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!