Weaver fever!

Thursday 9th. 

What a fabulous day on the River Weaver. Sunny all day and motoring for between 5 and 6 hours - that certainly topped up the batteries. 

Approaching Dutton Locks with the weir race under the bridge to the right. 

A reminder of a past era, left to rot at the edge of the riverbank. 

Here we are approaching Dutton Viaduct. It was nice to be able to motor along without worrying about creating a wash. On the canals you have to take care passing other boats so that you don't drag out their pins or set them rocking violently accompanied by cries of 'slow down.' 

Even Brigid looked happy to be in charge today. 

We are now approaching Sutton Swing Bridge, followed by the railway bridge. 

In the distance you can just see the M56 crossing the river. A modern concrete structure, hence no picture! 

After that came about two miles of industrial buildings. 

And then, at the furthest point we could reach by boat, standing alone on a spit of land bordered by the River Weaver, the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Mersey, the island church, Christ Church. 

Now boarded up and closed, stonework blackened by years of being in the heart of an industrial area, but still an iconic landmark in its own right. 

Then, having turned round, a repeat trip back to where we started. We had been intending to stop earlier in our travels but the forecast for Friday indicated rain, so we thought we would get as far as we could while the sun was shining. 

A brief look through to the Manchester Ship Canal. 

A fabulous day on the river. Tomorrow, back to the boat lift. 

Oh, nearly forgot, right opposite our mooring was a family of grebe sitting on their nest. We did see another family with a young chick, also some curlew, heron, thrush, Canada geese (with young), swans but, unfortunately, no sight of the kingfisher. 

High tech day today

When I say high tech, I'm talking 1875 high tech! The Anderton Lift. 

For some reason or other, our early start was delayed somewhat as we only woke up at 9am! It's amazing really, some days we've woken up at 6:30 or 7:00 but always around the same time. Today, 9am. So, after a leisurely breakfast we wandered round to the Boat Lift Visitor Centre to see if we had any chance of using the lift and a booking was made for 2:15pm. This just gave us time for lunch at The Moorings by Anderton Marina. 

We then had to arrive half an hour before our transit time. 

Two boats at a time use the lift and at the appropriate time we were allowed into the inner basin. 

The above photo shows us in the caisson with the gate being lowered behind us. 

We then had to wait for the trip boat to enter down below. 

Then it was all systems go and for ten minutes there were rumblings and gurglings as water was pumped and hydraulics got to work and down we went. 

Passing the trip boat on its way up. 

This is a picture of the hydraulic ram raising the trip boat caisson. 

Then into the open air and off along the river. 

At first quite industrial (although this one was in the process of being demolished!) and then ...

... beautiful countryside. 

It was such a lovely afternoon that we decided to go through Saltersford Locks and moor up just below on the visitors moorings. 

The locks are so big that we felt like a tom-tit in a swimming pool. 

Looking forward to tomorrow's trip when we set off toward Runcorn and the River Mersey. 

I'm lost!

Well, not exactly lost, I know precisely where I am but I don't recognise any of it. Brigid tells me that we have come along this canal twice before but nothing rings a bell. 

On Monday we set off from Middlewich and poodled along through lovely countryside and stopped for the night at Broken Cross near Northwich. 

We had intended to meet with friends we knew at Pleshey but, unfortunately, a phone call on Tuesday informed us that Mary wasn't at all well and that we wouldn't be able to meet up. We are going to try and meet again later in our travels if we can. Get well, Mary, we'd love to see you again. 

So, on Tuesday we set off toward Anderton, home of the famous Anderton Boat Lift. 

And, am I glad we moored where we did in Broken Cross because, just around the corner, where there should have been pub moorings, the Canal & River Trust guys had it all dug up. And, shortly after that was the chemical works. 

We carried on past Lion Salt Works, now a museum. 

In places the canal widens out into flashes, large lakes caused by subsidence due to mining in this area. 

Just after one of these flashes we passed this cormorant drying off his wings. 

And, for the night, we moored just short of Anderton, ready for an early start tomorrow to see the lift in operation. 

Meeting up with old friends

Yesterday we arrived at Middlewich, mooring just outside the town but close enough to a footpath that led us straight to Tesco. A good opportunity to stock up again. 

In the afternoon, Matthew and Gail, formerly at Othona, came to visit for tea. I say tea but on arrival they produced a bottle of Cava which went down a treat! 

Today, Sunday, they returned in time to take us to 9am church in Elworth. After, we had a good walk around Sandbach. 

In the cobbled market place stand two Saxon crosses thought to date from the 7C. 

The Saxon crosses in the market square are a connection with St Cedd. Around 650 king Pendant wanted to unite his kingdom of Mercia with Northumbria. In order to marry King Oswi's daughter he had to agree to convert to Christianity. Cedd was one of those sent to help. He was so successful at this that when Sigburt asked Oswi to send someone to the East Saxons Cedd was chosen.

After working up an appetite we then went to The Old Hall for lunch. 

And, for those of you who have missed my pictures of food -  

A lovely roast beef - 

And Matthew's ploughmans. 

Everyone enjoying themselves. 

The girls then tried to make us envious of the ladies loo! 

This is the ante-room! I must confess that the gents was not so grand - nearly, just not as large! 

After that, back to the boat to recover and charge the batteries. 

Thanks Matthew and Gail for a wonderful day of worship and sharing together. 

Back to Barbridge

Today we left the Llangollen Canal and returned to Barbridge. 

I say returned because this is where we bought Polgara back in October 2008. 

This time, however, we managed to get a meal in the Barbridge Inn - when we picked up the boat, the kitchen had just closed! 

Luckily we managed to get in touch with Paul and Julie, the previous owners, and meet up with them again. They had a good look round picking up on changes and recognising original fixtures. 

We then set off toward Middlewich where the locks are somewhat deeper than those on the Llangollen. 

And, lastly, a picture of Polgara back at the junction where we first saw her. 

Whoops!

It's quite amazing how different the canal looks going the other way. At times I turn round to see if I can recognise some features we passed on the way up. 

There are still plenty of hire boats around, most rushing back for Friday changeover. 

At one of the locks I managed to get the boat stuck on the weir race. I had been approaching the lock intending to put the nose of the boat against the lock gate, but the water was running so fast over the weir at the side of the lock that the back of the boat got dragged round and stuck against the edge. Well, we pushed and pulled, revved the engine but all to no avail. What now? The only thing to do was to try and reduce the pressure of water running over the weir. So, we opened all the lock paddles so that water was taken from the pound through the lock as well as over the weir. With this slight reduction in pressure we were able to get the boat moving backwards until I was able to stand on the bank at the back of the boat and give an almighty push to get it away from the side. Whew! Don't want to do that again, I can tell you! 

At one of the locks we saw a grey wagtail. You can tell it's a grey wagtail because it's yellow! Well, not all of it. I understand that the yellow wagtail has a yellow head and body. Anyway, back to the story, on the way up the canal we were told of a nest at one of the locks with eggs in it,  so, on the way back we looked out for it. And here it is. The nest is on one of the gates and we could see a chick - there could have been more - and the parent bird going back and forth catching small flies for them. 

I don't know how many times a day these gates get opened and closed but it's certainly a novel description for a 'mobile home'. 

A couple of working boats moored up at the edge of the canal. 

And, to close, another sunset picture for you. 

Busier and busier

When we set off from our mooring near Trevor, we began to notice more and more hire boats on the canal. It's great to see more and more usage of the canals and causes great mirth at times when whoever is steering realises that it's different to driving a car. 

Once again, we crossed the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. 

And soon, after that, through Whitehouse Tunnel and past Chirk Marina. 

We then stopped to have a look at the town of Chirk. 

We looked around the church and found a very nice tea shop for lunch. Then, back to the boat and onwards again. We had to wait at Chirk Tunnel for two boats to come through, one quite noisy with much singing. Well, the acoustics in the tunnel are quite splendid. 

After the tunnel, several hire boats milling about waiting to go through, having just crossed the Chirk Aqueduct. 

Stopped near New Marton Locks for the night. 

On Tuesday we popped into Ellesmere to have a look round there. We missed the market which had been held that morning but we did enjoy a good old fish & chips lunch. Moored Tuesday night near Hampton Bank Bridge. 

Wednesday and pushing on through the staircase locks at Grindley Brook. 

The lock keeper certainly takes a pride in his locks. 

Although, some of the gates could do with a bit of attention. 

Not to mention the walls! 

It's a bit like going through a boat wash! 

The lock keeper was saying that the throughput for the year should be 10,000 but it is now up to 18,000. No wonder that in peak periods the canal gets shallow in place when the water supply just can't keep up. 

We have just moored above Povey's Lock for the night and for supper we will be having salmon fillets with new potatoes and spinach. Yum yum.