Up Up and away !!!

 

After a few days on the western end of the River weaver we decided we just had to explore all of the navigable river., So it was back and past The Anderton boat lift and on towards Northwich.

 

We stopped off in Northwich  to replenish the cupboards with essentials and to have a good look around the town and also to make  a visit to the local pie shop as recommended by Terry and Pam on Nb The Roosters rest. , And yes it was a very good pie shop and I am now half a stone heavier.

 

It was then down to Hunts lock and a one and a half hour wait as one of the lock gates had failed and they had to get in a portable winch to open the gates to get a wide beam through.

 

This lock was a lot deeper than the other two locks being 11 feet 2 inches deep.And again we had to pass a rope up to the lock keepers who put it around a bollard and then we had to hold Inca in to the side as the lock filled. Unlike the other two locks this lock is not electrified and it takes two lockies to work the gates and the paddles manually.

 

As you get to Winsford you come across the salt mine. It is massive and produces mostly road salt.

 

Hello Mr or Mrs Heron. The river Weaver must be very healthy as there is an abundance of wildlife on it.

 

As far as you can go up the Weaver on a narrow boat. Its called The Flash and we probably could have gone a bit further but we had heard so many stories about Narrow boats getting stuck in the shallows, so we decided to turn here and play it safe.

 

It was then back to the Anderton boat lift. We arrived at 13.00 and booked in , but we were told we couldn’t go up the lift until 15.00. Anyway that suited us fine as it gave us a chance to have a look around the visitor centre . That Colonel Saners was a busy guy I thought he only invented KFC, I didn’t realize he did the boat lift as well.

 

Up Up and away…. Half way up the lift and I do believe Carolyn is enjoying it !!!!!!!!!   (There's a good smile for you Pam)

 

The view from the back of the caisson as we get near the top of the 50 foot journey up on to the Trent and Mersey canal.

We are now back on the canals and continuing on to the next leg of our adventure. We have enjoyed the River Weaver so much and wish we could have spent more time on it. Anyway you never know we could end back up here in a few years time.

 

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Enjoying the Weaver

 

We are enjoying the river Weaver so much we have decided to spend longer on it and go from one end to the other. The picture above shows the massive chemical factory at the western end and which is over a mile long.

 

This is Weston Marsh lock and it drops boats down on to the Manchester ship canal. We are not allowed on that canal so we have to head back up the Weaver towards Winsford which is the start of the navigable river .

 

The view from the lock and on to the Manchester ship canal and then the River Mersey and Liverpool in the background.

 

We were not flavour of the day as we held up proceedings as we passed through Runcorn Rowing clubs Regatta. Still …we did win one race

 

Carolyn is enjoying these big locks as she doesn't have to do anything.

 

it’s a shame , but these semaphores on the locks don’t work anymore.

 

The one big problem with the river Weaver is the lack of good quality moorings. So we were lucky to pick up this one just below the Anderton boat lift on our way back up the river.

We have now done one half of the river Weaver and just have to do the other half down to Winsford. This river has been such a pleasant surprise and as Alf said in one of his comments it is a true gem of the connected waterways, and we certainly agree with that.

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Exploring the Weaver

 

After a wet start on Thursday morning we pulled pins at 11.55 in sunshine and soon came across this large barge just around the corner from our mooring. They were taking down a tree on the visitor moorings. If only it was winter it would have been on our roof. It is amazing how much wood we have seen in our travels this summer ,but come winter we will be scratting around trying to find some.

 

On the approach to Saltersford lock you see this sign. Don’t worry we will be keeping left.

 

As soon as we got near to Saltersford lock we rang the lock keeper to book in and guess what ?. It was his dinner time so he told us to moor on the pontoon and he would sort us out in an hour or so.

 

The locks here are massive and some are electrically operated and only operate between 09.00 and 17.00.

 

Eventually the lock was filled and the gates opened . We entered first followed by Narrow boat Well oiled. We put a bow and stern rope around the bollards and then Well oiled roped onto us for the trip down the lock. It emptied very quickly and we were soon on our way. As there was another lock about an hour away the lockie phoned through to let them know that we were on the way and they would prepare the lock for us.

 

Wow ! That’s some swing bridge. It is the biggest one we have been through. Luckily we are low enough to fit through with out it being opened.

 

Just before Dutton lock is the wreck of the MV Chica. It began life as a Norwegian sailing vessel at the end of the 19th century and some how ended up here.

 

At Dutton lock we entered and passed the Lady lockie our centre rope as we were the only boat going down and didn’t need to tie off fore and aft. But guess what our centre rope wasn’t long enough , so I had to hastily join another rope onto it. I have the centre ropes at the length they are so that if they accidentally fall in to the water as they have on several occasions they can not get wrapped around the propeller.

 

We don’t half feel small in this lock all by ourselves.

 

Just after Duttton lock is the very impressive Dutton Viaduct.  (one for you Dick)

 

Passing under the Viaduct also makes us feel very small.

 

We had a great laugh at this. You can see a cycle leaning on the tree on the right and a cows head in the bush on the left and you can just about make out the cyclist up the tree. We are not sure how he got there or why he was so scared of a cow. We slowed down to see what was going on . He had a mate who was about 100 yards back the towpath and was keeping his distance. After a while his mate shouted to him.. now Go! and then all of a sudden he jumped out of the tree and got on to his bike. We have never seen any cyclist pedal so hard and so fast before , he could have won the Tour de France at the speed he was going.  Carolyn reckoned he was a Townie who had never seen a cow before. Anyway we did have a good laugh…

 

This is a first for us . It’s a field mooring and its called Devils Garden. We have some lovely friendly neighbors and they are called Daisy , Buttercup and Ermintrude.

 

This is the view from our side hatch. The concrete structure you can see on both sides of the river is where the main water feed pipe for Liverpool passes under the river.  This river reminds us so much of the River Dart down in Devon where we come from. We always had a boat on the river Dart and that’s where our love of boating came from.

With heavy rain forecast we will remain here at Devils Garden moorings. We have good TV and internet connections and plenty of food and the red stuff to last us a good few days.

 

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Anderton boat lift

 

On Wednesday morning we pulled pins at 07.20 and headed up the Trent and Mersey canal towards The Anderton boat lift.

 

We passed this boat on the way, another funny boat name

 

We finally reached Anderton and this is the top of the Anderton boat lift. We booked in and then had a 2 hour wait before it was our turn to go down onto the river Weaver. As we were going on a river and it has a current we had to get the Anchor out of its storage place in the engine ole and attach the rope to the front of Inca just in case anything goes wrong when cruising on the river Weaver . The boat lift was built in 1875 and has two caissons each full of water and as one caisson comes up from the river the other one drops you down the 50 feet from the Trent and Mersey canal on to the river Weaver. The lift operated for over 100 years until 1983 when serious corrosion was found in the super structure and the lift closed. Eventually in 2000 £7 million pounds was raised to restore the lift and in 2002 it opened up again to traffic .

 

Entering the boat lift .

 

As you enter the lift the first gate closes behind you.

 

The view down towards the river Weaver.

 

This is the other caisson at the bottom of the lift.

 

Here we go.

 

Passing the the other caisson at the half way point. Carolyn looking a bit concerned but the whole operation took only half an hour and it was so smooth you didn’t realize you were moving.

 

Finally at the bottom and looking back to the top.

 

When we reach the bottom of the lift you can see the ram which helped to lift the opposite caisson up .

 

After we come out its now ready for the next boats to enter. It was a great experience and we both enjoyed it and can’t wait for the trip back up.The visitor centre is on the right and there is a trip boat that takes visitors on a trip up and down the lift which Is well worth doing.

 

There are a few big factories on the weaver and at one time most of their products were taken away by barge. But now unfortunately it all goes by road.

 

With higher speed limits on rivers everybody seems to be in a hurry.

 

And the boats are a lot bigger

 

We picked up this mooring just down from the boat lift and as with most rivers the banks are high , so it’s a bit of a scramble out of Inca to get ashore. We will spend our first night on the river Weaver here then pull pins in the morning and explore further along the river.

 

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Ouch , that hurt

 

We finally get onto the Middlewich branch after leaving the Llangollen and spending a night at Barbridge . We haven't bought any diesel for nearly 7 weeks and we wouldn’t pay the sky high prices on the Llangollen  so we needed to fill up. We filled up at Venetian marina where the price was 89p a litre, unfortunately it had just gone up by 2p the day before. We also needed a gas cylinder which was £27.50. So with 214 litres of diesel and a gas cylinder (Ouch that hurt the wallet) we should be ok for a month or two.

 

It’s a long time since we have been in locks as deep as this and at over 11 foot deep it seems a long way to the top when you are at the bottom.

 

The perfect picture , apart from my glass being empty.

 

We have named this bridge on the middlewich Carolyn's bridge as she took a big chunk out of it as she tried to steer through it…But she is getting better at steering !!!

 

Another good boat name for me.

 

Sunset on the middlewich.

 

One of the strangest narrow boats we have ever seen.

 

On this lock you can see the slit in the bridge which crosses the lock. This was to allow the rope from a boat to a horse to pass through.

 

After turning left at the end of the middlewich branch we did a Tesco shop in the town then headed off out into the country.We picked up this mooring in a wide section of canal and with the temperature in the twenties, as usual we just chilled out and watched the world go by. We are heading towards The Anderton boat lift, I have always wanted to go on the lift although Carolyn is not that happy about going down onto the river Weaver. I am sure I can convince her it will be ok….fingers crossed.

 

                                                                                                                 Happy Days