10.25 miles, 1 lock
This is for the second time of
asking! It was all done and dusted,
ready to publish. The last step is always
for Chris to proof read it, however, somehow or other he deleted the lot!
Having filled the water tank, emptied
the yellow water, disposed of the rubbish and paid our dues we were on our way
in DRY weather!
Today there were to be three tunnels
to negotiate. The first at Barnton was
572 yards long. They are all single file
traffic, but there was no time restriction for entry at this one as you can see
the far portal of the tunnel. It
is a case of checking carefully and going for it.
The second at Saltersford is just 424
yards long, but it has a definite dog-leg, so entry going north is on the hour
until 20 past the hour.
Safely out the other side the sun was still shining
It is about 4 miles to the last tunnel
at Preston Brooke and there are some great views to be had over the Weaver Valley
that includes some bridges over the River Weaver
We knew we would pass Pip and Mick on
nb Oleanna today and it had to be just as I had popped downstairs to put the
kettle on and hang the washing on the airer – I almost missed them
Having started in warm sun the weather
started to clamp in, so it this is not the best shot of the Dutton viaduct.
I did mention the weather looking worse above – well it really
started to rain shortly after the above photo
By the time we reached the only lock
of the day it was not just a bit of rain – it was lashing it down and then the
thunder started. No problem for Chris
and I, but poor Monty is terrified of thunder.
He shakes, pants and drips. He
opted to come off the boat to supervise me as is his usual role at locks, but not
for long. He bolted back to Chris and
the safety of the boat.
It is only a shallow stop lock (the
Trent and Mersey becomes the Bridgewater Canal just after the tunnel), but the gate
at the top was heavy to move and there was a block of wood at the bottom end
that needed to be moved with a boat hook, so it seemed to take forever as the
rain just kept on pouring down. We made
it eventually and tied up to wait our for our time to enter the tunnel. Going north it is on the hour to 10 minutes
past the hour. No sooner had we tied up
to wait the 10 minutes than the rain stopped and the sun came out! A boat emerged from the tunnel having missed
the weather judging by the shorts and t-shirts being worn by the crew.
We made it in eventually and emerged
safely at the other side some 1239 yards later
We stopped at Midland Chandlers on the
right just before the M56 bridge
Chris emerged some 30 minutes later
with a bag of goodies plus a large bag of kindling which we hope we will not
need for much longer
There was not a lot of traffic, but we
inevitably met a boat at a bridge hole (note the smoke coming from the chimney - we needed warmth!)
We paused briefly at the store in
Moore village
But moved on a few hundred yards away
from the busy road before we moored for the night
With a pretty good side hatch view
The lowest point of the day, apart from the rain, was an inconsiderate dog owner whose lack of care meant Chris had the unenviable task of cleaning his shoes in the canal whilst Monty carefully looks the other way as it was nothing to do with him.
The rain started again soon after we
moored, but the evening turned out to be very pleasant – it is good spot to
moor
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