Nice night moored in the basin at Ellesmere Port, there were two other boats in there. one for a week doing day visits by bike and train and the other left this morning.
We were booked to lock down onto the MSC at 10-15 am this morning so we were up in loads of time. About 10 0’clock I spotted a CRT volunteer, rather elderly and using a stick to walk. I thought strange if they have sent him to lock us down, but no. He came to tell us the swing bridge was out of order and our journey cancelled with no program to fix the bridge. I rang Matt at the Dry Dock and he said leave it with him, he would get back to us.
While this was going on there was a young lady a short way behind us pruning the trees that are growing in a boat. Yes that’s right.
Anyway after a short time a couple of calls from Matt and from CRT it transpired the bridge had jammed in the heat last week and they were worried they had damaged the hydraulics forcing it. A company had been contacted yesterday to come and look at it. This then got escalated and the next call said a man was on his way, if the bridge worked OK he would contact CRT, they would come and do the lock, Marsh lock team would be mobilised again and we would be on our way. The chap from the Council arrived, opened the bridge and the top gates of the lock and gave me a wave. It was five past eleven
and we were on our way. we stopped in the lock and he contacted CRT, I thought someone was going to come down from the museum, but no this chap was miles away so we sat in the lock for about 40 minuets trying to keep the ducklings out. Once out
of the lock I contacted MCS Control and he informed me that the George Essburger had just passed so we were clear to go. I was pleased it was in front and not chasing me. .
We didn’t follow him too far before he slipped off into a dock on the port side.
Because they moor that side of the canal and there is no bridge to reach what is effectively the main land, they are on an island there is a ferry service for them, two small motorised flats with huts.
These flit back and forth across the canal as required moving boat crews etc.
When we came out from the port we turned right passing new housing, the museum and Stanlow refinery.
At the far end of the refinery there was another vessel moored, the Ghibli a LPG Tanker.
Once past the Ghibli I had to ring MSC again to tell them we were clear of the refinery. Normally on a Narrowboat 5MPH seems fast, today I had to keep checking I was moving. After the refinery which stank the bank is a solid high rock wall, in the past there have been wooden jetties along here reached by iron stairs from the top.
We weren't alone on the canal and soon this orange launch was catching us up before disappearing into the distance.
This boat appeared to have a crane mounted on her deck, I was expecting it to be a grab dredger buy no grab, just a hook.
There is a discharge quay for dredgers to berth at and to pump the mud ashore, we were to see a large dredger later.
After this the banks are littered with old lock gates and bits of wooden Dolphins.
At this point looking back I could see slowly catching up on me a big blue dredger, as he got closer I think he eased his speed knowing I was turning off onto the Weaver. Behind him you can see some of the wind farm on this very open area.
By now we were close to the entrance to the Weaver, the channel is marked with a couple of red and green buoys, Red to red and green to green going upstream and you need to look straight down the lock mouth before you approach, You can see our route on the attached Google Map.
We turned and followed the marked channel towards the lock with one gate wide open ready for us.
As there are problems opening and closing the gate on this lock there were 4 CRT chaps waiting for us to lock us up the short way to the river level.
Because there is no power to operate the gates it took them ages to shut the bottom gate, thank goodness they only opened one. For us to leave they just opened one top gate about half way to give us room to slide through. It took us 20 minutes getting through.
Once clear of the lock we pulled onto the lock waiting pontoon and had lunch before continuing up river to Sutton Weaver, luckily Diana spotted all the hedge debris floating in the middle of the river.
Today’s Journey
9¼ miles with 2 locks in 3¼ hours
No comments:
Post a Comment