Last night we were moored at Dutton Mile visitor moorings, these are quite new moorings about quarter of a mile below Acton Bridge so a lot les traffic noise. The down side of the mooring is that its all wiggly, not more than 40 foot of straight anywhere, so mooring a Narrowboat requires some improvisation.
Just behind the mooring is a CRT dredging disposal site where wet mud is allowed to drain, the water returning to the river.
It started raining just after we went to bed and was still raining this morning, we had just over 10mm over night so we decided rather than continuing down stream we would head up to Anderton and leave the river, already there was a marked increase in flow and we have no desire to get trapped down here. We arrived at the lift about 11am and I went and booked the next available slot going up, ten past twelve, we could stay on the holding mooring as we were next to go up and the lift crew would see us about twenty to twelve. Well that was the plan, by now the rain and virtually stopped. Back onboard I shut the engine down and went inside when there was a knock on the window. It was the lift crew, the trip boat would be coming down shortly so we could go up at the same time, the gate is being opened ready and if we like we can make our way round and go in. As we were facing upstream I just reversed back and then swung the bows towards the lift, waited for the thumbs up and went in. While waiting had a good chat with the operator who lives on a Nb in Venetian Marina, he was hoping to come on the river for the summer but the Middlewich breach has scupper that.
As you leave the lift you have to turn right and as we wanted to go left that meant coming out then a few yards to the winding hole before going back across the lift exit.
When we arrived at Barnton tunnel there was already two boats waiting for the 1pm passage North so we just floated around for 20 minutes as there was nowhere to tie. After the first boat went through the other one, a Canaltime boat suggested we followed and they would come last, no long after leaving the tunnel they moored up where as we continued on to the site of the Dutton breach to moor for the night. Since we have been here it has started raining once more, its now 13mm in the past 24 hours.
Today's Journey 
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