Sunday 29^th July 2018

It was raining heavily first thing so we decided to have breakfast and then make a decision, see if the rain goes off. It didn’t.

We were considering not moving but that would have meant disappointment for us all. So we set off about 10:30 in the rain.

The cruise up the river was wonderful. Under the two swing bridges in Northwich town centre, past the BW workshops (these have got to be worth exploring) and Yarwoods old shipyard. There used to be a number of shipbuilders in Northwich, Yarwoods and Pimblotts amongst them. Yarwoods were one of the most prolific of British shipbuilders, albeit of small vessels. Yarwoods closed in 1965 and Pimblotts followed in 1971.

Passing under the high railway viaduct we came to the first lock, Hunt’s, where there was already another boat waiting. It is a very pretty location just behind the Bowling Green pub and well maintained due to it being listed. After the narrow canal locks the structure appeared huge.

We walked up to speak to Bob, the lock keeper, who informed us that we would not be able to pass through until the appointed time of 12 noon, an hour away. However, another boat, the Kinver again, arrived and so Bob allowed us all through.

The locks on the Weaver are all manned and paired although only one lock in each is now used. The two locks we were passing today are both listed and so are still operated manually, whereas the others are hydraulically operated. The lock we entered, the smaller of the two, measures 165 feet by 30. On the instructions of Bob, we entered first followed by the boat that had been waiting and Kinver, all breasted up together.

On exiting the lock there were two rowing sculls in front of us and right across the river, which we had to manoeuvre around.

The rain now dried up so it was a good decision to move. We passed Pimblotts old yard which contained a lot of old, interesting looking boats, then under the high blue bridge carrying the A553 and the equally high main west coast railway viaduct before coming to the second set of locks, Vale Royal. This time the order changed with us in second followed by Kinver. Kinver sped off once the lock was opened no doubt to claim the better moorings in Winsford, no offer of us retaining the proper order as etiquette would require.

The A533 Road Bridge

                                                                          Hunt’s Lock

The Main West Coast Railway Viaduct

The run up the Vale Royal Cut was very peaceful and picturesque before coming to the industrial parts of Winsford, the first being the rock salt mine with its great mounds of salt.

And so we duly came to the centre of Winsford. We had decided against mooring in the new marina and elected to moor outside the Red Lion. Kinver was already in the process of mooring here so we came alongside him and the other boat alongside us. It took some time to get the three boats settled, when Kinver decided they should, after all be on the outside as they were leaving early next morning.

So the shuffling started all over again with us coming alongside the pontoon. This wasn’t good, the pontoon is quite high and the top decking overhangs the supports beneath in such a way that the hull side goes underneath the decking and the woodwork beneath comes very close to the cabin sides. There are some nasty looking bolts sticking out that would do some nasty damage to the cabin sides if they did make contact, so it took some time to arrange fenders. With the occupants of the two outer boats now having to pass over our boat to get ashore, which didn’t bother us, I suspect there was an ulterior motive to Kinver wanting to move.

Martin and Michelle got their lift home from Lucy. We felt a bit flat once they had gone.

We went into the Red Lion, one of Cornerstone’s pubs, it is really nice, and fell in with the people off the boat moored abreast of us. Alan and Kathleen moor at Orchard Marina and they had family with them, Hugh and Tricia. We had a good time in the pub with live music on before going back to the boats and sitting outside until it started to rain. Everybody finished up on our boat. Hugh accidently knocked over a glass of red wine all over the dinette upholstery. Luckily it was cleaned quick enough not to stain it but it was a close call. We are thinking of banning red wine if people have already had a drink.

Day Total: 2 locks; 6 miles; 0 Tunnels; 1 Boat Lift; engine running hours 1.8

Overall Total: 101 locks; 226 miles; 8 tunnels; 1 Boat Lift; engine running hours 126.5