Middlewich

 

Looking at the weather station this morning I see we had 38.5mm of rain in 24 hours yesterday, thankfully this morning the sun was out, the breeze had dropped and the world was all-good.

We set off heading towards the Anderton Boat lift where we planned to wind and return. On the way we stopped at the Anderton services to fill with water this is quite a good tap with good pressure, We arrived at the lift in bright warm sunshine so we decided to carry on for a bit, what I had forgotten was the next winding hole was a mile and a half and between Barnton and Saltersford tunnels. I have tried many times to get a good photograph of this bridge, this is my best effort to date. 

We were lucky at Barnton as there was no one coming the other way, so straight through, well not straight because its a bit twisty. We winded just before Saltesford Tunnel and nosed back into Barnton Tunnel again. Just through Barnton Tunnel is where old wooden Narrowboats come back to life, its not a fast process and these boats have been here longer I have been coming this way.

Between here and the lift a house has set out pray stones, inviting you to put out your own prayer. 

Back at the lift the water flow over the spill weir down to the weaver was as fast as I have ever seen. Back at Wincham we could see Wincham Brook was more than full of water from the recent rains.

Passing Orchard Marina in the sun as opposed to driving rain I could see there are a couple inlets, so maybe they are going to have workshops etc.

Just to give you all a smile, I have seen ventilation mushrooms in chrome, highly polished brass, painted red with spots like toadstools but I have never seen them with eyes and legs like spiders.

Repair work is taking place on the railway bridge so the towpath is closed off, the strange thing is the barriers are miles from any access or exit from the towpath and where the access is there is no large “Closed Towpath” signs, so you could walk a mile and then come up against a dead end from ether the north or the south. I can’t find anything about it on the C&RT web site.

Now the excitement of the day first I rescued a drowning plastic, road works sign, I had seen the poor thing floundering 2 days ago when we passed. Just ahead on the corner I could see the orange netting on the towpath so I knew this was its rightful home. As I  rounded the bend I could see their work flat completely blocking the canal, so now after rescuing a sign I have to rescue a work boat, pull it back to the side and re-moor it, thankfully the stake, not a mooring pin like us leisure boaters use was still attached to the rope. 

My little club hammer made little impact trying to drive it fully home. The River Dane looked brown and angry as it surged under the Croxton Aqueduct. That will make things interesting for boats on the River Weaver at Northwich where it hits the main river at 90°.

Ahead of us was just Big Lock before our mooring for the night, we were able to share this with a Black Prince hire boat heading to Chester and as they had a crew of 8 they should make good progress through the locks ahead of them

 

Today's Journey 

20.3 miles, 1 locks in 6.75 hours.

  Map courtesy of Waterway Routes https://www.waterwayroutes.co.uk/

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE All of the above is my personal opinion and does not represent  those of any official body or notices. All comments made to this blog are checked for spam before being accepted any made anonymously are accepted but if you leave a name I could say thanks.