10 October 2023

So, decision made! We are heading to Anderton and it’s famous Anderton Boat lift.

Ellie brought us here back in 2019 but we arrived too late to see the lift in operation, lowering canal boats 50 feet (15.2 metres) from the Trent and Mersey Canal down to the River Weaver. This time we arrived in plenty of time (but more on that later).

The weather gods really smiled on us today and we were blessed with an almost “t shirt and shorts” kinda sunny day. Just perfect.

Duty badges were assigned for the first time this morning (We had forgotten to do this the first few days). Judi (Galley Slave ) and I (Cabin Boy) were assigned our tasks below deck, while Grahame (Chief Engineer) and John (1st Mate) assumed their positions above deck and we were off!

Our one and only lock of the day appropriately named “The Big Lock” (a large double lock) was right outside lasts nights dinner venue and happily it had a “Little Lock Café” downstairs. While those in charge worked the lock , the Cabin Boy was sent to purchase take away coffees.

Judi and I had been helping several boats through the blockage yesterday, trying to get things moving in our typically efficient style. We were chastised by one group of “fuddy duddies” for being far too boisterous in our gate opening and allowing too much water in too quickly and with too much ferocity. It was a valid point, but we took exception to the way it was delivered. A simple “thanks for the help, however……” would have been better!!

Anyway, lesson learned, we took a lot more time dropping the water level in the Big Lock as there was a lot more room for boats to be thrown around a bit. And we wanted Ellie to be safe!

Much of this part of the canal, as my memory served me, was not overly pretty and full of salt and chemical plants and reedy, overgrown and narrow waterways.

Maybe it was the sunny day, or maybe four years had seen some maturing in my outlook, but while those things were still there, I loved it. The contrast between the industry and the countryside was immense.

At times the canal was extremely narrow and at other times it opened out into large lakes, abundant with wildlife.

We passed through the Chemical plants and the old Saltworks fairly quickly. But not without warning!!

I’m not sure that the placement of this house for sale billboard was well placed for a quick sale.

The sign over the bridge had me delving back to my Highschool Chemistry- a subject I wasn’t too good at. But we were in an area that mined salt.

And there was a salt works… Sadly closed in October!! Once again we aren’t stopping for a visit.

There is always something quirky to see along the canals and today didn’t disappoint.

We saw heaps of squirrels scurrying around in the woods busy collecting stuff for the winter. I’m still trying to get a decent pic.

We arrived at Anderton Lift and once again weighed up our options. Do we book Ellie in for a ride down to the River Weaver, or do we moor her at the top and take a tourist boat down.? We rang the Canal Trust and there were no bookings available that fitted our time frame, which in hind sight turned our just as well.

But first things first, we bought our Tourist ticket and boarded the last boat down the Lift. There were the four of us and only two others meaning that we had the guide all to ourselves He was really passionate about the lift and was a font of knowledge and provided us with far more information than I can remember.

The Lift process only took us 30 minutes but the actual lowering process was about 7 minutes once all the hydraulics were in motion. “Pete” ( can’t remember his name, but he looked like a Pete) ,our guide, chatted the whole way down to river level. The following river cruise down to Norwich and back made our little excursion all worthwhile.

The Anderton lift was built in 1875 , consisting of two water filled tanks counterbalancing each other on massive hydraulic rams. A little water was pumped out of the bottom tank to assist the hydraulic rams in moving both tanks in a vertical slide. Originally steam powered, the rams were a problem because the salty water of the region kept corroding them. In 1908 the rams were done away with and each 250 ton of water tank was given its own counterweights and could operate independently. I think, the hydraulic rams are now working again, using oil rather than salty water, but by now my brain has shut down and it was hard to keep up. Suffice to say, it works now, and it’s an amazing piece of engineering.

We returned to Anderton and headed straight to the “Stanley Arms” where we ended up staying for dinner. The bar staff were lovely and made us feel very welcome. The poor girl had to keep repeating the “Specials of the day” good humouredly to all and sundry. And to us, about four times. Still not sure we got it right!

We logged on to the pub wifi and our phones were pinging. Remember the canal trust website I joined yesterday? I’d had an update from them to tell us the lock back at Middlewich was fixed and we could now get through the blockage. A few days behind our original schedule but maybe, just maybe, we could make it into Wales and our intended destination.

John did the calculations and it’s doable. So tomorrow we are hightailing it out of Anderton, back the way we came.

BTW: I won a point in Euchre tonight. It was the Partlands v The Out-laws. Current standing is John 3 and the rest of us on 1 each.