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2005
May 1: Stafford Boat Club. Took delivery of Moonlight Holly.
May 2: Departed Stafford Boat Club at 11:45hrs heading south. Great fun going through the locks, excellent exercise for Angela as the lock gates have to be opened by hand. Peter has to stay on board Moonlight Holly to steer the boat into each lock.
Joined the Shropshire Union Canal, heading north.
What has amazed us is how friendly all other "boat people" are. Everybody helps each other at locks or mooring sites, nobody is in a rush.
May 3: Continued north, all day, along the Shropshire Union Canal. Very few locks so progress was a bit better than yesterday. One section was through a 100 foot deep cutting, a mile long and only 5 feet wider than the boat!!
Bridges that we go under are only 3 feet wider than the boat.
May 4: Turned west on to the Llangollen Canal where we encountered the first of a series of lift bridges. Some of these were push button operated and involved the control of the traffic over the bridge with traffic lights and barriers. Others, on smaller roads, involved pulling on a chain which lifted the bridge- all good arm exercise!
May 5: Arrived Whixall Marina and moored there.
The trip will continue after Angela's return from Greece, approx May 22.
May 21: Returned to boat after two weeks' absence accompanied by our first guest, Peter's niece Sylvia. Left Whixall Marina and cruised for two hours to first winding hole (turnaround spot). On the way we negotiated two lift bridges and enjoyed a picnic lunch outside on the foredeck before being forced inside by rain. After dropping off Sylvia at Whixall we then retraced our tracks as far as Welshampton where we spent the night at a delightful mooring, fields on one side and trees on the other.
May 22: Day Off! Spent it cleaning the brasses, polishing windows and washing down and waxing paintwork. Our evening walk was to be just a short walk around Colemere, a local lake area, but ended up being an eight mile hike into Ellesmere.
May 23: Arrived at the busy marina area of Ellesmere, by boat this time, shopped for groceries and filled our water tank. Continued along the Llangollen Canal and then turned into the Montgomery Canal. The first seven miles of the canal have only recently been rehabilitated following many years of disuse. The locks at the entrance to this canal are only open for an hour twice a day in order to conserve water and we were lucky enough to arrive in time for the afternoon opening. The canal is narrow, shallow and twisting and we were not helped by a strong cross wind. We arrived at our destination, the well known Queen's Head pub, where we moored and later in the evening walked to the end of the navigable section of the canal, four miles further on along the towpath. The route of the canal continues for a further twenty-five miles but has not yet been cleared.
May 24: We left Queen's Head early in order to arrive back at the locks in good time for the morning opening. In our haste to enter the locks (ie organized panic) the windlass with which we operate the lock gates accidentally "slipped" into the water. All was not lost however as we have a strong magnet and retrieved it within minutes thereby not losing too much face!
Regained the Llangollen Canal and continued peacefully to Chirk. In parts this canal was extremely shallow and quite a few boats grounded blocking the route. This caused much amusement to all concerned.
May 25: Another day off!! Set off on foot for Chirk Castle by way of the Chirk Aqueduct. The latter, built by Thomas Telford, was completed in 1801. The canal is carried high above the River Ceirog and surrounding valley in an iron trough resting on ten masonry arches. At the far end of the aqueduct is the start of the Chirk Tunnel - more on that tomorrow.
The walk to the castle took us across peaceful English (whoops, sorry, we are now in Wales!) countryside with sheep and cows grazing under centuries old oak trees. The castle, which sits on top of a hill, was originally built in 1295 as part of Edward I's chain of 14 marches fortresses across North Wales to keep out the marauding English. Over the past 700 years the castle has been continuously occupied by a succession of influential owners most significantly the Myddelton family for the last 400 years. The present owner, Sir Guy Myddelton, and his family still live on the estate. However the castle is now owned and operated by the National Trust.
May 26
We crossed the Chirk Aquaduct on Moonlight Holly - or at least Peter did while Angela ran alongside taking photographs. Not an easy task when you are 70ft up. At the other end of the aqueduct is the Chirk Tunnel (known as Darkie Tunnel - but we haven't as yet discovered why). This tunnel is 1,377 ft in length and only has 1ft of clearance either side. Inside it was pretty dark and there was quite a strong current as we were going upstream.
We decided that an aqueduct and a tunnel was quite enough for one day so decided to moor just north of the tunnel and walk around Chirk. We found the library and various other useful shops.
May 27
Today we walked along the towpath to Trevor - a small Welsh village whose main reason for being seems to be as a boat hire center. To get to Trevor we had to cross the next aqueduct - the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct - yes, the spelling is correct. This aqueduct, also built by Thomas Telford, was completed in 1805 and carries the canal across the River Dee. It is constructed of an iron trough supported by 19 masonry piers, and stands 126ft high. After exploring Trevor we treated ourselves to a curry in Chirk.
May 28
We crossed the aqueduct on foot again and walked the four miles to Llangollen. It is a narrow winding canal and we noted all the places where it was wide enough for boats to pass. We also noted that it would be better to moor in the newly constructed marina in Llangollen rather than alongside the towpath.
May 29
We left the mooring early and this time motored across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, again with Angela running alongside taking photos. Peter was not at all happy when the narrowboat started gently rocking from side to side, 126ft up. There were lots of other boats using the canal but only three going in to Llangollen. The two way radios proved very useful for "seeing" round corners and noting how many boats were coming our way. We arrived around lunch time and were one of the first in the marina. The rest of the day was spent sight-seeing in Llangollen, a very pretty but touristy town.
May 30
Walked along the towpath to Horseshoe Falls. This large horseshoe shaped weir, designed by Thomas Telford , was built in order to impound water from the River Dee to the Llangollen Canal. A pleasant spot frequented by many picnickers. On our way back we visited the Train Station where an old steam locomotive was just leaving for an eight mile journey up the Dee Valley. The smells and sounds of the old loco were so evocative of times past.
May 31
Our friends, Helmut and Jan Kron from Canada arrived early in the morning at Manchester Airport, after a week's holiday in Ireland. After two train and one bus ride they finally made it to Llangollen around midday and we all set off back down the Llangollen Canal. This time, as we were going downstream, we had priority although we were not about to insist on this. We made good time and moored for the night just south of the Chirk Aqueduct.
June 1
Our first hold up. Just three miles after setting off, we found ourselves at the end of a line of twenty or so narrow boats, all waiting to go through the New Marton locks. It took two hours before we finally made it through. That night we stayed just north of Ellesmere.
June 2
We were luckier than last time coming into Ellesmere as the place for taking on water was empty and we were able to go straight in. We then went shopping in Ellesmere for groceries and left shortly after that to look for a lunch spot. We found a very pretty spot by Blake Mere, just half an hour further on. We moored for the night just outside Whitchurch and then went exploring again. Whitchurch is a very typical English country town with lots of old "black and white" buildings.
June 3
Today there were lots of lift bridges to operate but we are "experts" at them now and they take no time at all. However, we did have to wait a little while at the Staircase Locks at Grindley Brook. (We had been told of four hour waits the previous week so were glad to get away after just an hour). Short thunderstorm in the afternoon but mainly windy and dry. We also managed to deal with the lift bridge at Wrenbury Lock without any assistance from the locals this time and moored for the night just north of there.
June 4
We left the Llangollen Canal and rejoined the Shropshire Union (the Shroppie) once more, this time going north. We had 17 locks to open but were not too tired to hike up to Beeston Castle that evening. We were unfortunately too late to see round the castle but read all the information and promised to come back the following day. We felt that we had well earned our first pub meal at The Shady Oak - strangely enough, this was one of two that we had visited two years earlier. It was not planned! And we had a super meal.
June 5
And so on to Chester (after deciding not to visit Beeston Castle again) - the final destination for Helmut and Jan. The locks on this section of the canal are very heavy and can accommodate two boats alongside. The canal got dirtier and dirtier with floating rubbish as we neared Chester and we decided not to moor right in the center of the town. We enjoyed a pleasant walk round the city that evening and all of us seemed to remember the city from times past.
June 6
Spent most of the day on household chores such as shopping, laundrette, developing films, checking on e-mails and putting this diary on the Internet at the library. In the meantime Helmut and Jan were doing the touristy things such as walking round the Town Walls.
June 7
Helmut and Jan left for Manchester since they were keen to have a day sightseeing there. After they left we did the touristy things and then in the evening watched Chester Horse Races (free of charge, along with hundreds of others) from the Walls overlooking the racecourse. The races were well attended and even though we weren't in the grounds, we got quite excited by some of the close finishes. We were amazed to see that attendees to the main pavilion had to wear a full business suit, or ladies evening dress.
June 8
We decided that while so near, we would visit the Narrowboat Museum at Ellesmere Port. This is the most northerly part of the Shropshire Union Canal and is a connection point with the Manchester Ship Canal. We were not contemplating motoring on the MSC as our little narrowboat could be crushed by the enormous ocean going boats that use this waterway. The canal from Chester to Ellesmere Port was very quiet and we saw hardly any other boats. It wasn't as clean as the Llangollen Canal and we kept having to stop and remove plastic bags, weeds etc. from the propeller.
June 9
Visited the Narrowboat Museum which contains upwards of thirty old narrowboats, most of which used to be working boats when the canals were used for transporting freight. The indoor section of the museum contained fascinating information about the old days and how the canals were constructed. We recommend that if anyone is in the area they visit this museum.
Returned to Chester in the late afternoon. Big excitement that night. Around 2 a.m. we woke to find ourselves adrift!!! Someone had released our bow ropes (as well as those of the next boat) and we were stern on to the towpath! Luckily they had not cut the ropes and we were able to tie ourselves up again.
June 10
Spent the day working the locks on our way back to Beeston where we spent the night in the same place as before. It's possible that even the ducks recognized us as they came up to the boat as soon as we moored. Enjoyed another good meal at The Shady Oak, this time enjoying the music of a rather energetic folk group.
June 11
Housekeeping/boat maintenance day.
June 12
Hiked along the towpath with the object of checking out the operation of the Bunbury Staircase locks system ie watch others going through the locks.
In the evening there was a fantastic sunset, with the sun setting behind black towering thunder clouds and then to finish off the evening, two foxes ran past the boat.
June 13
Left Beeston and went through the Bunbury Staircase locks successfully. A staircase lock consists of two or three locks without a stretch of water (pond) between them. This means that if you are going up the staircase, the upper locks must be full of water and the bottom lock empty. The procedure is different if you are coming down the staircase. As the Bunbury staircase is a double width lock it is possible for a boat coming down to cross with a boat going up which involves very delicate boat handling.
We spent the night at Cholmondeston on the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal.
June 14
We thought we would like to visit the nearby village of Church Minshull and perhaps have a pub lunch there. We walked along the towpath for approximately two hours and then took a small path through the woods to reach the village. Imagine our dismay when we discovered that the pub, The Badger, had a sign in the window saying that it was closed until further notice. So we then looked around for a restaurant or even a cafe. Nothing. Perhaps there was a small shop where we could buy something to eat. Nothing. We stopped a passer-by and he confirmed our suspicions that "This is dead-endsville"! So, with tummies grumbling, we hiked all the way back to the boat and a large plate of scrambled eggs!!
June 15
Left Cholmondeston and enjoyed a nice ride along a wide canal into Middlewich where we moored on the outskirts of the town. This was a good decision since we later discovered that most other spots had already been taken in anticipation of the Folk and Boat Festival which was due to take place at the weekend. Middlewich is a small town that since Roman times has been dedicated to salt extraction (rock salt mined from underground workings). Most of the salt goes to various chemical industries.
June 16
Wandered round Middlewich which is an attractive town dating from the Roman period. Salt is the main industry which has been extracted from below the town, from both mines and open cast workings, for a couple of hundred years. Found a supermarket that would actually deliver purchases to the boat, free of charge. Marvellous, so we stocked up on all the heavy things, like wine, washing powder and more wine! And then as if in divine retribution, one of Angela’s fillings fell out so we had to find a dentist that would replace it. Success but the first appointment wasn’t until Monday – so here we stay until then.
June 17
The Folk and Boat Festival started in the evening. On the Folk side groups had been invited from all over England and the better known ones were performing in the main festival arena. Other groups, known as the “Fringe Groups” played in pubs, the town square and many other public places. As far as Boats were concerned we were fascinated to wander along the side of the canal and investigate the many old narrowboats that had arrived as exhibition pieces. The colours were so bright and the boats, some as old as 100 years, were all in excellent condition. We watched in fascination as one historic cargo vessel arrived towing a Butty. The Butty doesn’t have an engine and is towed from place to place. Through locks it has to be unhitched and then pulled through by hand and collected by the cargo boat on the other side. And that boatman certainly knew how to handle this type of operation – not a dent or scrape on the paintwork anywhere, even after going through a tunnel and making an immediate sharp turn afterwards with other boats all round.
June 18
This was the first full day of the Festival and by this time the three canals were full of boats with not a mooring to be had anywhere. Peter counted 170 narrowboats, excluding hire boats and boats that have permanent moorings in Middlewich. Middlewich is at the junction of the Shropshire Union Canal and the Trent and Mersey Canal. However, in addition, at the very point where they join, is another canal called the Wardle Canal which has the distinction of being the shortest canal in the whole Inland Waterways system. It is only 50 meters long and consists of one lock and 25 meters of canal! The lock keeper at the Wardle Lock is Maureen; she has been there for thirty years and lives in the most delightful little whitewashed house with roses all over it. She knows everybody that comes to the festival and is a real character.
The Festival started officially with a short parade through town. Taking part were six groups of Morris dancers from various parts of England and an American group of clog dancers. A small band of Scottish Pipers led the procession and a children’s band brought up the rear. We then visited a site near the canal where there were demonstrations of boat fender making, rope making, knotting, painting canalware, etc. Narrowboats are famous for their canalware all of which is painted by hand. These include buckets, brooms, flowerpots, bottles, china, painted wall plaques and all the other accoutrements of narrowboat life.
June 19
More walking around the Festival sites. Very hot today and eventually around 4 pm the heavens opened and we all had to scurry for shelter. Apparently the music continued well into the evening but we didn’t venture out again.
June 20
Visit to the dreaded dentist but he was very gentle and it didn’t hurt at all. And so now we could leave. Not an easy task since it was the end of the Festival and many other boats also wanted to depart. On our exit route we were blocked for several minutes as two boats were moored side by side on one side of the canal, one boat on the other side and a fourth loading drinking water right in the middle. The canal was less than 30 feet wide so there was no room for anyone to move. But this is canal life and no one got upset, plenty of time, no hurry, take your time, perfectly all right. That’s what we find so delightful about life on a narrowboat. No one is in a hurry.
We ended the day in Wincham a village about a mile from the Anderton Boat Lift. After tying up we went to explore the lift procedure and then walked down to the River Weaver.
The Anderton Boat Lift is one of the impressive pieces of canal engineering in the country. The Lift was designed by Edwin Clark in 1875 and was the world’s first. It was built to speed up the movement of vessels carrying salt, coal and clay between the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal. The 50ft height difference between the two waterways was a constant problem and Clark’s solution was a revolutionary new system of hydraulics which could transport canal boats between the two waterways without the need to unload and reload. After falling into disuse during the early part of the 20th Century it was restored in the 1990’s to full working operation. The origin Clark design incorporated huge cast iron weights and counterweights, however, following the refurbishment, the Lift now works as a hydraulic lift with each of the two tanks (caissons) supported by a hydraulic ram. Generally the two rams are connected hydraulically with one ‘balancing’ the other. One tank, complete with up to two 70ft long narrow boats, will be raised to the top of the lift while to other, loaded or unloaded, will be lowered to the river level.
At the foot of the Lift, and on the far side of the river were lots of salt processing factories so at first glance the river didn’t seem very attractive. However, looking upstream the countryside was all green with lots of trees and we decided that it would be a good trip to make. We then walked back to our boat via the river and a wild flower trail through a nature park. On the way we had a long talk with a local fisherman who told us all about the subsidence underneath the area due to the old salt mines no longer being worked. And on that happy note we left to try out our new barbecue. It worked a treat.
June 21
Walked to the Anderton Boat Lift to make a booking to go down to the River Weaver and much to our surprise the official said that there was a free booking in about an hour’s time. So we had to rush back and collect the boat. During the summer months we had heard that you sometimes had to wait two days for a booking, so one hour was a huge surprise.
The River Weaver rises in the Peckforton Hills and flows 50 miles to Frodsham. Originally a shallow and tidal stream, it was long used for carrying salt away from the Cheshire salt area. The mineral was carried down by men and horses to meet the incoming tide. The sailing barges would load at high water, and depart with the ebbing tide. In the seventeenth century the expansion of the salt industry in the area gave rise to an increasing demand for a navigation right up to Winsford. By 1732 the Weaver was fully navigable for 40 ton barges. Today, due to constant improvement of the navigation, coasters up to 1,000 ton dead weight capacity ship cargoes through the Manchester Ship Canal to ports in Scotland.
The boat lift dropped us approximately in the middle of the navigation, we turned left proceeding upstream. The river was at least 100 metres wide and relatively clean compared with the muddy waters of the canals. All along the banks we could see the remains of old wharfs and the occasional derelict vessel. We passed through the outskirts of Northwich as far as the first set of locks, Hunts Locks. We had been told that British Waterways manned the locks on the River Weaver and looking at the size of the gates Angela, in particular, was delighted. Don’t forget these locks were designed for 1,000 ton ships, slightly bigger than our 13 tonner. At the next set of locks, Vale Royal, we had to wait for about an hour to catch the “up time” opening. In order to save on water, the locks are only opened at set hours for those going up and the same for those going down. This was not a problem for us and the time passed quickly talking to an interesting couple, Mike and Liz Holloway, who were living on board their narrowboat ‘Snecklifter’. See www.snecklifter.com
That night we found a delightful spot to moor, about half a mile up from the lock and opposite a virtual bird sanctuary. What we thought was a quiet spot turned out to be on the hiking trail for half of Northwich!
June 22
We continued our journey up the River Weaver, as far as Winsford, the end of the navigation. We turned round in one of the many Flashes, which looks like a lake and has been formed by the flooding of areas which subsided due to the mining below. The flashes are not very deep and narrow boats are warned to stay away from them.
We returned to Northwich, where we did some shopping, and then continued downstream, past the Lift, past more chemical works and eventually came to a grassy area just before the next set of locks. This was a perfect spot and, unlike the previous night, there were no passers-by.
June 23
Continued down the Weaver through the Saltersford and Dutton locks, which are enormous, and turned round just before Runcorn. The river along this stretch passed through woods and open fields, under swing bridges and an impressive railway viaduct. Late afternoon we found a good mooring, complete with cows, known locally as The Devil’s Garden. Sounds all around us that evening were from farmers bailing hay and a local rowing club taking their evening exercise.
June 24
It poured with rain during the night but had all but ceased by the time we were ready to leave. No problems on the return to the Anderton Lift. The lock keeper at Saltersford was kind enough to book our upward passage so we were back on the Trent and Mersey Canal by early evening.
June 25
We were traveling northwards from Anderton so today was a day for tunnels. Less than a mile from the top of the Lift you swing round a sharp right hand corner into a holding basin, where we checked that the boat head light was working, then sharp left into the 572 yard long Barnton Tunnel. Compared to the tunnels we have traversed before, this one is wide, at least a couple of feet on either side! Maybe not having a towing path makes the difference. Though you can see the far end of the tunnel it is not straight and contains a few minor twists and curves to keep the helmsman on his toes. A quarter of a mile after exiting the Barnton Tunnel you enter the 424 yard Saltersford Tunnel of similar dimensions and construction as Barnton. After the tunnels the canal runs parallel to the River Weaver and we recognized parts of the river from this different vantage point.
The canal continues through beautiful rural countryside along the south side of the Cheshire hills. Approaching the next tunnel, the 1239 yard Preston Brook Tunnel there is a stop lock which is the delineation point between the waters of the Trent and Mersey Canal and the Bridgewater Canal. There is also a small covered dry dock with several narrowboats, including restored working boats, moored in the vicinity.
Due to its length, and narrowness, entrance to the Preston Brook Tunnel is regulated. Boats traveling north can only enter on the hour to 10 minutes past; southbound boats on the half hour to 20 minutes to the hour. As we were early (or was it late!) for a scheduled passage we moored for lunch. It took us 15 minutes to pass through the tunnel which, as with the previous two, was wide enough for a relatively easy passage providing the helmsman didn’t fall asleep or become asphyxiated by diesel fumes.
We were now on the Bridgewater Canal, which was built be Francis Egerton, the third Duke of Bridgewater in 1765 to enable coal from his mines in Worsley to be transported to Manchester. During the construction period of the canal the Duke began excavation for a system of underground canals to serve the mines. Eventually 46 miles of underground tunnels were constructed, some on different levels linked by ingenious inclined planes. The underground tunnel system started from two entrances at Worsley Delph which can still be visited.
The Bridgewater Canal is owned by the Manchester Ship Canal Company and not British Waterways. However, any boat holding a British Waterways canal and river license may cruise the Bridgewater Canal for 7 days, free of charge.
We had planned to meet my brother and his wife, Mike and Maureen, in Preston Brook for a ‘day out’. We had only been there a few minutes when two recognizable heads appeared over the bridge 20 yards from where we were temporarily moored. They had just arrived and peered over the bridge to get their bearings, and there we were. We spent the rest of the day cruising along the canal to a suitable winding hole, where we turned around and delivered them back to Preston Brook. After a ‘pub meal’ in ‘The Preston Brook’ they returned home to Church Stretton and we to Moonlight Holly. In the short while that we had been away from the boat ‘gremlins’ had attacked and the bowl of mint that we had been growing since the beginning had been stolen. ‘Somebody’ had also been messing with one of the mooring lines, but at least it was till there and not damaged.
A Winding Hole, pronounced as North WIND and not as per the winding of a clock, is a short section of the canal, often only a few yards, that has been widened to allow narrowboats, measuring in length two or three times the width of the canal, to turn around. I believe that in the early days of horse drawn narrowboats the wind played a large part in assisting the turn around process, and hence the name.
June 26
We actually covered 12 miles today as the Bridgewater Canal is lock-free. Easy cruising through pretty open countryside and occasional woods. The weather was gorgeous, hot, sunny and not a cloud to be seen. Moored just after 5:00pm with open fields on one side and 18th Century Dunham Massey Hall on the other. Hiked around Dunham village and the deer park attached to the Hall in the evening, very pretty place. A local nursery ‘Dog Farm’ said that they could replace the mint roots stolen in Preston Brook, we would return tomorrow.
June 27
Spent the morning visiting Dunham Massey Hall, owned by the National Trust. It is one of the few locations operated by them that is completely self financed. Their budget is primarily met by income from tourists and rental properties (the estate is over 3200 acres and includes several rental farms and cottages). Unfortunately ‘Dog Farm’ was unable to supply any mint, all sold previously.
The afternoon was spent carrying out minor maintenance on the boat.
June 28
After passing through the towns of Sale and Stretford, though from the canal you would only notice on occasions that you were in a built up area, we forked left at the junction that leads to the centre of Manchester and the Rochdale Canal. The left hand branch took us towards Leigh and the connection with the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the longest canal on the system. We crossed the Manchester Ship Canal on the Barton Swing Aqueduct, very impressive. The centre or pivot point of the swing aqueduct is on an island in the middle of the Ship Canal. The route continued through the suburbs of Salford, through housing estates, industrial areas and woods towards Worsley. On rounding a corner we were pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful old black and white building in front identifying the entrance to the Bridgewater mines. Another striking feature in this area was that the colour of the water in the canal had changed from the normal muddy brown to a bright ochre, the result of dissolved iron ore from the mines. A mile or so further on we stopped at a well organized marina and topped up the fuel tank. The marina manager commented on how he would like to expand the size of the marina, by four fold, as he receives so many calls each day for boat moorings. He also asked whether we had survived ‘Horsefly Alley’ without getting too many bites. We had noticed an abundance of these pesky biters but, as yet, are not feeling any effects.
Later that afternoon we passed the ‘Water Womble’, a floating garbage truck collecting rubbish from the canal. Apart from the expected tree branches, plastic bottles, balls, cardboard and other junk he had collected at least 10 super market shopping carts and several bicycles!
Our night stop was on the canal high above the Pennington Flash, a 200 hectare country park centred on a 70 hectare lake where over 230 different species of birds have been recorded. Before we had chance to explore we were forced inside by a tremendous thunder storm.
June 29
We were floating again amongst water lilies for the first seven miles, until we rounded a corner approaching Wigan. A junction in front brought in the canal from Liverpool, we turned right, after a short toot on the klaxon to warm other boaters of our presence, and headed east towards Skipton. In front of us lay the first lock of the Wigan Flight, a series of 21 locks within a distance of only 2 miles. These locks are double, which means that they are heavy and a difficult task for a boat with only two people aboard as one has to manage the helm whilst the other operates both the gates and paddles on each lock. As we entered the first lock we struck luck, a second narrowboat, traveling in the same direction as us, approached, enabling us to work the locks in tandem. Even with this assistance it took 4 ½ hours to reach the top of the flight. Our altitude was now at 300 ft above sea level as we started to cross the Pennines. It was a very tired Angela who crashed into bed that night!
June 30
An easy morning since there were no locks for the first 8 miles as we cruised along a not so clean canal through Chorley. Then another flight of locks, seven this time as we climbed the Johnson’s Hillock locks, and without the assistance of a second boat crew. We moored alongside the jetty at the top of the locks in the pretty village of Wheelton. The elevation was now 350 ft.
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