We started our journey yesterday in very high winds. Normally a a bit of a killer to narrow boating, especially where locks are to be negotiated – but we had no locks so that was a bonus!
The crew was quickly set to work at splicing a repair to the rope which holds the rear fenders on. He’s a dab hand with a Fid! (the name of the tool you use to splice ropes).
Our pretty route along the Trent and Mersey Canal is broken occasionally with a bit of industry – this time it’s the Brunner Mond chemical works. Our trip, right through the middle of the complex, was soon over and we were back into more a scenic environment.
Down the cut from the modern chemical works we come across on the old Lion Salt Works which, thankfully, is now being saved from total collapse. These works were the last to produce salt by the evaporation of brine in open pans and are now destined to become a working museum.
There are 3 tunnels on our route and yesterday we passed through two of them. This is the entrance to the 2nd (Saltersford) tunnel which has time slots from each direction so that boats don’t meet in the middle! We were lucky and could proceed without having to wait for the right time.
We reached our planned mooring after bridge 211 at about 1 o’clock, having enjoyed most of our trip without the forecasted rain. The last hour had been slightly damp but………
……. it soon fell out of the sky after we’d moored up and were safely indoors! Lyn and Chris on Nb Niamh joined us for dinner in the evening on Chance.
Today we started early to get through the Preston Brook Tunnel on the 9 o’clock timing. However, no sooner had we got to bridge 211 than we were flagged down by a Canal Trust chap because a tree had come down across the waterway. Part of it had been cut and shifted by someone whose boat it had fallen on(!) but the rest lay across our path. This could have been a long job or Doug could “persuade ” the Canal Trust chap to let us through if we got some of the offending debris out of the way. We were through in five minutes!! With that little hiccup out of the way we also got to the tunnel on time as well.
Entering the Preston Brook Tunnel – a bit strange going under the houses.
The delightful leafy glades at Moore.
We stopped at Stockton Heath to do a bit of grocery shopping and called into Thorne Marine for an engine air filter and water and were back on our way towards Lymm where we are now moored for the day. Our friends, Chris and Lyn on nb ‘Niamh’ left last night’s mooring later than we did and, unfortunately had to wait a while for the tree removing crew to do their job.
This is our mooring at Lymm this evening – the photo was taken from the rear deck of Chris and Lyn’s boat. Luckily they made it through the tree problem and managed to get a mooring at this very busy spot.
Photo of the tree removal operation that closed the Bridgewater canal courtesy of Chris and Lyn (who had the forethought to take one!)
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