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.  

9th of June 2016. Onto the Trent and Mersey

After a visit to the local health centre for Robin to get new antibiotics and his leg dressed (and a lecture from the doctor about drinking, boating and generally doing anything nice), we left Middlewich early afternoon in more hot sultry weather. The evenings have become a bit of a battle with the little flies which love the LED lights and in the daytime we are lathered in Jungle Spray to repel mozzies and horseflies. Still the weather has been lovely and is due to turn soon so we won't complain. There were five locks to do, one at the end of the Shroppie and four on the Trent and Mersey. There was a long wait at the first which was busy. Then at the flight of three after the turning we encountered our first jobsworth lock volunteer who made us wait at the top when we didn't need to and then didn't help us with the rest of the flight at all, preferring to harass the hirers. The final lock, a little further on was, to our surprise double width. Its been months since we were in one of these! Amazingly there are no more locks now until Wigan, many miles away. We went over the Croxton Aqueduct. Not quite so dramatic as the Pontcysyllte.

View from the Croxton Aqueduct over the River Dale

Captain Rob concentrating and the Croxton aqueduct

The locks took a while and the heat was tiring so we stopped just a few miles north of Middlewich. We found the most open site we could opposite some reed beds. Robin did some fishing, having his own little Springwatch of the birds and insects busy around the reeds.      

8th of June. Middlewich.

Eight miles and two locks. Another glorious day, very hot with some sunshine and high humidity. The countryside looked just lovely on this rural canal.

We stopped at the Aqueduct marina, near the aqueduct over the river Weaver. After topping up with diesel and gas, we had breakfast at their café, greatly cheered by the  general holiday feel to the place.
Later we passed this pretty cottage, once a wharf building.

We made our leisurely way Middlewich via two very deep locks and moored just before the junction with the Trent and Mersey. Robin set out for Tescos to buy more salad (it's hot!) and Jo got on with some work. At one point Scooby escaped out of the front gate to play with a dog walking past. Fortunately he did just play, but then he hared off down the towpath in the direction Robin had taken. Jo was alerted by the dog owner and called Scooby back. He had got a couple of hundred yards away but immediately turned round and ran back and jumped straight onto the boat. Phew! - what a good dog!  Robin managed to evade the massive rain shower and we settled down for a peaceful evening in Middlewich. Sadly , there are no shoe shops (much needed by both members of crew) but we luxuriate in both phone signal and many Gs!

Looking back down the Middlewich canal. This is how we see the world at the moment!

6th and 7th of June 2016. A clean boat.

On Monday the 6th we moved just a short distance, deciding to stay in the area where we had good phone and internet signal. It was very hot and sunny but we moored in the shade and Robin cleaned the outside of the boat. Jo attacked the laundry and the inside. On the 7th, Jo had work calls and emails to do. Once these were out of the way, we set off to the locks. After a stop for water we mde our way down, leaving the Llangollen canal behind us. We have had a lovely time and will certainly come back.

View from the top of the Hurleston Lock flight.

We turned north (left) onto the Shropshire canal but soon made a right turn onto the Middlewich branch. This connects the Shroppie to the Trent and Mersey canal, which we need to get to for the next stage on our journey north. We moored in a quiet but mozzie ridden spot about a quarter of the way along.  Middlewhich tomorrow for more work and a leg dressing. Its not all wine and roses....

30th May to the 5th of June. Two arms but no Gs

We set off early on Monday, arriving at the Lower Frankton lock flight at the beginning of the Montgomery Canal Arm well before they opened at noon and as second in the queue.

Waiting to go through Lower Frankton locks.

The locks are a staircase of two followed by two singles and are only operable with a CRT lock-keeper. Passage must be booked before 10am and the locks are only open between 12 and 2pm. The Montgomery arm is many miles long, but only navigable from the locks for seven miles. It was quiet, as the number of boats coming through is limited, and very rural. It felt quite other-worldly after the bustle of the main canal. There were fields of buttercups and the strong breeze made them dance in the sun. The waterside iris are out too and these, along with the cow parsley and remaining hawthorn blossom made the towpaths quite beautiful.

On Tuesday we reached bridge 81 and the end of the navigable canal, turning round and mooring with several others near the navigation Inn at Maesbury Marsh. We went for a bike ride down the canal, past the bridge to the sections they are still repairing and trying to bring back into use. There was a dry section being worked on and a completed and half filled section with lots of fish enjoying the peace before the boats are allowed in. 

Getting ready to ride

Restoration work in progress

We had a wonderful meal at the Navigation Inn which, along with the fine weather, topped a particularly lovely few days.

On Wednesday we headed back to Ellesmere, to top up with supplies and reconnect with the world. A visit to Tesco with two trollies, a rucksack and as many bags as we could carry and we were fully provisioned again. Intermittent phone and limited internet signal persisted though. Robin got his leg re-dressed at the Ellesmere health centre on Thursday afternoon, after which we set off again. It was easy cruising in fine weather and we made good progress. We decided to investigate the Prees arm and turned into this short and very isolated stretch of canal. There is a marina at the end but not much else. No phone or internet and lots of mosquitoes (12 bites in Jo's arms and legs) - a reminder to find the insect repellent. We went to the end and turned around before mooring for the night. Robin and Scooby went for a bike ride which involved stampeding bullocks (behind a hedge, thank goodness) among other adventures.

On Friday we turned back onto the main canal, getting ourselves among a convoy of 12 boats from the Nantwich Yachting and Cruising Club on an outing. We stopped at Whitchurch but decided not to stay, being surrounded  by the NTCC who hungrily eyed our mooring. Indeed one of their boats leapt into it as soon as we moved off. We continued on through the Grindley locks and moored in a nice spot just beyond them. The weather has stayed fine, and we had a BBQ for tea. Robin dropped a vital part of the BBQ kit into the canal but managed to fish it out with his keep net. No phone or internet as usual in these parts.

Saturday took us to Wrenbury where we stopped to buy more Rhubarb and Ginger jam. Some phone signal also appeared and arrangements were made to meet Carole and Sean for dinner at the Dusty Miller so we stayed where we were. Robin went paddle-boarding, which was quite challenging, so many boats were on the move on this lovely but rather narrow canal in this lovely weather. We had a very nice meal (two in one week!) and a last catch up with our friends before we travel away from their home area. On Sunday we set off late on a hot day. When we put up the lift bridge in Wrenbury to get the boat through, a gathering of tractors turned up, heading for a meeting at the Dusty Miller.

It was a beautiful day, hot and blue. The canal was busy, with queues at the locks when we waited around in the sun. The towpaths are ablaze with wild flowers. The wagtail nest in the Swanley lock gate has five chicks in it which an agitated parent was trying to kept fed between all the boats coming through. We moored along with many others in a pretty rural mooring not far from Hurleston junction and joined our fellow boaters sitting among the grasses and flowers in collapsible chairs, snoozing and reading. Robin fished and Jo did this blog - making the most of a decent connection at last. Tomorrow we leave the Llangollen canal and join the Shroppie again briefly, before turning off onto the Middlewich branch.  These will be all new, and perhaps quite different as we go through Runcorn and into the suburbs of Manchester.

26th-29th of May 2016. A train, a hill and a paddle-board (and some fish!) .

On Thursday we pottered around Llangollen and on Friday Robin had his leg dressed at the Health Centre. In the afternoon we took a steam train ride up the Dee valley.

Our train :)

Afterwards our 48 hours was up so we turned round and moved the boat a mile or so out of the town. We followed a horse drawn boat up to the basin and it was eerily quite after the noise of Harold's engine. It must have been a very peaceful way to travel when the canals were first built and all boats were horse drawn. We moored below the hill on which are the remains of the Castel Dinas Bran and we decided to walk up it the next day.

The very quiet horse drawn boat

Harold turns in the basin with Welsh hills behind him.

To the left you can see the unnavigable stretch of canal going off towards the horseshoe falls.

View of the Castel Dinas Bran from our mooring.

So on Saturday we cycled back to the town for our climb up the hill. There were a few people but it was mostly sheep-free. Scooby was kept happily occupied seeking out fresh rabbit droppings to keep him going until his next meal. The sun was out and the hills were hazy and it was very beautiful.

In the afternoon Robin went paddle-boarding and then did some fishing, catching nine lovely little roach. Scooby had a power nap and then spent the afternoon barking at every bank holiday walker and cyclist passing by.

On Sunday Carole and Sean joined us for the day again and we made the reverse journey across the Pontcysylite aqueduct, this time with Sean steering much of the way across.

The Pontcysylite Aqueduct, taken from Chirk.

Then to Chirk where we had to wait to get through the tunnel as heavy traffic came through the other way. We were following a hen party boat who sang all the way through the tunnel, which certainly made it a more surreal, if less spooky experience!

Captain and crew

We introduced Sean to locking at the two New Marton locks, although with all the boats waiting to come the other way, there was a surfeit of lockers. Where were they all at Tardebigge.....

We found a sunny spot to moor near where our crew had left their car and Sean continued to show his adventurous spirit with some paddle-boarding and fishing. Robin excelled himself as instructor and Carole as supporter. Jo made the tea and took photos!

After all this excitement we had burgers for tea and sadly said goodbye to our friends. We hope to catch up with them again next weekend, before we leave the area completely.
Tomorrow will book a passage through the Lower Frankton locks onto the Montgomery canal. Only eight miles have been restored, but we should try them.

22nd-25th May 2016. To Llangollen with crew (part 2)

After the aqueduct, we navigated the shallow and narrow last few miles into Llangollen. Its was not without incident and the captain was in trouble for flouting notices and ignoring his crew. However, Sean to steering the boat like a pro and his smile was a wide as his face. There was a lot of weed in the canal which made the last section particularly slow. When Robin inspected the propeller later it was completely jammed with weed. We moored at the 48 hour moorings at the end of the navigable canal and walked the rest of the way to the horseshoe falls, a man-made structure which diverts water from the river Dee to keep the canal filled up. This was followed by a delicious meal at the Deeside restaurant, sitting overlooking the river. What a lovely day!

The narrow unnavigable end stretch of the canal

With Carole at the Horseshoe Falls

Recently restored chain bridge across the Dee

The view downriver from the chain bridge