When originally planned, the Lancaster Canal would have crossed the
River Lune and the River Ribble on aqueducts, and it was intended that there should be a link to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to the south of the Ribble. The Lune aqueduct was completed in 1797, but the Ribble one was not built, as the construction was well over budget by the time the canal reached Preston. The canal link was eventually replaced by a
tramway link, crossing the Ribble on a wooden trestle bridge. The bridge outlasted the tramway, and it was not until the 1960s that it was demolished and replaced by a new pedestrian bridge, made of concrete beams but designed to look like the old timber structure. That structure is also under threat due to degradation of the concrete and corrosion of the steel reinforcement. The Lancaster Canal remained isolated from the rest of the English Canal network. The idea of building a connecting link between the Lancaster Canal and the rest of the English waterways system was first proposed in 1979 by John Whittaker of the Lancaster Canal Boat Club, and a feasibility study was carried out in 1981, to see if using the Savick Brook would be possible. In 1982 the Lancaster Boat Club organised a cruise from Rufford Branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal up the Ribble to Preston Docks to generate publicity for the scheme. The cruise demonstrated that canal boats could navigate on this section of tidal water without difficulty, and the Ribble Link Trust was set up in 1984 to push the idea frowards. Plans were nearly thwarted in 1992, when there were proposals for a bypass around Preston, which would have crossed the Savick Brook at too low a level to leave headroom for boats, and the trust worked hard to get the plans altered. Prior to construction of the Ribble Link starting, British Waterways carried out an archeological evaluation to establish whether any important archeological sites would be disturbed by the new waterway. This identified Mill Field close to lock 8 as the probable location of a water mill, and found evidence of a ridge and furrow field system. Although the visible remains of this were unlikely to be disturbed by the construction work, parts of it continued below the surface where the channel would be excavated, and it was hoped that its boundary ditches might be located when the work took place. The
Environment Agency also carried out a fish survey, using electrofishing at eight sites along the brook, to ascertain the health of the brook as habitat for course fish. The fish were categorised as predator species, rheophilic species that prefer flowing water, and limnophilic species that prefer still water. The survey recorded eleven species of fish, with rheophilic species prominent at most of the test sites, and limnophilic species much less so.
Flounder were also found in great numbers throughout the river, probably because the sand and silt on the bed of the river provide good habitat for spawning and for the survival of juvenile fish. The report concluded that fish populations were surprisingly high for a river that drained an urban area, and that
chub and flounder were doing particularly well. Flows on the Savick Brook vary considerably, from as little as up to . In order to accommodate these flows, weirs which are up to wide were required at the locks, and the bypass channels generally use the original course of the brook. In order to allow fish to continue to move along the watercourse, fish passes would be built into the weirs. The Environment Agency raised concerns about water quality, but these were withdrawn in March 1999 after North West Water announced that they would soon be building a new interceptor sewer to run close to the Savick Brook, and the Trust agreed to make the channel slightly narrower, to improve flow speeds. When originally conceived, the navigation would have had eight locks, numbered 1 to 8 from the Ribble upwards. Lock 2A was added, to ensure that the level of the pound above lock 2 did not compromise land drainage in the locality. Since it was opened, the Ribble Link had been expensive to maintain. It suffered from flooding during the winter of 2003–2004, resulting in a lot of material being depositied in the channel, and scouring of some of the bywash weirs. The link was closed and Land and Water were employed to carry out dredging in March 2004. This was hampered by low water levels due to damage to the bywash weirs and by water supplies being limited by other work taking place on the Lancaster Canal. The whole of the link needed to be dredged, and further flooding took place while the work was in progress. The cost of the operation was £124,576. The link was closed again during 2006, after voids appeared behind some of the lock structures. The work to fill the voids and to repair a lock bywash cost £360,000. Further dredging was required and cost £240,000. Some of this was achieved by conventional bucket dredging, where the material was removed and taken to landfill, but the use of 'cutter section' dredging was also trialled, after a licence was obtained from the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). This involved pumping the silt over the sea lock gate when the tide was going out so that it was carried into the Ribble, and following completion of the work, the link was re-opened on 6 April 2007. The effectiveness of cutter section dredging resulted in British Waterways applying for annual licences for the process. Sludge is brought into the lower section of the link by incoming tides, and is a known problem on the Ribble. The cost of dredging to maintain the route to Preston Docks was one of the main reasons why they were closed in October 1981.
Operation The Millennium Ribble Link follows a course to the north and west of the city of
Preston along a
canalisation of the Savick Brook, which is tidal along its lower reaches. The channel has been straightened and widened to allow navigation by boats with a maximum beam of . One bank of the brook has been left with reed edges, to minimise the disturbance to wildlife, and artificial sand cliffs have been established where those used by nesting sand martins had to be removed as part of the engineering works. In addition to use by boats, a primary aim of the project was to create a resource which could be enjoyed and used by walkers, cyclists and anglers. There are footpaths along its banks for most of its length, and the arts trail was part of the vision to make exploring it more interesting. The link, which is around long from the junction with the Ribble to the junction with the Lancaster Canal, is normally only open in the summer months between April and mid-October. However, its use is restricted by the times of tides and by wind and weather conditions, and it is therefore only accessible for a limited number of days during this period. All boats wanting to use the link must pre-book a passage, by contacting the Canal and River Trust in advance. It is only operated in one direction on any one day. The sea lock at the Ribble end and the triple staircase at the Lancaster Canal end are manned by Canal and River Trust staff, whereas the rest of the locks are unmanned and are operated by boat crews. In 2022, passages could be booked on 71 days during the open season, and the number of boats that could be accommodated was restricted to four rather than six on two days when the height of the tide was at the minimum at which the link can be accessed. Generally, the direction of travel was the same for three of four days, and was then reversed for the next three or four days. While the Ribble Link officially refers to the canalised Savick Brook, it has also come to mean the entire passage from the upgraded facilities at Tarleton on the Rufford Arm of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, travelling down of the River Douglas to the Ribble, the journey for up the River Ribble, and the new link to the Lancaster Canal. The entrance to the Savick Brook is controlled by a green light, signifying that it is safe to proceed along the link to the rotating sea lock. Boats may have to wait until tide levels are correct for the gate to be opened, and once through the gate it will be closed to retain water in the channel as the tide drops. There is a pontoon upstream of the gate where boats may have to wait again until water levels beneath Savick Bridge fall sufficiently to allow passage beneath it. The Canal and River Trust will only accept bookings for days when the tide is between , when wind speeds are below 4 or 5 on the
Beaufort scale and when visibility is good. When first opened, there was a charge for using the Ribble Link, but in February 2003, British Waterways announced that all charges for using the link and for other structures including the
Anderton Boat Lift, the
Falkirk Wheel and
Standedge Canal Tunnel would be funded from licence fees. There is thus no charge to use the link for boats with a full Canal and River Trust licence. Pleasure craft on hire are charged £60 per passage (each way). A Skippers Guide is published by the Canal and River Trust and is normally available on their web site. Because the Ribble is tidal, boats making the crossing are required to carry extra safety equipment, over and above that which is necessary for cruising on inland waterways. Crossing the Ribble involves navigating on tidal waters, and is inevitably a little more difficult than navigating an inland waterway. There is a relatively small window when tide levels are correct to use the sea lock at the start of the link, and this dictates the times that boats are allowed through the lock at Tarleton for the start of the journey. A maximum of six boats are allowed to make the journey on any one tide, but that normally ensures that boats can travel in convoy. The journey down the River Douglas is against the incoming tide, and engines will be required to work hard for up to four hours. If this results in the engine overheating, boaters are advised to run some hot water, to help cool it down. Most crossings are completed without incident, but slower boats or those making the crossing on a neap tide may arrive at the Savick Brook when there is insufficient water to use the sea lock, and may be diverted to Preston Docks, further up the Ribble. Although most boats make the journey successfully, there has been an increase in callouts to the emergency services to aid boats that have got into difficulty. The
Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station at Lytham St Annes received five callouts in a two-month period in 2009. When a boat has become stuck on a mudbank, the normal course of action is to wait 12 hours until the next tide, when it can be refloated, but this often involves the RNLI returning late at night or early in the morning, to help the boat get to Preston Docks. The Ribble Link Operation and Maintenance company continued to own the navigation, with British Waterways operating it on their behalf. However, in October 2011, the government announced the proposal to replace British Waterways with a charitable trust, the Canal and River Trust. Since the objectives of both trusts were similar, talks took place between them, and a decision to merge them was made. The takeover took place on 26 July 2012, and since then, the Canal and River Trust has been responsible for all aspects of the link. The Canal and River Trust state that boat sizes are restricted to long and wide. The length is not based on the size of the locks, which are long, but the difficulty of navigating some of the bends in a longer boat, in view of the restricted channel width. Most vessels that use the Ribble Link travel along the Rufford Branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and the locks on that section can only accommodate boats. ==Course==