Our reason for mooring in Middlewich last night was to attend the Trent and Mersey Canal Society AGM this morning which lasted about an hour, not bad going. This was followed by a very good buffet lunch supplied by Middlewich Community Church, a venue I would happily recommend.
After lunch was the highlight of the day, a guided tour of the Murgatroyds Brine Pump. This is the only example of a hand dug brine well in the country.
There were just over twenty of us and as you can see, unlike yesterday afternoon it was a nice warm sunny day. The pumps were originally steam driven and latter eclectic was use to power the two beam pumps.
This was before eclectically powered submersible pumps were used. The well was hand dug 8 foot square reducing to 5 foot as it got deeper. As well as pumping brine they also processed it and this bit of electrical kit to me looks like an explosion waiting to happen as it produced Chlorine gas and Hydrogen
Its called a Hooker Cell and they were connected in a bank, this one has glass sides so you can see what’s the internals were like.
They have a very good web site with several videos if you click HERE. The visit was meant to be just one hour but stretched out a bit.
After departing the site we wandered round John and Gillian’s for tea and biscuits. It was then back to the boat and do a bit of cruising as the batteries needed charging.
We set off up the Middlewich three meeting a boat after the second, thankfully he was out of the top first so I had a clear run out of the second, round the bend and into the top lock. From here it was up to Kings lock where we had to wait for a boat to come down. Diana had her blue IWA tee shirt on and was mistaken for a Volockie. Leaving Kings there was a boat coming towards us, so gates left open, Rumps was also with us. On to the Booth Lane three, the bottom was against us and Diana walked to the middle lock to set it ready while I worked the bottom, from there she signalled me that a boat was coming down, so gate left open again, this also meant Both Lane top was with us. From here we carried on for another half hour or so to moor for the night at Paddies Wood.
Today’s Journey
5½ miles, 8 lock in 3 hours
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