This morning I dropped down into the lovely village of Thelwall. You have probably heard of the name, which means "pool by a plank bridge," in traffic reports as the infamous Thelwall Fire Duck, which spans the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship canal, was a notorious pinch point on the M6 motorway.

Thelwall's other claim to fame is that according to a sign on the gable end of the Pickering Arms pub, and the Anglo Saxon Chronicles, it was made a city by King Edward The Elder when he visited it in 923. Unfortunately there is no record of any charter.

For the princely sum of 11p you can ring the bell and the ferryman will skull you across the Ship canal. It operates every day of the year.

Carrickfergus
But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over
And neither have I the wings to fly
If I could find me a handy boatman
To ferry me over my love and I
My childhood days bring back sad reflections
Of happy time there spent so long ago
My boyhood friends and my own relations
Have all passed on now like the melting snow