Did we make the right decision.....? 8th & 9th May 2019

Anderton

.....to arrive a day early? The answer to the question was a resounding YES.  We woke to heavy rain.  I had to don waterproof trousers and jacket just to take Monty out for his first ‘garden visit’.  It was awful.  So, what did we do – well we had a very lazy day that started with a leisurely shower and unlimited use of my hair dryer as we are plugged into shore power.  Yes, I know I am easily pleased.

Tesco arrived almost on the dot of 11:00 for an 11:00 to 12:00 am delivery slot.  As any boater will know taking delivery of a large order takes a while to stow away!  We caught up on bits and bobs and by mid afternoon the rain had stopped, so we were able to venture out for a walk.

First the locals – we gather they successfully raised 7 last year. 

 Unlike some marinas – there is very easy access to the tow path across a bridge which if you turn right will take you to the Anderton Boat lift.

  

Just beyond the bridge 199 is this fabulous house

Which must house at least one very keen gardener

I really love this road roller

We did go past the lift on one of our walks when there was some boat movement

We have been down and up again, but not on our boat – yet.  It was on nb Cleddau over Easter in 2012.  A trip none of us will forget as on a very wet Easter Sunday due to a sudden engine stoppage caused by a fuel pump failure.  We were marooned in the middle of the river!

I vividly recall Ken hurling himself onto the bank and lassoing a tree just to ensure at least one bit of the boat was attached to the land.

then a very tricky bit of mooring was called for.  It was possibly fortuitous that there were four of us as even with Chris at the stern, me at the bow and Sue and Ken on land it was far from easy.

Once moored – getting on and off presented a bit of a challenge – it was a good job we did not have Monty in those days - he looks upon gang planks with deep suspicion.

RCR were called. They arrived but were unable to get the part until the next day, so we ended up stuck inside a tin tube for 27 hours with one member of the party suffering with a dodgy tummy and yet we are still friends!

Back to the present at Anderton:

Monty cannot go into any part of the lift exhibition, so we will leave that for the day we are going to go up or down and he can stay safely tucked up in the boat.  

There is this sign as you approach the lift – we reckon that equates to 13,476 Montys – we will stick to just the one, thank you.

It was almost as wet on Thursday, but we got the engine serviced - it was kept dry by an enormous fisherman's umbrella.  This is the second time we have used an Alvechurch (ABC) marina for a service and we cannot fault the service or the staff.  We were made very welcome, the job was done at the time agreed and the cost was very reasonable.  There is a restaurant at the marina which we used Wednesday evening.  If you are not after fine dining, fine wines or beers, but just very good food then you will not go far wrong.  It is accessible from B198 even if you are not moored in the marina.  The view from our table was pretty good as well

On Thursday Monty and walked towards the lift again, but turned left, walked through the car park to the Anderton Nature Area.  There is a 3 mile trail to follow, but sadly my knee is still not up to that

We just walked by the dragonfly and butterfly entrance

on through woodland

and down to the River Weaver

To my disappointment there was not the view of the lift I had hoped for.

It has been a very relaxed break and we were glad we did not have to keep going through two very wet days.  The only down side to being at Anderton was very iffy internet and no phone or television.