Space Rockets and old friends.

This went past first thing,  so to my mind ever so slightly an odd shape but the elderly owner was as proud as punch and rightly so if he has restored it.  He had his radio BLARING as he past too I think to make sure he was noticed.

After a lovely sunny evening on Devil's Garden, the heifers came and visited again, Amanda stroked one and another rubbed its head repeated and firmly on David's shoulder causing him to spill his drink.

We departed in slight drizzle and with coats on, the wind was stiff and chilly.

There are lots of substantial bridges on the river Weaver.  Here are a couple of them.  
The wooden one was built in the 1920's I think, can you see how the planks are put together to form beams?  Most attractive.

Railway viaduct in the background.

Beautiful footbridge.

Made like this...

There are several swing bridges on the river, this was to accommodate the large ships that frequented the river to the salt based industries located along its banks.   Have a look at  this one, now being dismantled, but really tell me if you think it could easily of had a place in Star Wars?  I say yes.  Can you imagine applying for planning permission today?  

"Yes I would like to build a train station on top of some space rockets in an area of outstanding natural beauty"

We called at Northwich to visit the supermarket, after managing to convince two widely spread boaters who had moored (Only just moored and still chatting) they were on bollards too, not as if they had to move pins or anything.......  anyway after topping up with more goodies, I have to report Reader that Amanda did arrive with a large tiramisu which is a great favourite plus a cheesecake....   anyway as I was saying we continued pottering along southwards to the first lock, silly us, it was lunchtime and we had to wait, but where to do that?  
There are visitors moorings below the lock and most were taken, plus a dollysized floating pontoon of about 10ft long.  The lockkie came down to show us where he would like us, so nose on the floating pontoon and semi breasted up with a broken down narrowboat.  They don't really do Lock Landings on the Weaver, it might be why you can phone them and have the locks prepared at will?

Lovely old blue bridge, aptly called The Blue Bridge.

Large lock to ourselves.

We carried along the river and through the other lock, everything was beautifully explained by the amazingly friendly lock keepers who have so much time with you to help, have a laugh with and good luck to Chris who's wife was having their baby daughter delivered today, yes very friendly chatty Lockkies here.

We decided to turn into the wind and moor up at Vale Royal moorings, it was sunny there, we put our sun chairs right into the bushes and got out kindles and cups of tea.  

Then the nose of a boat we recognised crept into sight past the trees and Lo and Behold it was Caroline and Ray on 
NB Tranquil Daze.  Ray worked it out that we had met them on the Thames, by Hampton Court Palace within ten days of today a year ago.  We had also met up with them again pure chance in Thrupp three years ago and on the Delft Flight in the Black Country two years ago.  We chatted and shared stories for several hours until it was chilly and supper was calling.

Supper was fishcakes with a pretty good salad put together by David, I hate making salad, followed by cheesecake and fresh raspberries.... yum.

Its not a dead body....

We were expecting a Boat Guest today.  Amanda, who is one half of the team (Whom consider themselves Boat Sharers).  Not David as he is at home harvesting and eating doughnuts in her absence.

So from this pretty pretty mooring, we retraced our steps to Dutton Lock, we did this by phoning the lock keeper in the appointed manner, we did this eight times with no joy and in the event as if by magic when we arrived the gate was open for us to join two other boats waiting.

There is a lot of talk about rope lengths in the River Weaver Hand-out for these deep locks, you are supposed to have long ropes.  
Now prior to last summer on the Grand Trip we did spending almost all summer on rivers we had never given rope much thought, we had ropes and that was that.  

But today was worth a snigger or two, in that the two boats were alongside each other, we were asked to go alongside the two of them and raft up.  Now at 70' we were overhanging both boats by a considerable way so our centre line was fixed to the tiny middle boat's centre and our bow rope I walked back down WaL to hand over to the nice lady on the boat alongside the wall.  We chatted, as you do, they moor on the river Soar, its her first time on the river Weaver and they too have guests to stay this weekend....... whilst all this was being exchanged, all three boats had drifted right across the wide lock..... it seems that in our talking, she was holding our bow rope at the expense of her rope which was so very very short,
(about the length of a skipping rope) it was tied to the bollard only, a shout was heard and a man ran, a rope was pulled and harmony restored.  
But I am really not worried about our ropes now.

On to pick Amanda up at Acton Bridge she was two minutes late, but after a three hour drive I suppose that wasn't too bad.
Rubbish here Reader, emptied my bin two days running!

Her car was hidden and off we went.  Back to Dutton Lock and to the lock keeper who again had the lock all ready and waiting for us with a smile.

Here she is at last.

See what I mean, the place is full of traffic.....

Amanda telling her husband that his tea is in the dog.

We wanted to show her this end of the river Weaver, so we went past last nights mooring, and beyond.  It was breezy and it was getting pretty strong wind in our faces.  We down to the Motorway, M56 I think and found two narrowboats moored up right underneath.

Surprisingly there was spaces next to them....

Me having a go, around the corner we were exposed again to the strong wind.  Medium Boat hair.

So I was driving and watching the water when I gave a scream...... Left the tiller.......ran through the boat....... 
leaving David and Amanda wondering what on earth, she thought it was a dead body!!    But what had happened, was that our cratch cover had blown out of the cratch and into the water, on examination it even had the bow and anchor ropes across it but still was gone.

Look carefully to spot our cushion in the water.

"I've got it!... now what?"

So the boat was turned, Amanda kept watching the overboard and I was getting in position and retrieving.  Good team work I thought, then the boat turned again to continue the run to the moorings and seconds later, David's new hat blew off too!  Too late, too small and too blue for it to be rescued.  Back to the old orange one tomorrow.

New hat unseen.

  We arrived at the same mooring for tonight, Devil's Garden although David keeps calling it Devil's Elbow.  We sat on the bank side to survey the land and had a bottle of sparkle to celebrate the fine company's arrival.  She thinks she is on holiday, but she's going to be utilised all right.

Supper was chilli chicken stir fry with organic primo cabbage and organic carrots.  Thank you David Lewis for sending them.

Oh so crowded here, can we cope?

We woke early, much earlier than loud laughing studenty types next door.  No sign of life there unsurprisingly, but we were as quiet as mice as we slipped away.

Rather a lovely start to what developed into a lovely complete day.

We pottered down to the lock, a whopper, with a dolly sized lock landing with a narrow boat already on it.   Humph could possibly have been uttered by me.... but as we looked for options, the Lock Keeper wasn't going to arrive for another twenty minutes.  Then a call form the bank was heard of moor up alongside us and we met Teresa and Brian.  

The ropes fastened and  the kettle on.  David went off to locate the Lockkie and to 'Check-in'.  

They have a different way of doing whopper locks to the Thames, where in all my limited experience we have not breasted up in those locks but we did here.  I think the Lockkie was very gentle with us, maybe he is with everybody or maybe its the "Northern" way, but it was a most civilised descent.

NB Hercules

This was moored up at the first lock.  Its looking a bit sad, but online there wasn't much information that I could find.... anyone know anything else about her (Or is it a him) other than this    HERE

We followed Teresa and Brian out of the lock.  

Not terribly clear, but they are terribly fast to disappear these Grebes.

Another sad sight, this time much much sadder.

Into the second and last lock of the day.

 We were wanting to water up (And obviously get rid of the rubbish having had fish twice already), but to save the other two boats waiting and the lock keeper at this second lock, we stopped at Acton Bridge I bolted with the bin liner and then raced off again.  Here the Lockkies either phone each other of your impending arrival or we can phone them ourselves to have the lock made ready.  

Last year on the Thames, a Lockkie shut the gates on a narrowboat about fifty yards out and said he can wait when there was PLENTY of room for him.  I had been staggered at the time.  
We filled with water after this second lock,  it really dribbled out but it was very sunny.

Through trees

We had been told that the far northern end was industrial and having come through Northwich on the canal I believed them.  I felt we didn't have to go right to the bitter end so turned when the fields got a bit dull looking.  Then retracing our steps went to here, its oddly named Devils Garden, ok its a bit thistly, but Devils...?

The calves put me off, you would think I would be ok with them having had about 400 at home at any one time but no.

Our mooring tonight

The boat in the very front had said to me he hasn't seen it so busy as it was today....  I looked at him thinking it was that good ole British sarcasm but he was Scottish and as serious as a judge.

Ok, hours later another boat joined us and at 8pm another.  But had this free to moor meadow been on the Thames well it would have been filled with Gin Palaces and no room at all.
I like it up here in the norff.

Our view to the south-ish

And the north-ish, packed with boats.

I can't tell you how much I love days like this.

David had to jump and and get rid of the pesky calves who came marauding .

And today lunch was....

and a very good Soave.

Arriving finally at Anderton.

Now in the intervening time since we last spoke, we have been at home, me looking after my mother and David mainly playing golf.  The Boat Sharers aka David and Amanda had WaL and in the week they had it they did the Cheshire Ring, plus a trip to Ellesmere Port before they started it.  I am reliably informed that they did 96 locks in that week!  

Well when we had stopped laughing about it David worked out that since we came onto WaL this April that we have done about 70 plus......

But it has been a somewhat disjointed summer's cruising, although a very pleasurable one, we have had to go home for two funerals and two weddings but this time we are out for five weeks till we have to be home next for a further three weeks.

So then, the Boat Sharers took Wal off of us at Chester Zoo and deposited it back at OverWater Marina again, this is its third trip there and we thoroughly like them there.  We collected her and departed the morning after having a great supper at...... yes you've guessed it The Lord Combermere, again, we think it was our fourth time this summer... probably the last time, probably.

We headed north on the Shropshire Union, and turned right onto the Middlewich canal.  This was retracing steps that we had taken previously with daughter Kirsty and her boyfriend Bob several weeks before.
Not much happened, other than it was windy then it got worse and finally was a tiny hurricane and we moored up in the first space we could.  The next day was drizzly and he battled on finally in the face of rain pulled over and said I've had enough.  I was fine with that as I was inside.

Another busy day getting on the Llangollen, two more boats in the locks.

David arriving onto the T&M from the Middlewich Arm at Middlewich

David opened the paddles of the middle lock as I was trying to open the gate of the already full lock and a tsunami occurred, I kept my feet dry just.

I love this large font on the bridges and locks up here.

This had a tax disc in the window of 2012, has it been sunk here for 3 to 4 years?

So we read and relaxed and finally decided that with only a five mile bike ride to fetch the car and pop it in a tidy place for next week I would accompany him.  It was a nice ride and my often aching hip had nothing to say on the subject either.
We cycled back from Middlewich along the towpath and the evening was now warm windless and sunny.  Lets get these six locks out of the way tonight we both thought but it turned out that all the world and his mother had the same idea, with five boats whizzing past us as we arrived back at WaL.  No bad idea, we'll leave early in the morning which we did today.
06:45 kick off and we had the first two of the six in our favour.  The Middlewich three were almost full with no one about but that SWINE of The Deep Lock gave me problems.  And heaving on that brute did make my hip complain later. Unbalanced gates slow filling and a bent paddle... 

Beauty flowed all around as we made out way north on the Trent and Mersey canal.  Its wooded, floral quiet and lovely.  That horrid industrial section in the middle then more beauty as we approached The Anderton Boat Lift.

Its long been on my wish list and today we had our turn.  So for my new Readers in Brazil and New Zealand, this boat lift was first opened in the late 1870's, the structure is like a giant metal skeleton with large baths held within, you sail into one of the baths, the baths take two narrow boats, then as the watertight gates close down behind you, the bath is lowered down about a 50ft drop, and the other bath is raised by some cantilevered magic.  You can read more about it     HERE

Its a pretty amazing feeling to be using this same structure for pleasure 140 odd years after the thing was invented.  I do always try to remember the lives of the ordinary boat-persons working in all weathers and not just the engineers who designed and built them though.

This is the view from the footbridge over the entrance.

We joined the other NB already in the 'bath'holding tank.

On the top then the gate shuts down behind us.

The River Weaver down below.

Nice chappie shuts the gate behind

Slowly down we go.

Not a terribly pretty view from here.

They are coming up as we go down.

And up....

Now at the bottom waiting for the watertight gate to open.

Gate up.

And away we go.

This is what it looks like from below. Fantastic.

The River Weaver where we now are is pretty, it does always help when the sun comes out as it did today.  We came down with a narrowboat who was coming down to have lunch on the river then going back up again.  They have detoured from the Four Counties Ring.  We are here for a few days, and, if they run out of river water again like they did this week it maybe a day longer!

A short hop today to the first available sunny mooring.

We sat on a wide grass  bank and read.  I finished a great book and was sad to do so.  Later oh what joy, a boat arrived with ten jolly young inebriated studenty types arrived, spilling out of their boat and on the roof, they breasted up with the boat in front and have been laughing ever since on the bank in a most annoying fashion disturbing the peace....  
I think this qualifies me to be joining the Grumpy old Womens club don't you?

Whilst reading, a rustle then a loud thumping crash and this little cherub appeared looking shyly at us on the path...

Lunch was fab, crayfish tails in lemon mayo and rocket rolls.  Not terribly hungry after that, so a mini salad of edamame beans, coleslaw, bulgar wheat and avocado followed by coffee and chocolate.

Note to self, chocolate supplies dangerously low, must visit Lidil pretty soon.