Preston Brook

Saturday morning dawned damp & grey with showery rain but this didn't deter us from a 7.30am start, before long the landscape becomes heavily industrialised for a while,

 

this is part of the ICI site, 

a drop or two of vactan (rust converter, to the uninitiated) maybe a good idea.

A Willow greening up in front of Anderton Marina, 

by 9.30am we were on their diesel point, 87ppl domestic which is pretty average I think. We had already stopped off at the services so with loo cassettes & bins empty, water & fuel tank full we headed for Barnton Tunnel, not very long at 572 yds

 Emerging into the light from Barnton Tunnel, 

   Then less than half a mile to Saltersford tunnel, by now in warm sunshine, it's not as long as Barnton at 424 yds but entry is in time slots, on the hour till 10 past west to east due to a bend in the tunnel meaning you can't see if any boats are approaching from the other end. We only had about 30 minutes to wait before our turn. Another couple of miles & we moored up in a favourite spot, overlooking the River Weaver just in time for lunch. 

 Entering Preston Brook Tunnel

Another day, another tunnel & look at that sunshine  :)  though we have had (much needed) heavy rain over night meaning the towpaths are very muddy & I was slithering about in it whist doing the only lock of the day, Dutton Stop Lock  which may not be deep, inches rather than feet but the top gate is a pig to open, not helped by muddy boots slipping off the bricks as I'm pushing, phew...
We timed it just right for the tunnel as the slot is on the hour till 10 past & we went in at 8 minutes past, once out of the tunnel....

 

& it's onto the Bridgewater Canal, passing on the left, some of Claymoore Navigation hire boats, behind is Midland Chandlers, closed today so no temptation to spend, ahead is the M56 motorway bridge & just beyond the bridge on the left is the entrance to the Runcorn Arm.

Another mile or so & our mooring spot,  this field of oil seed rape is turning yellow already, it seems early?  We moored up just a little further along so that we weren't directly under the pylons. As it was only 10 am when we moored up I did the washing which has been blowing in the sunshine (& cold wind!) all afternoon.

Tomorrow we shall head for Lymm, we are pacing our cruising so we get to Stretford on Thursday where we have booked into the Marina for a few nights.

If there is a patch of sunshine Soona will lie in it, it doesn't look very comfy but she's happy.

Northwich

Since my post last Tuesday, we have got a bit of a move on, have travelled about 38 miles & done 27 locks, which is a bit faster than we normally cruise. The reason for the haste is that, due to a couple of birthdays, we have a family get together in Manchester next weekend. 
Some of the photos taken along the way...

 In the middle of Grindley Brook staircase locks,

  all quiet at the cafe still closed for the winter, so no toasted teacake this morning

The lock gear on one of the Grindley 3, it's hydraulic & a dream to work

When we got to the bottom of the Hurleston locks we made a detour into Nantwich & nearly wished we hadn't bothered as the visitor moorings were just about full, we managed to squeeze in on the second stretch passed the aqueduct. On our way back from a trip to Morrison's we stopped for a natter with fellow liveaboards & bloggers, Jan & Dai on nb Jandai.

Jan commented in her blog that most of the boats on the 48hr moorings were there in January & generously surmises that maybe they have fully paid up winter mooring licences.

 Makes me really cross that those of us who stick to the rules of continuously cruising struggle to find a mooring when visiting towns to do a bit of shopping, it's not as if we stay long as we like to be in the middle of nowhere.... okay, rant over! 

Anyway we just stayed the one night & headed back up northwards on Wednesday hoping to moor in a lovely spot overlooking Church Minshull.

There is a long stretch of 48hr moorings here & they were empty so we had plenty of choice but when we came in to the bank we found a shelf meaning we were at least a foot away from the bank. We made as good a job as we could of mooring but really needed a couple of car tyres between us & the bank which we don't carry. Every time we moved about the boat it was banging against the shelf :( but fortunately Mark went on a recce & found on the stretch of bank after the 48 hr moorings & before  the bridge the shelf disappeared so we quickly moved up the hundred yards or so & got comfortably nestled against the bank & no more banging. Whilst we were there a couple of boats pulled onto the moorings & then left  again when they discovered the dratted shelf. 

Anyway once that was sorted we had a peaceful stay although we didn't see much of the view as it was cold, grey & foggy until this morning when we left in nearly sunshine! 

 Sawing the wood we picked up on the Llangollen

 A misty panorama,

 Nice stone & iron work on this lock in Middlewich, we stopped briefly to pop to Tescos then onward

 passing this sunken wreck in one of the flashes

We have moored for the night just a mile or two south of Northwich. Tomorrow we hope to get through Preston Brook tunnel & onto the Bridgewater Canal, showers are forecast so wetgear will need to be handy

what was left of the paper after Soona started & Sid finished the game of trashing it.