Steadily south...

I've had to do this the hard way! Write it in word, copy and paste the text into Blogger, resize the pictures then drag and drop them into the post. A right pain! For some reason the post, written in Open Live Writer, won't upload into Blogger.
So this is yesterday's...

This morning we left Bob and NB Tamiley in the capable hands of Dan at Bartington Wharf. Inside 15 minutes he’d got the old 3-pot Perkins diesel running. It pays to know which knob to set to which position…
We left at that point, wanting to get to Saltersford Tunnel in time to catch the 10:30 window. Dan was instructing Bob on switch and knob settings for charging the start and leisure batteries from the one alternator. We got a text a little later saying that he was under way, so we might see him later.

Bob and Tamiley at Bartington.

Bob had a huge smile on his face when that engine fired up!

The stretch to Saltersford gives good views out over the Weaver Valley…

…before diving into the tree lined section a mile before the tunnel

Mum and seven ducklings.

We were in and through Saltersford well before the north-bound boat waiting to go through was ready, across the basin to Barnton Tunnel.

An awkward turn into Barnton Tunnel…

…made worse by the fact that there might be someone just coming out! There’s no timed passage through this one; you have to peer in and if there’s no-one coming you go for it. The trouble is you almost have to commit before you can see through!

Out the other end


Two new Barnton residents -
Captain Hook…


…and Mutley!


Through the trees, the Anderton Boat Lift

We paused at the services to dispose of rubbish and recycling, then toddled on and out through Marbury Woods. We were passing several of our regular stopping points, Meg likes it here, and every time we did she stood up in anticipation before lying back down again in a sulk.

Hey up Meg, here’s another!


The canal loops around the north and east of Northwich turning south at the sharp Wincham Bend.

The small boat on the corner is a tanker. The house on the bend has no mains gas and no road access to deliver bulk gas or oil for heating. So he had the little tanker built to fetch heating oil himself.


Wincham Wharf is always busy with boats.
There’s a couple of boat builders here and a large brokerage.

Orchard Marina, Seyella’s birthplace.

I don’t think they have any boatyard services at all now. Just moorings in the basin and on-line.

The new marina a bit further on is taking shape…

Getting to the shore ends of those long pontoons in windy conditions when the marina is full will be interesting…





Great crested grebe fishing on Billinge Green Flash

There was supposed to be a marina here, too, but there were a lot of objections. It looks like the “nays” won.

Part of the route down to Middlewich passes along the River Dane valley, and is pretty and wooded.

Above the Dane

Bank repairs


Pleasant and popular offside moorings at Brambles Cutting


Croxton Flash is shallow…


…and Croxton Aqueduct is narrow!

The original stone aqueduct was washed away in a storm, and replaced by this narrow trough. Up until then wide barges could access Town Wharf in Middlewich, although by then few did.

Our only lock today was Big Lock, and we were lucky to arrive just as another boater had set it up ready.

He waved us in first, and, as he was solo I told him to stay aboard while I dealt with the gates and paddles. It was the least I could do as he’d emptied the lock and opened the lower gates!

After the lock we moved on a little further, pulling in alongside the small park. It’s nice and sunny here. We’ll probably take a day off tomorrow, we’ve cruised for the last 11 days and there’s a few bits and bobs I want to pick up in town. But then again we might just move up through the locks in the town and moor above Kings. We’ll see.

Locks 1, miles 13¾

Hi Sue. Written and saved in Open Live Writer before attempting to upload to Blogger. That's when I get the 
error message. Strangely, a text-only post written in OLW uploads, as did the one with a screen-dump of the error message, saved as a .jpg. Weird. I'll try again tomorrow.

Hiya Emma. Thanks for the invitation. We will be passing your door, I'll see how we're fixed for time but I for one would love to have a look around.