IT’S not every day a content creator with over 4m subscribers comes to Warrington to share the stories of river crossings.

Tom Scott, a well-known YouTuber visited three river crossings, as he describes them as all a bit strange and all with something in common.

He provides an insight into each river, or canal crossings and its history, as well as how it fairs these days.

After taking a trip to Hulme Bridge Ferry, which, like the others goes over the Manchester Ship Canal, Tom took a look at the fascinating Thelwall Ferry, which he wasn’t sure if it was said ‘Telwall Ferry’, but Tom got the pronunciation right on the first time.

“The boat doesn’t have an engine it’s just powered by a hard-working man rowing you across, just as there has been for more than 120 years – not the same man, obviously and not the same boat either,” he joked.

“600 crossings a year, some days there is barely anyone, other days a whole walking club might turn up and want to go across.”

The service was suspended due to low water levels in the canal on the day Tom took the trip though.

Warrington Guardian: The Thelwall Ferry - Picture: YouTube / Tom ScottThe Thelwall Ferry - Picture: YouTube / Tom Scott

And Tom shows how the law displays that the ferry must be available whenever required, which is not how it has been interpreted over time, with it available on most days for selected hours.

Tom, with 4.29m subscribers, then showed the Warburton Toll Bridge – something residents know about all too well by now.

He continued: “It is a deeply frustrating bridge for a lot of people because the toll to cross in a car is 12p or 25p if you want a day pass and there is often a queue.

“It seems almost farcical to have a toll collector, a barrier and sometimes very long queues for 12p a time.”

Since reopening after lockdown, Tom experienced the free pass after leaving the side closest to Lymm but did get charged on the other side.

He explained the history of the bridge through the law, which was that for every carriage drawn or propelled by steam or any means other than animal power, it will cost them two shillings and sixpence which, with inflation, would have been around £15.

“I think these ferries and the 12p have stuck around because it would be more effort for the giant cooperation to try and stop them,” Tom added.

“It’s a minor thing for a multi-billion pound company to pay for a couple of ferryboats compared to having to deal with angry locals and bad press.

“I think the toll on Warburton Bridge has stayed at that price for so long because increasing it would have required a change in the law and trying to get that through is way more time consuming and expensive than just keeping things as they are.”

Warrington Guardian: Tom Scott in action paying to get over Warburton Toll Bridge - Picture: YouTube / Tom ScottTom Scott in action paying to get over Warburton Toll Bridge - Picture: YouTube / Tom Scott

Tom hopes residents in and around Warrington can make the most of the quirky river crossings to keep them going.

“In our own lives we make do with a lot of small and bothersome things and irritations because it’s less work than trying to fix them, on a different scale, but the same principle,” he said.

“I’m not saying that the ferries are a bothersome thing – I think they are brilliant – I think we should have more, quirky, useful things funded by multi-billion pound dollar corporations, I’m just saying that the company has bigger things to deal with.

“If they wanted to, they could probably get away without the ferries and at a guess, I reckon it’s not worth the hassle of not running them.

“If you do want the novelty of the 12p toll, now is the time to go because the law will probably change quite soon. As for the ferries, I do hope that the locals will make sure that removing them never becomes the easy option."

The video has amassed over 675,000 views so far.