I mentioned the other day how one of our nightmares is worrying about what we would do if we heard an emergency vehicle approaching a bridge whilst we had it open. I was reminded today of another one, well it’s not too bad but it can be a pain. At this time of year canals are covered in fallen leaves and these can easily get wrapped around the propeller. When this happens, the engine starts losing power and then, as the leaves build up, steering becomes difficult. Unlike other things that get wrapped around the prop, leaves can usually be removed without a visit to the weed hatch. Putting the motor in neutral and then into reverse for a few seconds usually releases the leaves.
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| Pretty but can be a pain |
After
about seven miles we reached Preston Brook junction where the Bridgewater
canal heads right into Runcorn or left for the last mile before it reaches the
Trent & Mersey canal. We went up to
Runcorn three years ago, almost to the day, and had a fascinating time seeing where the old locks took the canal down to the tidal River Mersey as a series
of five double staircase locks. When the
Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1894 the locks at Runcorn fed into that
instead and after becoming disused were filled in during the 1960s.
For those
interested in the old waterways, the flight became so well used in the early
days that a second flight of ten separate locks was built and a one-way system
introduced. Strangely, the remains of
the original flight is easy to see but it’s hard to find any trace of the
second flight. (I know I wrote about
Runcorn {Click here} when we visited in 2015 but I have only just found out
about the second flight).
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| Preston Brook junction – Runcorn off to the right – M56 over the top |
After
heading left, I pulled in at Midland Chandlers as I needed a new manual sump
pump. It was then off to Preston Brook tunnel which is one way only so has set
times for boats to pass.
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| Passage time sign |
We arrived
practically at half past the hour so just held the boat for a couple of minutes
until the allotted time. People were
moving out of a canal side cottage that had no vehicular access, consequently the
removal van had reversed as far as it dared along the towpath.
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| Heading to the tunnel with removal van on the towpath |
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| Entering the tunnel – note the stanking planks 😉 |
The
entrance to the tunnel marks the end of the Bridgewater canal and the start of
the Trent & Mersey canal. Once
through the tunnel we came up to Dutton stop lock which was built to overcome
the slightly different levels between the two canals. I must admit that I had always thought stop
locks were built to enable tolls to be collected as freight passed from one
canal company’s jurisdiction to the next but not so this one apparently.
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| The rise was only about 3” (looking uphill to Dutton dry dock on the left) |
As we came
out of the tunnel and approached the lock, we saw a boat was in the lock and
heading in our direction. This meant we
could go straight in once they had finished.
For some reason the lock took an age to fill; but we got there in the
end.
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| Karen getting ready to get the other side of the balance beam and put her back into it |
The boat
that came through the lock before us can be seen in the distance at the tunnel
entrance waiting for their allotted passage time. Just after the lock we passed the first Trent
& Mersey mile post.
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| An original mile post with the date 1819 near the base |
The Trent & Mersey
canal has mileposts along its 92-mile length from Shardlow (in the south) to
Preston Brook. Mileposts were cast by Rougeley and Dixon in Stone in 1819
and there are still 59 left of which the example above is one. The other 34 are replacements which have a mark of "T&MCS 1977" near the base. T&MCS stands for Trent & Mersey Canal
Society and these were cast in the mid-1970s in Bognor Regis to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the opening of the canal. Click here for more information and our pictures of all the Trent & Mersey mileposts.
The canal runs through the
1 ¾ mile long Harecastle tunnel yet, interestingly (to me), it has mileposts
either end indicating that it is only a mile long (62-30 and 61-31 miles to
Shardlow and Preston Brook respectively).
The Trent & Mersey
finishes at Derwent Mouth lock where it meets the Rivers Derwent and
Trent. Derwent Mouth lock is 1 ½ miles further on from Shardlow so the
canal is actually 93 ½ miles long. When
Karen reads this, she will be a tad upset as she will be reminded that we (I)
accidently left her favourite mug at Derwent Mouth lock a few years ago ☹
We moored up a mile
further on (we were by a mile post so knew how far we had travelled 😉) on the site of the Dutton
breach. This breach happened in
September 2012 and was on a similar scale to the recent/current Middlewich
breach. The canal was closed for seven
months to effect the repairs. Mooring rings were installed on the new
banking making it a great place to moor if you like being in the middle of
nowhere.
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| Thursday night mooring at the Dutton breach site with new wall, mooring rings and commemorative plaque |
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| Close up of the commemorative plaque that we were moored alongside |
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| Our views across the Weaver valley |
Friday was another cruise
day as we wanted to get to Broken Cross to meet up for drinks with our boat
builder. Darren and Sarah live on their
boat and we were last meant to meet up a few months ago when they were cruising
in the same area as us. Unfortunately, plans
changed because of a breach and lock closures on the Macclesfield and Peak
Forest canals. They were stuck in Cheshire
and we in Derbyshire.
It was still windy but as
there are few if any boats on the move at this time of year, we felt quite
happy cruising. Our first stop was at
Saltersford tunnel; like Preston Brook yesterday it's another one that is one way only so has allotted passage
times.
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| Passage allowed between half past and ten to the hour |
We arrived with 15 minutes
to wait so popped inside for a welcome coffee and a slice of Karen’s latest
home baking – a fruit cake. Fruit cake
usually means Judith & Nigel are visiting as it’s his favourite but not so
this weekend. Funnily enough, later in
the day I had a text from Judith asking where we are as they may pop in on Saturday
😊
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| The unusually shaped portal on Saltersford tunnel |
The tunnel is one of the
very few in the country where the light at the end of the tunnel cannot be seen
when you first go in. Even the longer
tunnels, a mile or so long, are built in a dead straight line so a pinprick of
light can be seen at the end once the eyes grow accustomed to the dark. Saltersford tunnel has several bends in it
which is quite uncanny.
Pretty soon after coming
out we were approaching another one, Barton tunnel. This one is also one-way, but passage is
allowed as long as no lights of an oncoming boat can be seen. That’s all fine but both entrances are on a
tight bend, so the boat has to be taken into the tunnel to see if anything is
coming. Or you park up and walk down to have a look which I couldn't be bothered to do as there wasn't likely to be other boats around. I gingerly took the boat in and,
for the first time ever, I could see a light coming towards me. I reversed out and waited for the boat to
appear. When they came out, they told me
they weren’t being followed so off I went without meeting another boat.
Next, we were in Anderton
and going past the famous Anderton boat lift that we used when we were living
in our old boat. The lift was opened in
1875 and drops/lifts boats between the Trent & Mersey canal and the River
Weaver 50 feet below.
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| The top of the lift – a marvellous piece of Victorian engineering |
We then pulled into the
services at Anderton for a pump out and to get rid of our rubbish and recycling.
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| The marina behind the services is full of boats all snuggled up for the winter |
Next was the Marston salt
works museum that we have had many a happy time moored at and visiting in the
past. There were about ten boats moored
there; Heidi’s boat, Rum Wench, was at the end of the line and about half way
down we saw Pas Mèche. This was a boat
we seriously considered buying from friends before we decided to go for a new
build. David & Victoria gave up
living aboard a couple of years ago, so it was good to see their boat is still
out and about.
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| Could have been our home |
The rest of the moored
boats were on permanent moorings and we stopped for lunch after the last of the
line. We didn’t have far to go
after lunch and were soon passing Wincham Wharf where Chalkhill Blue 2 was
fitted out.
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| The boatbuilders are clearly specialising in wider beamed boats nowadays judging by the number of new ones in the water and in the yard above |
Just down from Wincham
Wharf is an old ICI chemical works now owned by the massive Indian company, Tata. Usually there are strong smells and vapour
crossing the canal at this point, but all seemed quiet today.
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| No fumes or vapour today |
We were lucky and all the
moorings outside the pub at Broken Cross were empty, so we managed to moor right
outside. This was where we were moored
for over two weeks in our old boat while waiting for the finishing touches to
be done and the new one launched. I say ‘we’
but Karen was still working in Warwick and staying in B&Bs down there
during the week but once we took delivery it didn’t take long to get back to
the Midlands.
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| Couldn’t be closer |
The last two days have been really easy as we only covered 10 lock-free miles each day but the locks start again on Saturday as we begin the 35-lock climb to the summit of the Trent & Mersey at Kidsgrove 😊
3 comments:
We were moored next to Pas Mèche for a while until he went CCing
Broken Cross has changed hands since you were last there
Yes. I should have mentioned that especially as the food is meant to have improved too!
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