Barnton

Today's Navigations - River Weaver, Trent and Mersey Canal

The first half of today was bright and sunny but a moderate breeze across the water kept things fairly cool. Despite neither of us sleeping as well as we might have liked last night and two early mugs of tea each, we did not set off until our usual time of 9:30.

The mooring looked as beautiful today as it felt yesterday evening.

After a short distance we passed a new Park Home estate - the last eight plots are currently being marketed although the web site does not seem to indicate prices. Some owners go to great lengths to disguise the fact that these are all park homes.

Newbridge Swing Bridge looks lower in the photo than it is - we had at least 400 mm clearance. There is no obvious way of opening the bridge so we assumed that boats the have a greater air draft need to book passage ahead of time so that CaRT staff can open up the control box to let them through. We suspect that this does not happen very often as there are no signs about it all.
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Salt Union, Winsford Rock Salt Mine, is a land,mark for some distance along the river. Over half of the rock alt produced in the UK comes from here, mainly for gritting roads in winter. The rock in which the salt is embedded also helps to add grit to the mix.

The mine currently goes down to 200 m below the surface. The rock salt is mined, unlike the more extensive brine pumping that is used elsewhere in Cheshire, especially near Middlewich where table salt s produced. As mining techniques can be designed to leave support pillars, this is much less destructive of the surrounding landscape whereas elsewhere there is a long history of subsidence, creating the many 'flashes' for which the area is well known. The company maintains considerable stocks so that it can respond to sudden demands from highway authorities when there is a particularly bad winter storm.

Just before Winsford we passed 'the last winding hole' - we knew that we would be able to turn at the end of the navigation but this one is for full length narrowboats

Another stockpile - this one showing a technique of low cost covering for he mountains which the company has developed.

Just after the Red Lion pub, which is often used to highlight the point to turn around, there are two road bridges and we were able to wind under the second one. Just beyond is a large flash. A new set of moorings has recently been created closer to the entrance but we heeded disaster warnings from the lock keepers and, with a little disappointment, did not venture further. Our confusion was added to when we could see a narrowboat moored there. Still, safer rather than sorry.

Yet another swan family - this parent was keeping its two cygnets safe by giving them a lift!

We passed the overnight mooring where we had been asked to check in with the Vale Royal lock keeper and, good as their word, the lock was ready and a  gate open for us as we arrived and went straight in.

Looking back to our 2011 blog, combined with a vague memory, we realised that back then the larger lock was being used whilst the smaller one, used today, was under repair. The keeper said that the other one was last used four years ago.

Down through Hunts Lock where a very high level railway bridge dominates the skyline. We had been under the main electrified line (which goes through Hartford where Mike caught a train at the end of the last trip) and this one is only a local line through Northwich.

We passed the entrance to Yarwoods Boatyard - there seemed to be a coffee break for a small group, perhaps they are volunteers for something. Yarwoods was once a very thriving and well known small ship and boat builder, coastal ships, barges for larger waterways and a good number of narrowboats. However, it failed to find new markets when demand changed in the 1960's and closed in 1966. The basin appears to be home to a number of restored old working narrowboats.

Mike dropped off Christine close to Waitrose (as suggested by one of the lock keepers) whilst he continued to the Town Bridge where he tied up at the service block. Our water tank was well down and our elsan rather full!

Apparently the new pontoons outside the cinema require a unique key for access, not the standard Watermate key. Fortunately we were not planning on stopping here.

We continued a the short distance to the lift area (startled by the sounds of a shooting range close to the river) and pulled in for lunch on the visitor moorings (we could not hear the guns at this point). After lunch we thought that it would be a good idea to pull down to the lift waiting area and book in for a passage. Christine returned pleased that we had done that as she was given a 16:15 slot. A trip boat,. full of visitors (the lift is a popular destination for coach trips)

With some time to go, Mike made the quiche for tonight and then started on the planned maintenance to the door between our bedroom cabin and the bathroom. Last autumn, this door started to refuse to close - either the frame or the door had changed size! Boats are prone to expansion and contraction as the temperature changes but even so he door would only close occasionally.

We had a number of possible plans of action but the first thing was to remove the door so that we could work on it on the river bank. No sooner had Mike lifted it off and assembled the necessary tools when a member of CaRT staff arrived to say that we could now go up in the next passage! So we had quickly to pack away the door and tools!

As a result of a rather hurried casting off and turn into the lift entrance we did not manage many new photos.

At the top boats can only turn right out onto the Trent and Mersey - it is too tight to turn immediately left. As both we and the boat that also came up at the same time were planning to go left we had to go right and then immediately wind in the large space outside the Visitor Centre.

Once we had managed to do this we continued northwards along the canal, but only aiming to go the short distance to Barnton so that we can walk up to the church in the morning. Fortunately there was still plenty of room on he visitor moorings at the access bridge with a good towpath for re-starting the work on the door.

The plan was first to plane off a narrow strip from the hinge side of the door. As this photo shows, this door, offset from the centreline, is an irregular shape so modifications have to be planned very carefully. We removed just a few millimetres and then re-formed the slots for the hinges.

Re-hanging the door was not as easy as it should have been because we had to improvise with paperback books to raise the door to the right level before screwing the hinges in place! Doing maintenance on a boat is never straightforward. So we were somewhat surprised when the door closed first time and we could put the other modifications to the door frame on hold for now -
they would have been a bit more complex to do anyway.

Late afternoon, Christine walked along to the road bridge where there is a better view down to the river and across to where there was once a large chemical factory. (see here) Now closed, the site is being developed for, guess what?, yet more tacky boxes!

10.3 Miles - 2 Locks