Swapping canals…

It was a bit grim first thing this morning, damp and drizzly. I got wet through on my run, but by 10:00 it had started to dry up and the day steadily brightened.

It was about 35 minutes to Preston Brook Tunnel, and we arrived at ten to eleven, just time to get
through the shallow stop lock and follow two other boats through the hill.

Foraging for winter stores on the towpath


Past Longacre Wood.


Dutton Stop Lock, six inches deep, just before the tunnel.

Two other boats waiting for the 11:00 passage window.
Like Saltersford this tunnel has timed passages to avoid confusion. But it’s a  bit longer, so you only have 10 minutes to get in there and 20 minutes to make the trip through.

At this end you leave the Trent and Mersey Canal…

…and emerge onto the Bridgewater Canal.
CRT has no jurisdiction here, the operating authority is Peel Holdings, who also manage the Manchester Ship Canal. But a reciprocal agreement between the two allows boats to use the adjoining canals for a restricted period without charge.

Claymore’s hire base on the right and the M56 crossing ahead.

Just beyond the motorway we swung left onto the Runcorn Arm to pick up water from outside Preston Brook Marina.

Under the bridge a young pigeon was looking lonely and confused. I hope it has fledged or else it’ll be easy prey for the local cats.


With the tank filled we returned to the main line, heading past the Daresbury Laboratories with the distinctive tower on the campus.

Across to the west, on the other side of the River Mersey, Fiddlers Ferry Power Station sends a plume of steam into the air.


We pulled in a few hundred yards past Moore. There are rings right opposite the Post Office but it’s a bit noisy there, alongside the road. I walked back to collect the mail, only to find that Tuesday is half-day! Never mind, we’d planned to stay overnight anyway.

It looks a bit wild for tomorrow, we’ll have to see what it’s like before we decide what to do.

Hi Richard. We'll be stopping on Saturday and probably Sunday nights near Watch House Cruising Club's HQ, between Sale and Stretford. From there it's a short walk and tram ride to the start line.



Locks 1, miles 6

A weekend in Anderton and a fine cruise to Dutton.

On Saturday morning we moved the short distance from Marston to Anderton, passing through Marbury woods, now looking distinctly autumnal.

It must be the week for steam-powered boats. After spotting Adamant the other day in Middlewich, today we passed Emily Anne as we approached Anderton.

Emily Anne was built to her owner’s specifications in 1991, in a narrow-beam Dutch barge style. She’s been up and down the network since. Power is from a two cylinder compound engine, rated at around 20HP. More info here.

We dropped the rubbish and recycling at the services, then moored up opposite Anderton Marina for a couple of nights.

This morning started bright and sunny, a good day for a couple of hours cruising, but I decided to reverse the 200 yards back to the services to top off the water tank before we left. That was the plan, anyway. I started up the donk just as two boats arrived to occupy the service wharf, then another arrived to queue up, followed by another. So I gave up that idea and we set off. We’ll turn off the main line of the Bridgewater onto the Runcorn Arm tomorrow and fill up alongside Preston Brook Marina.

Boats waiting to drop down onto the Weaver…

…and one just come up.
 

It’s likely that we’ll use the lift to spend a week or so on the river at the end of the month.

More autumnal colours as we pass Barnton

We had the two tunnels to deal with today, Barnton and Saltersford. An awkward turn under a road bridge takes you into Barnton Basin…

…with the tunnel entrance just around the corner.
If you keep well to the right here you can see through this one. There’s no traffic control.

Out of the 572 yard long tunnel the navigation crosses another broad basin only a stone’s throw from the Weaver (but 50 feet higher) before arriving at Saltersford Tunnel.

This one is 150 yards shorter, but, due to an unfortunate surveying error, has an S bend in the middle, so there’s no line of sight through to the far end. To avoid the inevitable arguments over who has priority, a timed entry system was introduced in 2008. Going north our “window of opportunity” was the top of the hour to 20 minutes past, allowing a 10 minute passage before south-bound traffic can start at half-past till 10 to.

North of the tunnel the canal runs on the side of the Weaver valley, through woodland cloaking the slope with only brief glimpses of the river below.

But beyond Bridge 206 the trees thin out and the views open up.

The badly-eroded towpath further on is having some much-needed repairs.

They did leave enough room to pass, though.

A bit of a worry, this. Floating Pennywort is a rapidly multiplying invasive species. It’ll only get worse…


Dutton Locks, down on the river


We pulled in not far past Bridge 211, on the moorings that were installed after the 2012 breach was repaired.

Great views from up here.

Dutton Railway Viaduct.


We stopped here in 2013, 6 months after the canal had re-opened. We were traveling with Chas and Anne (Moore2Life), and I remember Chas walking along the hedge line with a watering can, giving the just planted hawthorn bushes a thorough drink. Sadly, he’s no longer with us.

Tomorrow we’ll be swapping CRT water for Bridgewater water. We’ll have a shortish day, stopping at Moore to collect mail from the Post Office alongside the canal. My race number, for this weekend’s Manchester Half Marathon, should be there.

Which reminds me… We’re nearly ¾ of the way to my £400 target for Macmillan Cancer Research. So if you’ve been meaning to add to the pot but haven’t yet got around to it, now would be a good time. And thanks again to all those who’ve already contributed.

Locks 0, miles 6¾

Middlewich to Marston–slowly!

We’ve dropped down the our locks for a couple of weeks, not counting the minimal level change at Dutton Stop Lock. The first four were the narrow locks down through the town on Wednesday, the final one was the broad lock at the edge of town.
Tuesday night we treated ourselves to the excellent fish and chips from the chippy at King’s Lock, and Meg made short work of a jumbo sausage.
Then Wednesday morning we just made the short trip down to moor above Big Lock, to make it easier for shopping.

King’s Lock


Dropping down the Middlewich Locks


Deep chambers, these. Each one is 10½ to 11 feet.
 

Lots of water coming down the bywashes, too

Coming in to moor next to the small park above Big Lock

A couple of trips up to Tesco topped up the cupboards, there’s not really much opportunity now till we get to Lymm.

I was back in time to watch the steamer Adamant come past.
Although there were several steam-powered tugs built to tow strings of barges, this one isn’t original.
The hull is a late 19th century Birmingham Joey boat, a type of unpowered open general cargo boat used extensively on the Birmingham Canal Navigations. She had a cabin fitted in 1988, then the steam plant, sourced from a technical college in Wolverhampton, installed and commissioned between 1993 and 1995.

As we came down the locks we were told that there was to be an emergency stoppage at Lock 73 to clear a blocked ground paddle. This was from 08:00 to midday on Thursday. So we were in no rush to get going, with no-one due down the locks first thing we thought we’d wait a bit. Then, shortly after ten, a boat appeared, and  thought “Good, someone to share Big Lock with”. But before I could get untied another came past, then another… It turned out that the job didn’t take as long as they thought, then they locked down the boats waiting as quick as they could. So we had several boats come past, all about 10 minutes apart.

So by the time we set off there were four boats waiting at the lock.

Head of the queue now at Big Lock


Below the lock we had another wait before getting onto the water point, but 45 minutes later we were on our way.

Giving way to another boat coming over Croxton Aqueduct

The aqueduct used to be wide enough to accommodate broad-beam barges but the original was damaged in a flood and was rebuilt to narrow gauge.

Croxton Flash

Subsidence caused by brine extraction is common around here. The canal has overflowed into those depressions, or flashes, located alongside the navigation.

Boats breasted up on the moorings at Brambles Cutting

Through the woods above the River Dane valley

We had pleasant sunny spells, but the brisk wind was cool.

Our destination was alongside another of those flashes, plenty of room here and splendid views.

A little later another pair of historic boats went past, butty Saturn under tow, but I can’t remember the name of the motor boat.

It was a bit showery in the evening, but the clouds broke up a bit later to reveal a full moon and a silver path across the water.

It was a cool night but a fine morning, and we were away about half-nine.

It’s quiet here, but that will peace will be shattered when construction of the HS2 rail line commences. It’s planned to cross the landscape just north of here, obliterating Bilinge Green Farm as it goes. But that hasn’t deterred the development of Bilinge Green Flash as a small marina. 
Slow progress, though.

The other new marina on this stretch is up and running now, although there’s still some construction going on.

Park farm Marina


Salt has always been a major source of income for the Northwich area, the extensive works just north of Rudheath produces soda ash and sodium bicarbonate, amongst other salt-derived chemicals. Built by Brunner Mond, it’s now operated by Tata Chemicals.

Wincham Wharf


We pulled in just past the Lion Salt Works, once a working salt factory and recently re-opened as an industrial museum.

As we cruised along I tried to get a shot of an elusive stalker who’d been shadowing us. I finally succeeded…




After we’d tied up the antics of the squirrels in the bushes opposite kept us amused for a while.


I’m glad something finds a use for hawthorn berries!

On to Anderton tomorrow.

Locks 5, miles 11, 3 days.

Onward to Middlewich

On Saturday morning we moved away from Wheelock, with a stop for water at the wharf. We timed it badly; one boat had passed after coming down the locks and they pulled on for water, then as we rounded the bend another approached from the opposite direction and pulled on as well. So we had a bit of a wait but weren’t in any hurry.
We didn’t get far, just 20 minutes saw us pulling in again just past Bridge 157. The weekend’s forecast wasn’t good so this is a good sheltered spot to ride out the wind and rain.
It actually wasn’t as bad as predicted, but we stayed put anyway.

So this morning we set off under bright skies, heading to Middlewich.



Towpath repairs are under way near Ettiley Heath

We had four locks to deal with today, and the first, Crow’s Nest Lock, was full for us as a boat had not long passed us in the opposite direction. This was a bonus; we knew there were boats ahead of us so expected to have to turn all four.

Crow’s Nest Lock

Although it was frequently sunny the brisk breeze was chilly, so Mags was well wrapped up on the tiller.

That breeze made itself felt even more as we ran down the two locks alongside Booth Lane. They are quite exposed to the west.

Bright and breezy at Booth Lane Locks


As expected, we had to refill these, and the final one too.

Rumps Lock, last for today

The Kinderton Arms on the opposite side of the road has had yet another reincarnation, and is now a Thai restaurant.

We noticed last time we came this way that the large flock of swans that called the canal here home was noticeable by it’s absence. There were only three hanging about today.


We pulled in above King’s Lock. it’s a bit noisy here with the busy Booth Lane alongside, but really handy for a treat from the chippy… It’s only for one night anyway. Tomorrow we’ll be heading down the Middlewich Locks.

Thanks to all those who’ve donated to Macmillan Cancer Support through my Justgiving page. We’re half-way to my £400 target. It’d be nice to beat it, so please follow the link if you haven’t already done so and contribute to this worthy organisation. Thanks in anticipation…

Locks 4, miles 6. Two day’s traveling.