With Saltersford Tunnel and it’s timed entry system about three miles ahead, we’d worked out that if we left at about quarter past the hour, we’d be about right for the tunnel an hour and a quarter later. So we set off at 8.15. There was light rain for most of the morning, although it didn’t seem to bother a kingfisher who kept flying in front of the boat for a long stretch. Each time he stopped, I failed to get a photo. The sun occasionally tried to break through the clouds.
We got to Saltersford a little early, but only about 5 minutes or so.
It’s only just over 400 yards long, but it’s so bendy inside that you can’t see the other end at all.
Out the other side, across Barnton Pool, and into Barnton Tunnel. This one you can see the other end, but only a small sliver of it, and only when you’d done the turn to line up.
At the other side of Barnton Tunnel there’s another challenge, which is getting round a sharp bend and under a road bridge, and hoping no-one is coming the other way.
We moored up on the 2 day moorings at Anderton, just before the boat lift, because I have a strong 5G signal here and Adrian has a few calls this weekend. We’d barely done two hours boating. We walked down to the visitor centre to see the Daniel Adamson steam tug, which had come up the River Weaver on a trip yesterday.
Later on we went back because we knew it was scheduled to set off on its return trip at 12.30. They sometimes do a short turnaround cruise which would be worth doing, but today it went into reverse and by using one of the stern lines on a bollard, backed into the basin below the boat lift.
Then it was off down the Weaver, heading for the Manchester Ship Canal and Ellesmere Port.
This afternoon we’ve had more rain showers, but once it had stopped we walked back to the previous bridge and found a path along the offside of the canal which leads up to Barnton village. There’s a decent little Co-op there where we could get the things we forgot yesterday.
4 miles, 0 locks. (44 miles, 14 locks)
No comments:
Post a Comment