Wednesday night gave us some another impressive display of the power of nature as thunder and lightening raged across the sky. But before that we had a an impressive sunset… 
In the morning Amber and I took a stroll up the towpath looking down on the Weaver as we passed over it.
The Weaver rises in the Peckforton Hills then runs 11 and a bit miles south, passing under the Llangollen at Wrenbury where it’s little more than a stream, then under the Shroppie just north of Audlem. It turns north around here, steadily getting bigger as it pulls in tributeries and passes through Nantwich then crosses under the Middlewich Branch just to the north-west of Crewe. Downstream of the Flashes above Winsford it becomes the River Weaver Navigation and heads through Winsford and Northwich before losing it’s identity in the Mersey at Runcorn. A length of 60 miles and a fall of 292 feet.
It’s the river and it’s feeders winding across the Cheshire and Shropshire landscape, that makes the area so fertile.
It must have been something to do with the thunder and heavy rain, every few paces there were pairs of snails making baby snails…
I must confess to crunching a couple that were trying to be discreet in the undergrowth. Oops, sorry…
We were on the move at half-nine, through the woods either side of the river valley then out into the open agricultural land.
The Middlewich Branch was used by fast fly-boats carrying perishables and passengers, pulled by teams of horses that were changed regularly. A row of restored and converted stables would have been a stop for swapping horses.
Cheeky!
We pulled in after only about 90 minutes near the delightfully named village of Wimboldsley.
Us and lots of others!
After a quiet night by recent standards we were getting ready to move on when most of the other boats moored ahead of us all set off together 20 minutes and 7 boats later I was finally able to untie… They were all together and heading to the moorings near Aqueduct Marina for a barbeque. I hope the weather stays fair.
Under duller skies we had an uneventful day to the edge of Middlewich, having to queue for a bit to drop down Stanthorne Lock then pulling in on rings on the rebuilt bank near the site of the breach into the Wheelock a couple of years ago.
It’s been a bit cooler today, much more comfortable.
Locks 1, miles 6
3 comments:
Hi Geoff and Mags,
I am having a boat blog catch up. As with so many of your posts Geoff, I have enjoyed the history of this one immensely. I had no idea the river Weaver (apt name, yes?) traveled so far through Wales and down to Runcorn. Les would have enjoyed reading this post too.
Mags, I hope your health is still holding steady. I had 2 back-to-back emergency surgeries in September of 2019 to remove my extremely inflamed gall bladder and the next day to sweep bile stones out of my bile duct and cut its opening a bit larger. Fingers crossed you continue on hale and hearty love.
Stay safe, stay well!
Love to you both,
Jaq xxx
Oh those poor snails... what a way to go ��
Hope you are all feeling a little more comfortable now that the heat has subsided ��
At least they died happy... Definitely more comfortable now, thanks. Especially poor Amber!
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