From ce16@iclnet.co.uk Thu May  6 21:40:40 1999
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 15:36:22 +0100
From: ce16@iclnet.co.uk
Reply-To: canals@blacksheep.org
To: canals@blacksheep.org
Subject: TRIP REPORT: Easter to Ellsmere Port Pt. I

    Part I

Since we have two weeks holiday over the Easter school break, we decided
to take a run down from the Bridgewater to Chester.  On a reasonably
nice Friday afternoon we left Preston Brook, waiting at the tunnel for
the half-past entry time, which allowed us just enough time for a brew
up.  It always surprises me at how modest the tunnel entrances are, the
one to Preston Brook on the north side is not even really visible until
you round a bend a few hundred feet away from it.  Since spring was
starting to really make some headway in the area, the whole area was
hazed over with green in a thousand shades.   Amazingly, none of them
are the green we need to touch up the sides of the boat where it's met
just one lock too many.

Entering the tunnel is always a thrill for me, since it was the first
stretch of canal I'd ever negotiated on my own that had required me to
do something beyond the ordinary.  I'd been on the 'All Right Now' for
five months before I met Mike, having a travelling companion on a boat
makes it completely different and much more convenient.  Instead of
having to moor up, check all the inside lights, the horn and headlight,
run up to the edge of the tunnel to check for late oncoming boats and
then run back to untie and drive off by myself, now I have only to stand
in the bow and look for oncoming headlights.  Sheer luxury!  The first
time I'd been through Preston Brook tunnel alone, that mile of
brick-lined stone seemed endless, now it's become a familiar and
comfortable trip.   Being alone on a boat in that tunnel makes the
weight of the hill above press down a lot more than when there's someone
else to take the edge off the darkness.

Once through the tunnel, the only lock between us and Middlewich on the
T&M is the Dutton stop lock.  For something that has a drop of only
inches, the gates on the tunnel side of the lock are extremely tough to
move.  The effort is worth it, since just beyond it lies the Trent and
Mersey canal, a vastly different waterway from the sedate Bridgewater
where we spend most of our time.  Moored at the drydock at Dutton is one
of our favourite boats, the 'Frodsham' , a steam launch that is
undergoing some refurbishment.  Every time we pass it, I find myself
wishing I could win the lottery so we could own an entire collection of
boats, starting with that one.

Our first night's mooring is almost always just past Dutton, somewhere
along the embankment where we can wake up in the morning and see the
Weaver in the valley below.  This trip, the morning was reasonably fine,
mist on the canal and filling the valley below.  The skylark wasn't up
yet, but the swans were, pecking at the kitchen window for some
breakfast crumbs.  The weather hasn't been nice enough to have breakfast
out on the bow yet, but we keep hoping.  After the traditional
first-morning meal of bacon butties we set off for the Middlewich
flashes where we like spending a few days.

Between the stop lock at Dutton and Middlewich there are no locks, but
the two tunnels at Barnton and Saltersford break up the monotony.
Neither of them is an easy trip, both are very crooked and halfway
through the view to the other end disappears behind a bend.  We always
make sure to sound the horn on a regular basis coming through there,
especially on holidays, since lots of first-time boaters are out and
backing out of those tunnels is not fun.  If there was a practical
alternative route from Preston Brook to Middlewich that would avoid
those tunnels, I'd take it.  Saltersford tunnel is reported to be
haunted, I wouldn't be surprised.  There's no creepier place on the
canals.

By the time we made it to the flashes, after stopping off to look at the
Anderton Lift again, it was time to call it a day.  The weather was
looking less charming and the wind looked to prove annoying.  We spent
the next two days at the flashes, not moving on to Middlewich itself
until the Monday of Easter week.  Middlewich is a very handy place for
provisions, we usually stop there to top up on things at the local pub
and bakery, if only to fortify ourselves for the Big Lock and the three
locks on the bend just before the Middlewich Branch.  Traffic was fairly
light, but we had the luck of some boats coming down the set of three
locks, so our trip up was quick.  Once into the sharp turn onto the
Branch, we had the lock with us there too, so in we went with the
assistance of the lady who lives lockside there.

Past that lock, the Branch is narrow, with a number of moored boats.  As
we approached one moored on towpath side, I was a bit concerned, as it
seemed to be untied.  The bow swung out about four feet into our path.
We cruised past it just on tickover, but apparently it didn't suit the
person inside who shouted a few obscenities as his hull made contact
with us.  It is the one facet of boating that on occasion makes me think
I'd rather take up horseback riding again.  We always try to pass moored
boats as carefully as we'd like to be passed, but there are people who
make a point of being abusive no matter what.  Fortunately, they are few
and far between.

We made it past the second lock on the Branch, by the time we reached
the aqueduct over the Dane river we decided to call it a day.  Since it
was only Monday and we hadn't planned to get to Chester until just after
Easter, we planned to moor up in the middle of nowhere and just enjoy
the quiet.  The wonderful English countryside sort of quiet that happens
nowhere else in the world but along a canal.  You know.... where the
crows sound as if they're strangling each other and the magpies are
encouraging them to it.  Not to mention the occasional squabble among
the fifty or so rooks that have come to watch.

I love it out there.

Part II  to come if anyone's interested....

-Su (and Mike) on the 'All Right Now'