Tanked up, and it’s a small world….

With weather like we’ve enjoyed these last couple of days, the best place to be is on the water. I needed a few more bits and pieces from B&Q, so yesterday we decided to motor up Bridge 191, where a 10 minute walk across the fields emerges just 200 hundred yards away from the store.

Fine looking tug style narrowboat near Marston.

This is painted in the livery of the United Alkali Co Ltd. The finish is so new you can smell the paint in the hot sun.

All this area has suffered from subsidence following brine extraction, in fact an old building alongside Bridge 192 has recently been demolished. The bridge itself has been “adjusted” as the surrounding ground slumped.

The canal bridges around here are generally built with a flat deck on supports, rather than the more traditional brick arch. This allowed for local subsidence, as the bridge deck could be removed, another couple of courses of brick added to the supports and the deck replaced. The earlier deck position can clearly be seen under Bridge 193.

Bridge 193.

We turned around and headed back to moor just at the edge of Marbury Wood, to watch the boats go by.

Moored near Marbury.

It was a lot busier than when we were here for 10 days 18 months ago…..

Marbury Sunset

Today we headed back to Anderton, filling and emptying the appropriate tanks at the sanitary station, then turning into Uplands Marina for fuel. 140 litres of diesel, a gas bottle and a bag of solid fuel (I know, it’s nearly 30º, but we had a frost this time last week….) left the wallet a little lighter, but that’ll do for another month. I also left our old prop with Dave to see if anyone wants it (17x12, RH, 1½” shaft) and an alternator for repair.

We got chatting, and it turns out that he used to live in the same village as us in the Dales, and we have friends in common. He also knows one of Margaret’s sons, Eric.

Crows flocking over the fields towards Little Marston.

How come they don’t bump into each other?

NB Bluebird at Harrals at Wincham Wharf. She was used as a floating office at a canalside development in Worsley, but I’m guessing is now for sale.

NB Bluebird

We moored up near Broken Cross and I walked up to Orchard Marina to have a word about the wood I’d ordered. He’s got the sheet material but is still waiting for the oak framing, hopefully in the next couple of days.

We’ll hang around nearby till it lands.

Locks 0, miles 7½