Trent and Mersey Canal

Friday 15th September 2017
A rest day today and following catching up with a bit of work we had a walk around the village, we also took the opportunity to take our washing to the laundry, about 5 mins walk from the boat.
We walked up through the village to Lymm Dam, there are lots of walks through the woods that surround the lake with lots of squirrels to keep Scruff entertained,
We walked back around the village calling in to collect the washing as we approached the boat.
We noted the large and luxurious houses as we passed through the village and I wondered, given its closeness to Manchester, which of the great and famous enjoyed the=is lovely place, a quick look on Google produced a long list including Sir Bobby Charlton, Terry Waite, John Stalker to name but few.

Saturday 16th September 2017

Fiddlers Ferry Power station

We awoke to a beautiful morning and were on our way by 8 a.m, the morning was absolutely still and the cruise down the canal was as good as it gets with the peace only being momentarily interrupted as we passed under the M6, we had a quick stop at Thorne Marine to take on water etc before heading on towards Preston Brook. The views from here are incredible on a day as clear as it was today, we passed to the south of Fiddlers Ferry power station beyond which the view extends all the way across the plain towards Wigan, indeed we could see the same power station from the bottom of Wigan locks the week before.
After passing under the M56 we arrived at Midland Chandlers, this is a boaters paradise with just about everything you could ever want (and more), we had a shopping list and managed to stick to this resisting the temptation to spend a lot more.
Just arount the corner, we came to the northern portal of Preston Brook tunnel, we had a 15 minute wait as, in this direction, the tunnel is only accessible on the half hour and the following 10 minutes.

Entering Preston Brook Tunnel

There was a boat in front of us and two behind and our min flotilla set off on our passage through. The tunnel is broad and high so it was an easy passage with a slight bend in the centre, emerging into sunlight we then came across the stop lock, originally designed to prevent Trent and Mersey water escaping into the Bridgewater. Strangely the Trent and Mersey starts a few yards into the northern end of the tunnel.
The lock is soon negotiated as the difference in water level is only a couple of inches. The canal from here winds it way along the contour of the valley sides with views across to the Weaver navigation below.

Inside Saltersford Tunnel

There are two  further tunnels to negotiate on the run onto Anderton, the first is Saltesford, this again is timed and once inside it is easy to see why, although short the other end of the tunnel cannot be seen due to the dogleg in the middle, as you pass through it really is like being in another world, the lights of the boats in front and behind lighting the tunnel walls but invisible due to the bends.
The last tunnel, Barnton, is a much more straight forward affair, with no time limits, as you can see if there boats coming the other way so we followed the leading boat in.
Anderton is reached very soon after and we had decided to moor here for the night, our mooring was right next to the impressive Anderton lift, more about this later as we went down the lift last year and intend to explore the Weaver next year.
The following morning we caught up on a few more jobs on the boat before heading down the short hop to the Lion Salt Works museum.

Anderton Lift

The Salt works are quite interesting but the process basically involves pumping out the naturally occurring brine from the aquifer below and then boiling it to evaporate the water and leaving the salt behind, so the museum consists of salt pans and the fires below, it was interesting to note that different grades of salt are formed at different temperatures with the finest table salt being produce at the hottest parts and the coarser slat for fish packing etc at the coolest.
There is a lot of interesting information relating to the other forms of salt production in the area, such as mining the solid salt, here pillars were left to support the ground above but as they flooded the salt dissolved and the mines collapsed causing a lot of damage to the surrounding area as well as forming lakes known locally as flashes.
There was a lot of information on how things have now changed, there are still deep rock salt mines but a lot of the mining is now done using the solution process, this involves dissolving out the salt whilst leaving carefully shaped cavities that are designed to be less likely to collapse.
The process for extracting the salt has also come a long way from the open pan method.

Inside the Salt Museum

These days a clever bit of basic science is used, steam is generated for the process but before being used for salt production it drives turbines for generating power, the exhaust is then used to heat the brine. The clever part here is that the process is carried out in a partial vacuum therefore the water boils at a much lower temperature, the steam having cooled a bit more is passed through a second then third process, at each stage the pressure is lowered further so in the final stage the water boils at a mere 35 deg C. - Genius. Of course the salt is extracted and dried automatically before packing and distribution.
Monday - we took a stroll down to Northwich, about a mile across the flashes, its a lovely walk through here and the peaceful scenery belies its industrial past. There are still signs of the salt industry around here, for example we came across some vary large pipes with warnings of high temperature steam and indeed it was escaping in a few places so they must still be live.
The town itself is quite pretty in parts with some old timber framed buildings, these were built to counteract the effects of the subsidence as they could be bodily jacked up or in some cases even moved when required. There is a huge new complex just off the high street with a large Asda and M&S which was still under construction when we visited here last year.
We retraced our steps back to the boat and decided to move on as the weather was quite pleasant and at least dry!
We cruised along to just out side Middlewich, the moorings we chose are known as Bramble Cuttings, an old quarry for puddling clay converted by the Broken Cross Boat Club who have installed picnic tables and bbq stands. This is a lovely spot sat quietly in the Cheshire countryside alongside the river Dane.

Bramble Cuttings

Not long after mooring the rain returned and poured steadily for most of the night, the next morning it had thankfully stopped and was replaced by an early autumn mist.
We got underway soon passing a large flash at Croxton, the fash is wide but we stayed close to the towpath side of the canal as the flash is quite shallow.
We reached the outskirts of Middlewich, marked by the Big Lock, so named due to its being double width. The climb continues through the town with a series of three very deep locks in close succession , before arriving at the junction of the branch canal connecting the Trent and Mersey to the Shropshire Union canal. This junction is notorious in summer due to boats approaching in three directions, two of which require the ascent of a lock adding to the confusion, on this occasion, however, we were the only boat around and carried on our way without incident.
We had set our sights on the village of Wheelock for an overnight stop, however it was such a nice day we decided to press on up to Rode Heath, this part of the canal is nicknamed heartbreak hill due to the necessity to pass through a further 17 locks making a total of 23 for the day!.
The locks on this stretch of the canal have all been duplicated so waiting time is minimised, the original canal and locks were built by James Brindley, the additional locks were added in 1830 by Thomas Telford.

Double locks in action

Double Locks

We arrived at our moorings tired and ready for a good nights sleep.
Wednesday brought another fine day so we continued the climb to the summit mooring at Red Bull, Kidsgrove, here there are all boater services at the CRT yard,.
A quick walk round Kidsgrove was all that was required to show that if your tastes include Fried Chicken, Vaping or tattoos then it has all you require but very little else.
We will stay here until Friday as the forecast is poor for Thursday, the next stage should prove exciting with just 3 locks left to reach the summit and the notorious Hardcastle Tunnel.