It’s the end
of this week that we are going back to Kent to get the house sorted and rented
out so will be away from the boat until that's done. Karen is going back to work at the end of
November and as she will be working in the Crewe area we can carry on living on
the boat which is why we have come back up to the North West. We decided last
night to head for Runcorn on the Bridgewater canal before leaving the boat in a
boat yard at the end of the week. Before
we set off we walked back to see how the canal was being closed whilst the railway
bridge is repaired for next couple of months.
There was no sign of the canal being closed as yet but there were men
working on the track.
It was
another foggy day and it looked quite eerie where we had been moored overnight.
Just south of
Northwich we passed a marina development.
To be honest it looked like no progress had been made since we passed it
six months ago. The only activity going
on was water being pumped into the basin to fill it.
Just before
we got to the great complex of Tata chemical factories at Northwich we passed a
fishing match with about 40 anglers.
Most were pleasant and acknowledged us but as usual there were a few who
ignored us or muttered under their breath about boats shouldn’t be allowed on canals
etc.
I had planned
to visit the salt works museum at Marston as it was closed for refurbishment
when we tried to visit earlier in the year.
As luck would have it the museum is closed on Mondays – oh well, there’ll
be other opportunities especially whilst we’re living n the boat up here.
The boat lift
at Anderton is part of the winter stoppages program and was closing from this morning
until Christmas for maintenance. When we
went past men were erecting a boom across the entrance ready to dam it and
drain the water form the lift entrance area.
We really enjoyed using the lift when we went onto the River Weaver in
May and plan to do it again as we didn’t have time to explore the full length
of the river. You can see the holding
areas for each lift caisson on the right hand picture.
Soon after
Anderton we went through one of the blindest bridges we have come across for a
while.
This is
entering the 572 yard long Barnton tunnel which is obviously only has room for
one way traffic so you have to check that there are no lights of approaching
boats before entering. This tunnel is unusual
in that it has kinks in it so you cannot see the exit portal when you first go
in.
A bit further
on is Saltersford tunnel and as this is so bendy (as opposed to a kink or two) boats
are only allowed in during certain time windows. We were heading North which meant we were
allowed in any time from the hour until 20 past the hour. Fortunately we only had to wait for five
minutes – it was quite pleasant as we had this large pool to wait in. Southbound boats can enter the tunnel at half
past the hour until ten to.
It's not that clear here but the tunnel veers off sharply to the left from the entrance; these sort of manoeuvres will be a lot simpler when we get our
shorter boat next year.
Of course,
the smoke from our stove chimney didn’t help visibility but we managed to spot
all the bends in time and not hit the sides.
We had a look
at the map of where we have been over the last year to see the extent of our
travels. Slough in Berkshire was the
furthest South; Llangollen (Denbighshire) was the furthest West and Slaithwaite
(West Yorkshire) the furthest North.
When we get to Runcorn later this week that will be the furthest West in
England. Abbots Langley (which is not
that far from Slough in the scheme of things was the furthest East.
We have
travelled 1,369 miles through 1,253 locks in that time and if you take out our trips
back to our home in Kent or on holiday that is an average of just over four
miles and four locks a day. To think
that poor Karen has operated the vast majority of those locks and probably
walked well over half the number of miles puts my easy life into perspective
for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment