Greater Cheshire: Day 7

We had a great evening with Erika and Ian last night.  They came over to BR for a drink as they’d never been on board, and then we all went over the bridge to their house where we had a takeaway.  Lots of boating stories were exchanged.

This morning we got a wash load going before we set off, and then untied at about 8.30.  It had been raining, but cheered up a bit before raining again.  Just around the corner was a view of the water tower.

The Runcorn Arm is actually very pretty all through Norton, with long wooded sections.  Then there’s a riot of concrete road bridges.

As you get into Runcorn, there’s a building which looks as though it could be a nuclear power station.  It’s actually the Brindley Theatre — although it does look better from the other side.  It’s also having work done at the front.

Then you get views of the iconic Runcorn Bridge.

The end of the canal happens rather abruptly at Waterloo Bridge.  There used to be locks beyond the bridge, going down to the Runcorn and Weston Canal, and the Manchester Ship Canal.  But for now, it’s where you have to turn around.

We turned and went back to moor on rings outside the theatre.  Going that way you also get views of the Mersey Gateway Bridge.

We walked into Runcorn to get some shopping at the decent-sized Co-op, then set off back down the arm.  When we got to the marina we stopped at the water point to fill the tank, and had lunch.  Then we went back out onto the main line, and turned south again.  We were much too early for the timed entry to Preston Brook Tunnel, which is for ten minutes at half past each hour, so we had about half an hour to wait.  We walked up above the tunnel mouth to see if we could spot any of the air shaft chimneys, but it’s too wooded.  But we did find the final Trent and Mersey mile post — which is above a point a few yards inside the tunnel, where the T&M technically turns into the Bridgewater.

I also had time to do a Kingley Vale blog post, with the latest photos of the build.  Of course no boats had come north, and we set off at 1.30.  Two of the three air shafts are off centre in this tunnel.

When we got to the other end a boat was arriving to go through.  They then set off, even though they were ten minutes early.  At least from this end you can see there’s nothing coming.  We did the lock and then the bendy bit of canal, and moored on the rings at the site where the canal breached in 2012.  It had turned into a sunny and warm afternoon, so we took a walk along to the next bridge and down to the River Weaver, this time to look at Dutton Locks.  There’s a graceful bridge over the weir stream to take you onto the lock island.

Further down the valley is the long railway viaduct.

One of the houses by the locks had a very decadent-looking parasol in the front garden.

In the weir stream, next to the sluices, is an Archimedes screw power plant, with the flow of the river turning the screw to produce enough power for 150 homes.  Because of all the fencing around it, it’s very difficult to get a photo.

And the old ship that’s been here for decades has deteriorated some more.

11 miles, 1 lock.  (40 miles, 14 locks)

Greater Cheshire: Day 6

The peace of our lovely quiet mooring was disturbed yesterday evening when three plastic boats came through Barnton Tunnel, music blaring, and moored up for an evening round a camp fire.  They did actually turn the music down, and they didn’t really take any notice of us, but every sound echos round the pool.  Then at about 10.30 they all packed up, turned the music back up, and headed back through the tunnel.

It rained overnight and was still a bit drizzly this morning.  Saltersford Tunnel is timed entry, from the top of the hour until 20 past going north, so we set off at a couple of minutes to 10 and entered the tunnel bang on the hour.

It’s only a short tunnel, but the reason it’s timed is that it’s so kinked inside that you can’t see from one end to the other; actually going north you get the briefest glimpse of a sliver of light from the other end — but once inside you can see that part way through there’s such a bend that the other portal is at a completely different angle.  Once through, there are glimpses of the Weaver valley below, and if you know where to look you can seen bridges and the location of locks.  There’s also a big viaduct over the valley.

After almost two hours we reached the one lock of the day, the Dutton Stop Lock, built by the Trent and Mersey to stop the Bridgewater Canal taking their water.  It’s only about 2 inches fall, and is neither narrow nor wide.  Just before it is a dry dock with a railway style canopy over it — principally because it was built by the North Staffordshire Railway, when they owned the canal.

We were a little early for the timed entry to Preston Brook Tunnel — just ten minutes from the top of the hour at this one — so we tied up.  

It was clear someone was coming through as there was a woman waiting, but it turned out to be two guys in a kayak, doing a sponsored paddle.  They’re doing Preston Brook to Middlewich now, and Llangollen to Middlewich in August.

At 12 we set off, and it takes about 15 minutes to get through. A couple of feet before the end of the tunnel, the Trent and Mersey changes to the Bridgewater.  It’s owned by Peel Ports, and these days, boats with a CRT licence, like us, have to book.  We rather like these flats, just beyond the tunnel.

A little further on is Midland Chandler’s, where I came by car a couple of months ago to get new batteries.

Immediately beyond the M56, we turned left onto the Runcorn Arm, and moored just beyond the next bridge.  Our friends live on the opposite side of the canal, but the mooring on their garden currently has a wasps nest, so we’re keeping well away!  We’ll see them this evening.

This afternoon, we walked along to the next bridge and up the hill to Norton, to look at the water tower which is visible on the top of the hill for miles around.  You can’t get very close because it’s still operational.

When we got back to the bridge, we decided to continue down the lane.  It took us to a level crossing over the railway line  where we happened to see a freight engine towing a steam engine and a single carriage.  It appears it was being moved from Carlisle to Crewe.  Then we came to the mainline of the Bridgewater Canal, which is up on an embankment, with the lane continuing through an underbridge.

We walked down the towpath to the junction, across the bridge, through some housing, and back to the boat. 

6 miles, 1 lock.  (29 miles, 13 locks)

Greater Cheshire: Day 5

We had a rather slow start to the day, because Keith Wilson was coming at 11 to discuss an alteration to our new cratch cover, to make it fit a little better.  While we waited for him, we went for a walk to see the gardens of the Lion Salt Works, as it was much better weather than yesterday’s rain.  Their butterfly garden contains the Cheshire buddleia collection, which has more than thirty named varieties.  I didn’t even know there were that many.

Then we walked over the canal bridge, where there are two larges flashes.

Keith arrived and we came up with a plan which will mean we’re not without a cover for very long, and then we set off at about 11.30.  We continued to Anderton where we stopped on the services to get rid of rubbish and recycling (although there are no separate bins here yet), and fill the water tank.  Then we moved round the corner and moored up.  It turned out we were right in front of  Amy Jo, so we had a quick chat with Chris and Steve, whom we first met many years ago in Chester.  We walked up to the Anderton Lift visitor centre and have a very nice and very reasonably priced lunch in the cafe.  It has a great view of the lift.

Unfortunately the lift is out of action at the moment, otherwise we’d have taken the opportunity to go down onto the Weaver for a few days.  It needs £15 million pounds worth of works, which won’t happen quickly.  Our friend and fellow Braidbar owner, Erika, works there, so we were able to have a chat with her too.  We’ll be back here in a few days, so we decided to leave a proper look round the site until then, and set off once again north.  There is a nice house up on the hill overlooking the approach to Barnton Tunnel.

Barnton Tunnel is one way but doesn’t have the time restrictions that other tunnels up here do, because you can see right through it — although only really at the last moment.  

It’s only a short tunnel but it is far from straight.  In fact, the kinks in it are so pronounced you actually have to steer round them!  At the far end of the tunnel is a wide pool, before Saltersford Tunnel.  A boat was already on the best mooring, but we tied up with a lovely view out the front of the boat.

We went for a walk down the lane to the River Weaver and along to the Saltersford Locks.  The small lock clearly hasn’t been used for some time, and with the lift closed there must be very little traffic on the river at all.

Surprisingly, given that we’re surrounded by hill here, we both have excellent mobile internet signals.

3 miles, 0 locks.  (23 miles, 12 locks)

Greater Cheshire: Day 4

The heatwave is well and truly over.  Today we needed fleeces and coats.  It was raining before we got up, but for the first part of our journey at least it was dry.  We got the washing machine going before set set off, and then left at about a quarter to 9.  The first part is through woodland, but then there are a couple of examples of flashes — wide expanses of water caused by subsidence from salt extraction.  The first is very shallow, with warning signs; the second has been turned into a marina, open to the canal, with a tea room and bell tents.

Orchard Marina, which closed a number of years ago for refurbishment, appears to be completely finished — but still empty.  When we were investigating possible bases in March, we were told it should reopen in a month or two, so that hasn’t happened.

At Broken Cross there’s a very long established pub, which now looks rather nice.

In that area there’s a huge bakery, and there was definitely the smell of bread in the air.  But then you come to the Tata chemical works, which spans the canal.  There is a new sustainable energy plant being built — it’s the big building right next to the canal.  They had a couple of the biggest cranes I’d ever seen, and as you go past the unfinished building you can see six or seven turbines with huge blades.

Wincham Wharf was a nightmare with moored boats, including widebeams, so you can’t see if anything is coming through the bridge.  Fortunately nothing was.  It was raining quite hard by now, and we moored up a bit further along, outside the Lion Salt Works.  Once we’d had lunch, we went through the towpath gate just by our stern, paid our money (a reasonable £7.50 each) and went for a look around.

The whole area around Northwich in particular but also Middlewich and Nantwich has a history of salt production, and the Lion works used bit open pans with furnaces underneath to boil brine and leave salt.  They had recreated the effect of the steam, and we also liked the way some of the old machinery had been left if its decayed state.  I can’t imagine an atmosphere full of salt does equipment much good.

There were also lots of photos of the effects of subsidence in the area, with some buildings falling down, some being jacked up, and others on rollers so they could be moved.  There were cracks in the roads several feet deep that people could stand in, and there was a canal breach when a mine collapsed — although it was fixed in a fortnight.

It has brightened up slightly this afternoon, but to be honest we need the rain to start refilling the reservoirs.  The next couple of weeks looks as though we could get wet a few times.

6 miles, 0 locks.  (20 miles, 12 locks)

Greater Cheshire: Day 3

We didn’t have far to go today, but we’re still away at 8.30.  When we got to Wardle Lock there was a boat coming up, but there was also a boat in front of us.  The space above the lock is a bit tight when there are three boats trying to manoeuvre round each other — then another boat arrived behind us.  The first boat, an ABC hire boat went down the lock and turned right at the junction.  The boat behind was an Andersen hire boat which was supposed to be back at base at 9am — which was only a few minutes away, and they had not only Wardle Lock to do, but the three Middlewich ones as well.  We let them go ahead of us, which they were very grateful for.  They were two couples from the Netherlands and Germany, who’d done the Four Counties Ring in a week, and were annoyed they’d mistimed their last morning.  Eventually, it was our turn to go into Wardle Lock to go down.  The lock cottage still looks as though it could do with some work.

Wardle Lock makes up about half the length of the UK’s shortest canal, the Wardle Canal.  The rest of it does under a bridge to a junction with the Trent and Mersey, where we turned north.

The junction is really quite tight, especially with boats moored opposite.  Then there’s a bridge followed by Middlewich Wharf, where you really have to breathe in.

The hire boat in front were re-filling the locks for us, plus there were two volunteers on, so we sped down the three locks.  The hirers had returned their boat, not especially late, and were now off to Liverpool for a couple of days.  We went round the corner and moored by the park, so we could have a little look at Middlewich.  The church is quite impressive, but the main street doesn’t have a huge amount to recommend it, although the Alhambra, which presumably used to be a cinema, looks quite interesting.

We topped up with some fresh produce at the Tesco Express, then went back to the boat and went down Big Lock, which is wide.

We filled the tank at the water point below, then went across Croxton Aqueduct over the River Dane, which used to be wide enough for widebeam boats but was washed away in the 1930s and was rebuilt narrow.

We moored a mile or so further on, on rings on the towpath just before the offside Bramble Cuttings moorings.  We could have gone there as there was space, but this side we have the side hatch on the water side, and it’s a little more open.  We also have access to the towpath, so we’ve been for a walk to get our steps in.  Bramble Cuttings itself had filled up this afternoon, and there has been a flurry of boats going south.

3 miles, 5 locks.  (14 miles, 12 locks)