Just a short hop to Runcorn and the end of the Bridgewater canal

Since my last update I've been moored up at Anderton near the boat lift.  Last week I picked up a car and had a trip to South Wales to watch my nephew ride in an Extreme Enduro event - it was certainly extreme and Olly had a greta ride to finish 4th overall. Not bad considering 1st and 2nd were both ex World Champions riding factory prepared bikes.  For those into Enduro the link below is a video of the event.  If you'd rather not watch all 30 minutes Olly has a staring role at 17 minutes and the sharp eyed will spot me at 13.20 standing on a pile of rocks in a blue coat taking photos.

Following that trip I then drove over to Peterborough to spend a couple of days with my eldest son Steve for his birthday.  While over that way I did the rounds and called in for coffee with Malcolm Harley and had lunch with Paul and Debbie Beaumont.

Having got back aboard and warmed the boat up after 4 days without heat I've just had a gentle run up the Runcorn arm of Bridgewater Canal which I have not travelled before.  The short run of 6 miles from Anderton to the junction at Preston Brook passes through 1 lock and 3 tunnels and offers very good views over the Weaver valley.

On this occasion it also offered a splendid view of a kingfisher which very kindly stayed still long enough for me to get a few lovely shots.  Very pleased to finally catch a good one as I so often see them darting across the water having been disturbed by the boat and disappear before I can grab the camera.  One of the advantages of travelling at 4 mph is that you can afford to take your eyes of the water for a few seconds to grab a shot.

Beyond Preston Brook the canal winds its way through a pleasant mix of urban and rural scenery before arriving at the terminal in Runcorn where I'm currently moored.  The canal now ends at the bridge behind the boat but originally continued down a set of locks to join the Manchester Ship Canal half a mile away.  Sadly those locks were filled with concrete in the 60's and reopening them is not practical.

At least some of the history has been preserved rather than bulldozed and built on and there is now a footpath following the old canal route.  Here the path passes through one of the locks and the bench on the right is in the spot where the gates would originally been set into the wall.  It felt very strange walking through a lock.

The actual junction where the canal met the MSC is still intact.  The water just visible beyond the hedge is the mighty river Mersey.

Hello 2017

I promised myself that I would update the blog more often in the new year and as the first week is almost over it's time I started.  I celebrated New Year quietly on the Leeds Liverpool canal watching the Jools Holland Hootenanny.  I love Jools but this year the show seemed shorter both in terms of talent and duration.  Maybe last years was too good.  The dreaded Wigan lock flight lay ahead of me and having struggled through it on my own before I was keen not to do so again.  At 21 locks it's not the longer flight on the system but due to a combination of poor maintenance and vandalism it is one of the worst.  I had found a group on FB called the "Wigan Flight Crew" which are a group of canal enthusiasts who volunteer to help boaters on the flight.  I made contact and found they were helping a boat down the flight on 2 Jan and I was welcome to share the trip - the locks are wide and can take two boats.  New Year's day was therefore a long cold trip of around 15 miles and 6 locks and I reached the top of the flight just as the light was failing.  A quick shower and hot drink soon revived my spirits and I slept well knowing I would not have to face the flight alone.  

Around 9:30 the following morning, with ice still on the boat, Andy, one of the volunteers, arrived and we chatted over a pot of tea waiting for Hayley to arrive with her boat.  A little before 10am we were in the first lock and ready to start the decent. 

Wigan Top Lock

Shortly after a second volunteer, Christine, arrived an we were soon making good progress through the flight with a reasonable hope of getting g through in under 4 hours.  However, this was thwarted a little over halfway down when we encountered an empty pound.  A pound is any stretch of canal between two locks and can be several miles long or, as in this case only a few hundred feet.  This one had probably been emptied by vandals opening the paddles on both the gates of the lower lock this draining all the water.   The solution is to run water down from the pounds above by opening and closing paddles which takes time.  About an hour later we had partially refilled the pound and decided that, although still 2 feet below normal level, it was probably deep enough to get the boats through.  Thankfully it was and we managed to continue our descent without further problems.  After clearing the bottom of the flight we continued on the the Leigh arm of the Leeds & Liverpool and went our separate ways as I moored up for the day while Hayley continued on her journey.  

The canal joins the Bridgewater canal at Leigh which then winds its way around the Mersey crossing the Manchester Ship Canal via an impressive swing aqueduct.  The photo below os taken from the Bridgewater aqueduct over the MSC looking at the nearby road swing bridge.  Both bridges are swung to let large commercial ships through.  

Swing Bridge over the MSC

The Bridgewater canal runs for a little over 30 miles to join the Trent and Mersey canal at Preston Brook.  From there the T&M heads south and eventually east to join the river Trent near Nottingham.  Over the past few days I followed a pretty stretch along the Weaver valley to Anderton. 

Anderton is home to the impressive boat lift which carries boats 50 feet down to the river Weaver. Originally built in 1875 it fell into disrepair with the decline of the waterways but was fully restored in 2002 and is once again carrying boats.  It is currently closed for maintenance but opens at the end of the month and I have booked a trip to take Mr Bunbury down. The photo below is taken from the river Weaver showing the massive lift and the water filled metal channel which carries boats from the canal out to the lift.  Hopefully I shall have photos and videos for the next update. Once down the lift I'll cruise the river Weaver for a few days before accending back onto the T&M canal.

Anderton Boat Lift

In the meantime I'm moored up in a local marina for a week while I pick a hire car to visit my eldest son on his birthday and tour around the local area.