Monday 31st July 2017

Wedding anniversary day ( 41 years) and no rain! We cruised round the corner in Middlewich to fill with water before heading for the first of the 3 locks. So many boats! There were hires returning after the weekend and boats going in both directions. Although we are now in narrow lock territory - the first of this holiday - the paddles seemed much harder than on the Leeds and Liverpool although on the latter half of the ground paddles were not working. It's uphill locks at the moment until we reach Stoke.

Someone must live on this double decker as their wardrobe was on the top deck.

Every time we pass I think that this is a salt works but why hasn't it dissolved in the rain?

As we approached Wheelock I noticed a different flower display.

The Italian restaurant in Wheelock is often 'changing hands' or closed due to a fire. Today it is open so we are treating ourselves to a meal out. We had thought of continuing for a while longer but the sky is overcast and we know that there is no good mooring for at least 9 locks!

Friday 28th July - Sunday 30th July

A quiet few days really as we join, and start back along, the Trent and Mersey canal. By the time we get back to Mercia Marina we will have travelled its complete length. We left Stockton Heath and these semi circular steps show where the 18th Century canal passengers would embark aboard packet boats linking  Runcorn with Manchester.

Further along you pass a Science and Innovation Centre where the Van Der Graff generator is certainly larger than the ones we had at school!

A very ornate water tower could be seen in the distance. It was built in 1892 as part of the system which supplies Liverpool with water from Lake Vyrnwy in mid-Wales.

Then it was through Peston Brook tunnel (1239yds long) and through lock 76. By the time we reach the marina we will be down to lock 7.

The marina is 12 miles from Shardlow, so a little way to go yet.

By now it had been raining for a couple of hours and looked more like a November day than July. We called it a day, put the heating on and spent the evening listening to the rain lashing down.

Saturday-no rain today but still quite cool. During the first part of this holiday we hardly saw any boats on the Leeds and Liverpool canal but we are now in a holiday area and both private and hire boats are coming thick and fast. We called into Anderton Lift cafe for coffee and to see the lift in operation. We used it 2 years ago when we went down onto the River Weaver. It is often beset with mechanical problems but today it was OK!

5 years ago the Lion Salt works were just being developed as a tourist attraction and it has recently won a regional Museum of the Year award. A lot of hard work has gone into achieving this and there were lots of boats moored so hopefully the visitors were enjoying a good tour as we did 5 years ago.

The chemical works are always a strange site as you pass under many pipe bridges with steaming containers on either side. There are some very old and some much newer installations.

We had a very pleasant mooring for the night before the town of Middlewich.

Sunday - We only moved about a mile today! We want to visit a chandlery in Middlewich tomorrow and the moorings are nicer on this side of the town so we are staying here for the night and going up the 3 locks to the chandlery tomorrow morning. We did some shopping and walked along the canal bank. There have been showers on and off all day and the forecast is not much better for the rest of the week. I feel very sorry for the hire boaters and can imagine that the conversations inside the boats are along the lines of " Next year we are going abroad!"

Thursday 27th July 2017

What a day weatherwise. It just couldn't decide whether to be sunny or to pour with rain. We went shopping in Lymm and as we arrived back at the boat the heavens opened and the rain 'hammered down' luckily we didn't get wet but the small market on the canal side packed up pretty quickly. We did some housework and eventually set off about 12.30pm. We wanted to have a look at Stockton Heath which we have passed before but never called in. As we moored at 2pm the rain started again!

After lunch we waited for a break in the showers and walked into town. A good place for food shopping and very near to the Manchester Ship canal. Lots of bridges on this stretch but no swing-bridges moving.

There were some lovely old buildings by the canal which are now offices and apartments. Apparently they had been brewery buildings. The conversions were very good - even if the clock was showing the wrong time!

As you can see from the clouds, the rain was never far away and we had sudden showers all afternoon.

On the way back to the boat we passed George Formby's house. A very nice substantial property.

As you can see from the rain on the window of the boat we have been lucky to remain dry today but think that this is a great name for a boat which passed us.

Wednesday 26th July 2017

The forecasters were correct and we woke to rain. Stayed put and didn't set off until after lunch. Weren't planning to go far. Just a couple of hours to a large village called Lymm. We last came here 4 years ago in the pouring rain and it seemed as if it could be the same again. 

Strange things people have in their gardens.

This boat was rather heavily laden.

The sun was shining by the time we reached Lymm and the central cross is on a sandstone rock as are the stocks!

Pretty village and not so many boats as the last time. 

Tuesday 25th July 2017

Today we set off to cross the Manchester Ship Canal via an aquaduct which is able to swing into the middle to let tall ships pass. On the way we passed the lighthouse whose builders must have been confused as to which waterways need lighthouses.

The Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1894. It is 36 miles long and connects the tidal Mersey at Eastham to Manchester. The Aquaduct crossing can be separated from the Bridgewater canal by gates before it is swung across. It doesn't need to swing so much these days and unfortunately we were not there to see it in operation.

The view towards Manchester ( shame the large ship moored on the left wasn't planning to move) as we crossed and then a photo looking back over the aquaduct.

Just after the aquaduct a pagoda appeared. Again no reason could be seen for its positioning.

The canal passes very close to the enormous Trafford Shopping Centre which is mainly hidden by trees. There are some moorings but as we were the only boat in sight we were rather wary of mooring there so just passed by taking a quick photo as we went.

Ever wondered where your Kellogg's breakfast cereal is made? The enormous factory is on this stretch.

We now reached Waters Meet where a left turn will take you to Manchester and a right turn southwest to The Trent and Mersey canal. This view is looking back. We had come from the left branch.

During the whole of our cruise this year ( apart from near Skipton in Yorkshire) we have seen very little traffic on the canals. This was about to change as we are getting towards the Midlands and the popular hire boat areas. Certainly in the next hour as we sailed towards Sale and onwards to Lymm, there were more boats. We moored for a few hours at Sale and visited the launderette. The clouds blew away and the sun came out. Crossing the River Mersey on an aquaduct was a big contrast to crossing it on a ferry from Liverpool last Wednesday!

Under the M60 - you never realise what it is like below the road surface as you thunder along above.

We were now on canals which we have done before, albeit in the opposite direction. Four years ago an impressive, though redundant, Linotype words stood on the canal bank. This produced letterpress type for the printing industry and employed about 2000 workers. Now building work is taking place although so far the facades on two parts seem to have survived so it remains to be seen if they incorporate them into the new buildings.

It was a beautiful evening so we walked to the Vine Inn at Dunham Woodhouses for a drink.

Rain is forecast for tomorrow morning. Ugh!

Monday 24th July 2017

Awoke to better weather. Not so windy and no rain. Opposite last night's mooring a new housing estate is being built and they are incorporating solar panels into the roof as they build. The roofs look very neat but it will prevent anyone altering the roof space.

Thought that Graham may fancy this!

We stopped after about 30mins to have a look at Leigh. Lots of shops and a thriving indoor market. We continued on and seamlessly entered The Bridgewater Canal. This is privately owned by The Peel Group and in the last year they have imposed lots of restrictions on Canal and River Trust licence holders - which is by far the majority of boaters. You are allowed to pass through their water for 7 days but cannot return for 3 weeks. This must have a detrimental effect on businesses along the canal. Their facility blocks are not as well looked after as CRT's but it is a very useful waterway for people wishing to access Northern canals from the Midlands.

This carved hand grasp of friendship between the two canal systems is somewhat ironic.

Looking for the clue to this scarecrow. Oops, not at the Urchfont scarecrow festival now!

A photo for Karen.

Fly boats were so called as they travelled the canals as quickly as possible. This restored boat is at Worsley where we are spending the night.

In The Mood moored for the night and showing how the water which runs from the disused mines through Iron Hydroxide turns the water ochre coloured. The pseudo Tudor buildings are a feature here.

The Earl of Bridgewater had coal mines throughout the area and developed a system of tunnels to get the coal from deep in the mines to the canal. The whole system (46miles) was on 3 levels deep underground. You can just see one of the twin entrances to the tunnels on the left of the photo.

The M60 runs very close to the village and this slip road certainly intends to confuse drivers.

Just opposite our mooring is the boat house which housed the Royal Barge when Queen Victoria came to visit in the mid 19th Century. She travelled part of the way by canal and part by carriage. Informations boards say that one of the horses was so spooked by the cheering crowds that it fell into the canal.

Rather a fine view from the rear of the boat.

Sunday 23rd July 2017

Nice weather to wake up to as we set off for Wigan. A quiet morning with only runners and bikers on the tow path. Wigan wharf ( or Pier as it likes to be called) looking more dilapidated each time we pass.

Even the figure on the tow path is in despair!

Trencherfield Mill is now an office and apartment block. Apparently it still contains the original steam engine which occasionally "steams".

We were lucky to share locks with a narrowboat who we have been playing cat and mouse with since leaving Liverpool. It makes life so much easier when there are two boats in a wide lock. We turned right     avoiding the route to the Wigan 21 flight. We have no wish to do those again. Now we were on new ground and headed for Leigh. The area is full of flashes filled with water where the land has subsided. At Dover Bridge the two locks have even been removed due to fluctuating levels but you can see where the locks were as the canal narrows.

Some of the mooring bollards are nicely painted!

After passing through Plank Lane Lift Bridge, which used to be manned but is now worked by boaters, we moored and took a walk around Pennington Country Park which has a sculpture made from enormous lock gates.

Yet again we returned to the boat as the rain started. Cosy inside but it looks very miserable outside.