Upriver to Northwich and beyond

All four  boats locking up together

After a second night moored at the Devil's Garden, we set off back towards Anderton and on to Northwich The weather stayed fine for us and we were all in good spirits! We are discovering the fun of travelling with other people and learning much from more experienced boaters.

Past the boat lift  where the trip boat was just emerging.

 

We now headed on towards Northwich where we intended to stay the night.  

We had a very pleasant meal at The Quayside  http://shark.bramwellpubcompany.com/bars/the-anderton/ just up the High Street,but climbing back down onto the boat was challenging!

Downriver towards Runcorn

moored up for lunch

Lock which takes you out onto the Manchester ship canal . A  bit out of our league!

Picnic beside the lock.

We spent a couple of hours having a leisurely lunch in the sun.

The Devil's Garden

This is where we are moored and there's nothing demonic about it. Delightful!

Onto the River Weaver

Waiting for the lift: Four boats from the Cotswold canal Cruising Club!

Into the pound for the lift

Going down!

Gates open

And off down the Weaver

Folk festivals come in all shapes and sizes!

Morris dancing  on the Town Quay

We saw jazz bands, blues harmonica players, guitarists, singers, an Appalachian folk dance troupe, people selling all kinds of woven yoghurt goods and traditional crafts. We didn't need to go to the main Saturday night concert..we could hear it from the boat. Even after it began to rain again very hard as the main act of the evening was due on stage! Today we headed for Anderton,  where tomorrow we will take the boat lift down onto the River Weaver. http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/Anderton-boat-lift/history

Middlewich folk and boat festival

Breasted up alongside N.B. Lord Toulouse

Today's cruise in torrential rain brought us to Middlewich  in Cheshire, where this weekend a festival of  all types of folk music is happening all  over town. http://www.midfest.org.uk  as well  as narrow boats old and new. We have met up with the owners of Lord Toulouse, one of four boats with whom we plan to take a trip on the River Weaver next week. Lord Toulouse took part in the Queen's Diamond  jubilee Flotilla on the Thames last year, so we are in prestigious and experienced company. 

What a difference a day makes! Wednesday. June 12th Moored Wheelock. Trent and Mersey canal

So now  all 26 locks of Heartbreak Hill are completed and we are moored up at Wheelock in Cheshire, a village which dates back to the Doomsday book (11th century). A treat was in order: we just ate a splendid Italian meal in San Marco's, a delightful restaurant in an old mill building beside the canal. It couldn't have been different from last night's fiasco. The food was hot and delicious and plentiful, served by a friendly waitress who was attentive but not intrusive.

Onward down Heartbreak Hill

All lights blazing, the tunnel light brightens  the gloom

Today we headed off through the Harecastle tunnel which took three  years to dig and opened in 1827. It is one and three quarter miles long and takes about 45  minutes to pass through. As usual, we were accompanied by the Beatles "Revolver" album which takes about that time to play and we sang along at the top of our voices.It seems to make the time pass more quickly and quells the slight claustrophobia that can arise as the tunnel narrows towards a pin prick of light. After emerging once more , we set about the first 12 locks of what has been known to boaters for many years as Heartbreak Hill.

Twenty six locks in about 7 miles take you down 250 feet from the summit of the Trent and Mersey to the Cheshire plane below.
We moored tonight at Rode Heath and dinner at the Broughton Arms, which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Mike's veggie pie was so dry as to be almost inedible and potatoes as an option when coleslaw ran out didn't help,considering it was an onion and potato pie! Oh well,better luck tomorrow!

Nice little house next to the canal would be nice!

The worm in the rose.

Our mooring spot for tonight: next to Westport Lake, Stoke on Trent

We set out on such a beautiful sunny morning and headed for Stoke on Trent, not the world's prettiest city, but we have usually had fairly uneventful transits along the canal here. As we approached the first of Stoke locks I saw a young man and women crouched down under a bridge just before the lock moorings beside a bicycle. I thought at first they were mending a flat tyre, but quickly realised they were fixing something quite different. Mike clambered off and went ahead to prepare the lock, leaving me alone perhaps ten yards from these two unfortunates. Having got her fix, the girl quickly disappeared up the bank and away. The young man, about the age of my sons, I guessed, wandered around on the tow path shouting obscenities and becoming increasingly unable to control his movements. His overlarge jeans would not stay up and he was in danger of falling into the canal. I wavered between two feelings: fear; what if he approached me? Tried to get on or in the boat? I did not look his way more than I could help, avoiding making eye contact.

The other feeling was anxiety: what if he falls in the canal and I have to help him: although it's not deep, the state he was in would make him vulnerable. What if I had to save him? All this whizzed round and round in my head in the ten minutes it took for the boat in front to go through the lock and for it to be emptied ready for me to go in. he finally sat crossed legged on the ground and my lock was ready and away I went.

The anxiety lingered with me for the rest of the journey. We moored up by Westport Lake, the site of some former industrial workings which subsided and filled up with water. The local authority cleaned it up extensively and now it is a popular local beauty spot.  Mike wasted no time in making the most of the sunshine, but I am left feeling that the shine was taken off the day by what I saw and the nagging question: what would I have done? 

Mike catching some rays!

Heading off to pastures new.

Our mooring spot for tonight

 After a further trip up to the Escape in May to do "jobs" : bits of rust treatment, painting and re-varnishing, we are setting out for our first visit to the River Weaver. We were supposed to be meeting fellow members of the Cotswold Canal Cruising club ( do not attempt after a couple of pints of Banks'). Unfortunately  NB Time Out has not joined us yet due to engine trouble. We hope they will have caught up by the time we reach the Weaver. Meanwhile we are enjoying a fairly laid back meander up the Trent and Mersey canal through familiar places. We are moored currently near The Plume of Feathers at Barlaston, Staffordshire, although we haven't availed ourselves of its selection of beers tonight. 10 pm now and only just starting to get dark. Nearly midsummer and we've only had about 7 days of summer weather so far, after the coldest spring for fifty years. So it is good to see the flies swarming and the fish jumping and the cygnets , goslings and ducklings thriving. We haven't done much river work before and kitted out with our shiny new anchor, WHICH WE HOPE TO HAVE NO OCCASION TO USE, we are expecting to learn from our more experienced fellow travelers.