A short cruise to Church Lawton

We were off quite early again today, to try to avoid the hottest part of the day. We’re going all continental!

Leaving Rode Heath
It’s a shame, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen this canal looking so overgrown. All our regular “wild” mooring spots are heavily forested, so the shears have been put to good use. If it gets any worse, though, a strimmer will become essential equipment!

Probably the prettiest locks on the Cheshire flight are at Church Lawton. Lawton Treble Locks, numbers 50 to 52, lift the canal 28 feet.



Like all the locks from Wheelock to the summit, these were duplicated during the first quarter of the 19thC to speed up traffic. What I didn’t know till speaking to a local today was that these three actually replace a three-rise staircase slightly to the north.

Thomas Telford was tasked with the improvements to the original James Brindley route, and recognised that a staircase will always cause holdups, although it was easier to build. So he moved the channel to the south and built three parallel pairs of single locks instead.

The old line is now a stub below Lock 49…
…and runs round to rejoin below Lock 52.

The towpath changes sides here, crossing over the twin entrances to the lock over the extended bridge.

Bridge at lock 49, Brindley’s original span on the right, Telford’s extension on the left.
Around 50 years separate the the two arches, but they are alike in all but the arch.

This afternoon, now moored above Church Locks, I went to see if there’s any trace of the 1770 Brindley staircase. A long shot, I know, after 240 years.

The canal went down here, close to the right hand hawthorn hedge

The drop off at the end of the pasture is now heavily overgrown, but may have been the site of the top of the staircase. There’s a bit of brickwork visible.

And a shed has been built into the bank below, maybe in the old chamber?

I couldn’t get any closer from this end, I might have a look from the bottom end tomorrow morning before we leave.

Back at the Church Lawton moorings. They’ve filled up a bit since we arrived 

Nev asked yesterday to explain the term “flatting”. It’s basically preparation of fresh paint to receive another coat. Fine wet and dry (I’m using 400 grit for this job, but on a classic car I’d use 1200) on a sanding block is used with water to remove brush marks and to key the paint to improve adhesion of the next coat. Each coat will be treated this way.

I was sweatily rubbing away on a hatch frame today when I was thankfully interrupted by the arrival of Bruce and Sheila, NB Sanity Again. They are moored a little way ahead of us and knew we were heading here so came to say hello. Good to see you both again.

Locks 6, miles 1½

Meg gets a make-over

Poor old Meg has been suffering with the heat over the last few days. She’s been listless, unwilling to walk far and off her food a bit. It can’t be easy, carrying a hearthrug around…

In Wheelock there’s a dog groomer, the aptly named Hair of the Dog, and Lynne was prepared to shuffle things about for us to get Meg in for clipping. She’s not had this done before, and I wasn’t sure how she’d behave, but it appears she’s made a new friend…

Lynn of Hair of the Dog and Meg after her haircut
Sorry about the red-eye, phone camera.
Lynn is on 07958 698159 and the shop is on the main road, next door to the pet food superstore.

She’s so much livelier again, back to her usual bounding about self. Well worth while, and it’ll grow back for when she needs it in the winter. This might be a regular spring appointment…

Overnight on Friday night someone had left a paddle up on the pound directly below us, leaving it empty, so water had to be dropped down to allow boats to move up from Wheelock. It left us sat on the bottom at a bit of an angle….

My coffee and Mag’s hot chocolate

The drawers behind wouldn’t stay shut.

Light switch pull-cord in the bathroom

Yes, it should be parallel to the door frame…

After a hot couple of days it was time to move on, so yesterday afternoon after  collected Meg we followed Ann and Chas up 6 locks to just below Hassel Green

Ann and Chas had walked down to meet us part way. I imagine Molly’s reaction on seeing a shorn Meg was “What the hell happened to you?”

It’s just been too hot for glossing, but there was plenty of rubbing down to do even if it meant breaking out in a sweat just being outside.

You’ve got to be kidding!

The right hand cabin side and rear panel are now flatted back, ready to receive the first coat of gloss, and the front panel and inside of the cockpit are undercoated.

Cheshire countryside this morning

Chell’s Aqueduct

Mags doing her Audrey Hepburn impression….

No Breakfast at Tiffany’s, though. Sorry. Rice Krispies only.

Back in boatwoman mode heading for Lock 54

Old cottages and new houses

We moored at Rode Heath for the night, and as it was a cooler afternoon I got the door and hatch frames and edges cleaned, sanded and undercoated. Another job done. There’s very little of the original paint to be seen now.

Church Lawton tomorrow and a change of towpath sides. I wonder if it’ll be cool enough for me to make a start on flatting the left cabin side undercoat?

Locks 12, miles 3½

I thought I’d better write a blog post…

….After all, it’s been over a week!
Well, we’re into July now and it looks like we might even be seeing a bit of summer over the next few days. About time, eh.

We’ve steadily worked our way south along the Trent and Mersey, spending a few days in and around Middlewich.

On one of our walks we came across these reprobates….
I wonder what they’d done? 

Pass the machete

Chas on Moore2Life dodging a floating reed island near Bridge 192

M2L looks out of place heading through the Brunner Mond works on the outskirts of Northwich

We pulled in just north of Middlewich near Croxton Aqueduct and spent a few days there, before moving into the town for two nights to top up the food cupboards from Tesco.

While near the aqueduct I removed and refitted the cratch board, it’s now 1½ inches further forward, shaped to sit on top of the deck cant rather than behind it as originally fitted.

New position


It’ll look a lot better when it’s painted….

The rear edge of the cratch cover had to be re-attached too. It was originally anchored with turn-buckles pop-riveted to the cabin sides. I decided to use bungee fixings instead, with the hooks secured with 4mm screws drilled and tapped into the steel. The old holes have been filled and painted over.

We spent last night on the moorings above Kings Lock, alongside the busy Booth Lane. The reason? Fish and chips from the excellent chippie near the lock!

Coming up through the Middlewich three we finished up at the wrong end of a long queue waiting for the bottom lock.

Queue at Lock 74
It wasn’t as bad as it at first appeared; one of the boats belonged to Andersen Boats, and was charging batteries at their wharf. That made us only fourth!

Looking back from the bottom lock, that’s the hire base on the left.
We hired a boat from here maybe 20 years ago to do the Four Counties Ring with friends Val and John. The company seems to be particularly popular with groups from Scandinavia. It must be the spelling…

Last lock out of Middlewich

Today we decided to head for Wheelock. You can only stand the traffic at Kings for one night!
Once again we timed it badly, finishing up behind a couple of boats at Rumps Lock. But still, it’s that time of year. It’ll get worse before it gets better.

Leaving Rumps

The Kinderton Arms on the left is for sale or lease once again. It’s a shame, it’s a fine building.

Salt production has gone on in the Middlewich area since pre-Roman times, and is still very much in evidence today.

British Salt at Cledford

Booth Lane Locks

We intended to moor just beyond the water point in Wheelock, but there was no room so after watering we reversed through the bridge and moored alongside the pet food warehouse. TV was checked while tea was brewing, no chance so we decided to push up the Wheelock locks after refreshment.

We finally finished up between locks 65 and 64. We’ll probably stay here for the weekend, now. Dry settled weather will give me a chance to do a bit more painting, so long as I can get it done in the cool of the early morning.

So, since the last entry, Locks 10, miles 14¼

It’s all about the timing…

We waited for the rain to stop today before shifting. We would have moved sooner though if the weather had been better; our overnight mooring between bridges 198 and 199 has a sloping concrete edge and we were on a bend, every boat that went past caused a scrape and a bang that rattled the cupboards.
So as soon as the rain eased we set off, first into Uplands Marina for the new starter battery and diesel, then onto the water point where we caught up with Ann and Chas, before setting off towards Middlewich.

Marbury Wood
We spent our first night aboard on that bit of bank on the left…8th August 2006. Nearly 7 years ago. Doesn’t time fly!



The canal winds east and south around Northwich passing the salt village of Marston where the Lion Salt Works is being renovated as a living museum after years of lying derelict

Lion Salt Works

We stopped at the footbridge near the football ground. We wanted to visit the well-stocked DIY shop on Denton Drive, and this is the closest approach from the canal, via a footpath.

By the time Ann and I had returned after an only partially successful trip it had started to rain again so we decided to stay put instead of pressing on for a bit. Tomorrow is forecast to be better….. hopefully.

Thanks to Lesley, Adam, Carol and Gary and Della (boat’s looking great!) for  the responses to my request for recommendations for a signwriter for Seyella’s name panel. I’ll be getting in touch with them after the weekend, for quotes and availability.

Locks 0, miles 2½

A damp trip back up onto the canal

No boat work planned for today; we were heading back up the boat lift onto the Trent and Mersey Canal.
 It was fine first thing, but rain moved in around lunchtime and has been with us since. We’re supposed to look forward to it continuing till noon tomorrow. Lovely.

Ann and I walked up to the lift office at 10:00, and got a booking for 12:50 for both boats. First trips up were 11:15, following a staff meeting, so there was a bit of a backlog.

Heading for the lift holding moorings

When we arrived I walked around to the front of the lift, NB So Long and another boat were going up in the left hand caisson, the trip boat MV Edwin Clark was coming down on the right.

MV Edwin Clark appears as the guillotine gate is raised, watch out for the drips!

Meanwhile the two boats in the other tank will be moving out onto the canal. We were invited in about 10 minutes later for our own trip up.

Ann and Chas alongside

Passing two more boats on the way down.

Near the top level, looking up at the now redundant gearing for the balance weights.
The original operation of the hydraulic rams when built relied on river water, a sensible solution as it seemed at the time. But the acidic nature of the water caused corrosion within the cylinders, resulting in more and more frequent stoppages for repair.
After 33 years of operation, the decision was made to convert the system to electric motors, each caisson raised by wire cables and counterbalanced by weights. This required strengthening of the framework and construction of the winch deck on top. The rebuilt lift opened to full operation in 1908.
In 1983 routine inspection detected severe corrosion in the structure and it was closed for safety reasons. After repairs it was expected that the electrical operation would be retained, but in 1997 a decision was made to revert to hydraulics, using oil rather than water. The rebuilt lift reopened in 2002.

Top of the hydraulic ram supporting the west caisson

Looking south, upstream, towards Northwich, from the aqueduct spanning the gap between canal and lift

Moore2Life following us out onto the Trent and Mersey
We didn’t get much further, mooring up on the visitor moorings in Anderton.

Tomorrow we’ll move on, towards Middlewich. We’ve got to visit Dave at Uplands Marina for diesel and a new starter battery on the way. Over the last few days it’s died, so I’m having to jump start the engine from the leisure bank. Not ideal.

Thanks, anon, for the comment yesterday (why didn't you leave your name?) but I'm way ahead of you. We've got the paint shed at Canal Cruising in Stone booked for a week in August to do the final coats.
Just need a signwriter to do the name panel. Any recommendations, anyone?

Locks 0, miles ½

Drat those flies!

Why do flies have an almost magnetic attraction to wet paint? You watch them moseying along with very little going through their tiny minds, then they smell paint and BANG, something goes off inside their heads and they head like heat seeking missiles to the freshly applied coats.

Some land feet down and can be brushed off leaving their feet behind when the paint is dry….


Some splash down upside down, and leave an angel impression….

The worse ones are those that land unseen just before you lay off the fresh paint. They get smeared into the surface.

This guy in the undercoat really tried to get free… leaving footprints in the surface and paint up to his knees.

Luckily the red will need at least one more coat, and the undercoat is obviously not a problem.

We’re not only anonymous now, we’ve also gone into stealth mode.

The roof is finished, the handrails are on the way, and the cabin sides and rear are in undercoat.

I finished the left side this morning before we headed back up to Northwich for shopping and collection of new specs.
Mags thought she’d ordered two pairs but only one was waiting for collection last week so I had her second pair to pick up, and my two pairs too. So we can see what we’re hitting now. Although there’d better not be too much of that once the finish coats are on!

It’s struck me that although we’ve been down on the Weaver for a while, I’ve not taken many photos of the scenery. Probably because we’ve hardly gone anywhere!
So here’s a couple from today…

Cardens Ferry Bridge over the confluence of Witton Brook in the distance.
The river turns right just this side of the bridge. The brook was navigable through to Witton Bridge through several locks to service Witton Mill and salt works in the area, but since the mill closed the navigation has reverted to it’s natural state.

We used the services on arrival in Northwich, then went under Town Bridge to wind in the wide section where the novel Floatel used to stand float.

The raft sections which supproted the buildings were secrured to these piles…
This picture taken in April 2010…

This one purloined from a travel website when it was in it’s heyday….
Built in the 1980s it closed early in 2009 and was demolished for safety reasons later that year. The decaying buildings had sunk two feet below their design levels, vandals had done their worst and the whole site was an eyesore.

The April picture shows the main shed of the boatyard with it’s original side slipway,

The whole area is the the process of redevelopment, and will become a mixed residential and retail scheme, with pontoon moorings and boat services on the river.

Northwich Marina development

After the shopping we returned to moor below the lift, back up onto the canal tomorrow.

Locks 0, miles 2