club in Matthew  street (The Eastender favours their Hamburg Exis period ).

This is where things required a little more investigation, the Leeds and Liverpool canal has more than one branch, there is a branch at Burscough, the 'Rufford branch', which appears to go north until it joins with the river Douglas and a branch which goes north west from the town of Leigh to Wigan . Burscough (listed as a village) did have a naval air station called HMS Ringtail, situated around one and a half miles to the southwest of the settlement. The air station, according to some of the references I checked, did close c 1957. A beacon which lies around four miles south east of Burscough, which seems to be five hundred and sixty feet or one hundred and seventy metres high, is Ashurst's Beacon, on Ashurst hill. This was constructed c 16th century, by Sir William Ashurst.