Anderton

Today's Canal : Trent and Mersey

We awoke to the start of a splendidly sunny morning, with only a little bit of haze to begin with.

Soon after leaving Bramble Cuttings passed the remaining trunks of two fallen trees which narrowed the navigation to a single boat width. The second, from a distance, looked as if some prehistoric monster was rearing its head and snake-like body out of the water. Best seen if you screw your eyes up (Go on, give it a go, you know you want to!)

Before long the haze had cleared and for a whole we had cloudless blue sky.

At several places along the canal north of Middlewich, salt extraction which over the centuries has led to widespread subsidence in the region, has caused the offside bank to collapse and incorporate a small lake. Sadly, most are not naturally very deep  and boaters are warned from straying too far from the original line of the canal.

The next flash has recently been developed as a smaller marina - its tea room is obviously a popular destination on days like this as it was doing a roaring trade as we passed by. We passed a couple of wide beam boats today, this one moored on the outside of the marina can only have a very short cruising range (from just north of here at Dutton Stop Lock to Croxton Aqueduct at Middlewich) or more likely service as a pleasant 'holiday cottage' of residential place.

Another newish marina is at Park Farm and has the more popular narrow entrance which gives the place a more secluded feel, unlike the earlier one which is wide open for all to see.

And finally, the oldest of the four: Orchard Marina. When we first came this way it was gradually becoming very run down in appearance and certainly dated. It closed a few years ago when Park Farm opened and has stood part renovated until now. This is the first time we have seen it back in water and a few boats have now taken up residence here.

Just after the next bridge is a longer pound, lined with trees and shrubs on the offside - left of the photo. We had not given much thought as to what might lie behind the trees until yesterday when, looking online for something else, we spotted that this a very large Morrisons Production and Distribution facility. We could only seen a tiniest glimpse of the structure - just a large metal box!

The Old Broken Cross is a popular pub alongside the canal and a road junction. It is said to date back to 14C but otherwise we have not found anything about the origins of its name.

Two years ago this plot was already on the market but we are not surprised than no-one has yet taken up the option for just a single dwelling. It is a tiny plot and right on a busy road with fast moving traffic.

We were now entering the Tata Chemical Works territory. As well as the older Soda Ash plant, this new unit is taking a number of years to construct and looks like a very complex set of building components!

On the opposite side of the canal work was already starting two years ago to provide what looks like a very high power junction box onto the main national electricity grid.

This part of the development looks from a distance as it it is an overgrown moon lander.

From close up we could see four extremely large fans so perhaps its role is to push air into the chemical process (whatever it is!)

At Wincham Bend stands a cottage which does not appear on maps until the second part of the 20C. It has been almost 'picture postcard' in the past but today is very much neglected. We were even unsure if it is still occupied.

After passing a couple more smaller chemical producers, and then the historic Lion Salt Works (now a museum) the canal runs for a while through the wooded Marbury Country Park. One day boat out from Oakwood Marina has a multi-generational family group, clearly enjoying the summer weather! We met a steady stream of on coming boats, more often than not at a narrow point - sadly CaRT's policy of letting the offside reeds satisfy the environmentalists is allowing them to take over more than half of the original width in places.

Eventually we arrived at Anderton Service Facility. We did not need to take on water (just as well as there was a queue!) but elsan cassette emptying was definitely an urgent priority. Christine took a walk ahead to see where we might moor and phoned back to say that there was a good spot just after the next bridge - the day boat had meanwhile moved here but was now going on to the winding hole by the lift before returning back to base. We happily slipped into the gap!

There were no 'turn up and see' slots on the Anderton Lift today - it was unclear whether this arrangement is still offered or whether everyone has to book online or by phone. Christine found the Visitor Centre to be oppressively busy and noisy so she was glad to walk back to where Mike had now moored up for the night. Much to his surprise he also found enough of an internet signal to book a slot at 10:45 tomorrow - £5 a trip (actually it is a booking fee not a transit fee LTRU)

Time t hen for a rather late lunch!

7.7 Miles - 0 Locks