Set off again at 7am this morning. We all had to get up as we had a series of 12 locks one after the other to get through. We’re getting pretty good at them by now. It’s always nice if you can catch another boat coming out as you’re approaching. When that happens they can leave the gates open for you. Saw a couple of hot air balloons as we were going through the locks.
Called into Audlem with the intent of having a cup of coffee and perhaps breakfast. Cappuccino and Latte was what we were after (talk about fussy) and we could find nowhere open at 10am that could provide us with either. Bought a few postcards and a tea towel at a canal-side shop and we were back on board to have our cereal breakfast. We had another 3 locks to go through on the way out of Audlem. Met one couple who were turning around after the last lock to go back up the 15 locks. We won’t mention crazy.
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| Aldum |
Seeing we couldn’t buy a decent coffee, we made one ourselves one on board and pushed on to Nantwich where we moored for lunch (rice-cakes, ham, salad etc). After lunch, we passed through the Hack Green Locks (x2) passed a Nuclear Bunker set up during World War II – a radar station secretly designed to play a role as a Regional Government Headquarters in the event of a nuclear war. Deemed redundant at the end of the cold war, it has now become a tourist attraction. We have no time for silly business like that even if we had wanted to look.
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| Stable: When horse-power was used |
Called into Nantwich Basin where they did serve cappuccino/latte and very good they were too. There were lots of boats in the basin where they carry out mechanical repairs etc. In fact, there are marinas every now and then along the canals which are always quite full of boats.
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| Nantwich Basin |
A couple of miles further and we turned off the main Shropshire Union Canal at Barbridge Junction onto the Middlewich Branch. This will take us back to the Trent and Mersey Canal for the run down to Stoke-on-Trent.
Opened in 1833 the canal saw a lot of traffic in its early years – Cornish china clay in one direction, finished crockery in the other, among other things). At one stage, on this canal, they tested the feasibility of replacing horse-power by laying a narrow-gauge railway along the towpath and using a small steam locomotive to haul a string of narrowboats. While it didn’t take off here it did catch on aboard.
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| The canal gets a bit busy at times |
Most of the Middlewich Branch canal is through fields. Lots of dairy farms and a few pig farms. You smell these before you see them. Only a couple of locks for the rest of the afternoon – right through to almost the end of the canal, in fact. Some pretty good spots to pull up where you overlook valleys but it was a bit soon for us. We pushed on (nibbles and wine while we travelled) and ended up moored about 7:30 near Lea Hall. Jennie and Jill had dinner prepared – sausages and veg. We’re not too far from the railway line and every now and then a very fast train ‘flies’ through.
