10th and 11th of June. The Anderton Boat Lift.

This bit of canal is very different from both the Shroppie and the Llangollen, wider and rougher, with fewer cows and more industry. In places it broadens out into small lakes, with the canal skirting around the edge.

The canal widens out

The canal cuts through the centre of the enormous TATA chemical works, a maze of delapidated buildings, pipes and steaming chimneys.

The TATA chemical works at Northwich

This sign amused Robin; How do you evacuate in a narrowboat? - slowly!

Mid-afternoon we reached the Anderton Boat lift, designed to take boats up and down between this canal and the river Weaver, a hundred yards away and around feet lower. We moored up and had a good look around. We watched the lift take a trip boat down and explored the riverside, which is managed by the Forestry Commission.

The Anderton Boat Lift from the river Weaver

The Anderton Boat Lift from the Trent and Mersey Canal. You can see how industrial it is.

The lift was first built in the 1870s and revamped in the 1916 so it worked better (the river weaver is salty and it affected the metalwork) and is the only working boat lift in England. Boats like ours can use the lift and the river Weaver is navigable for some distance; up to the Manchester Ship Canal and down to Winsford. For Harold, the lift and the river will have to be an adventure for another year.

We heard on the towpath grapevine that a tree had fallen across the canal a few miles ahead and the canal was closed for the moment.

In the evening we went for a walk and admired this slanted bridge. Barnton Village is on the hill above the canal and a sign boasted it as the largest village in England.

On Saturday we had breakfast in the very nice Anderton Lift café and shop run by Canal and River Trust. We spoke to Ted, an elderly gentleman volunteer who has been involved with the lift for more than 30 years and was one of the people responsible for getting it restored and properly working again in 2002. He was, righty, very proud of their achievement. The canal was still closed so we started to have a tidy up and discovered part of our electrical system is not working. It means that we won't be able to use the hoover or washing machine (eg. big power users) without draining the battery. At a repair cost of £600 plus, we will have to manage without for the moment and hand-wash our knickers!

Its has rained hard on and off for the last two days and this is forecast to continue. Ah! well...

By late afternoon the canal was open again but we decided to stay put another night  and watch the England footie match.