Saturday 4th August 2018



When reading the CRT website regarding the situation in Middlewich, it does not read as bad as we first thought. However, with all the dry weather it is not going to get any better, so we thought it prudent to get through sooner rather than push our luck. So today was all about distance and getting close to Middlewich before passing through the locks in the town.

Legally, the CRT has an obligation to keep a north-south route open. But with the breech at Middlewich this means they have to keep both the Shropshire Union and the Trent and Mersey open because the link between the two has been lost. However, with a lack of water there will come a point when they are not able to keep both open. The 3 locks in Middlewich are notorious for loosing water at the best of times and they get most of their water supply from the River Dee via the Middlewich Branch which has been lost due to the breech.

We left our overnight mooring at 7.30. Brenda was just up but both the kids were still sleeping. After passing through Dutton Stop Lock we just caught the passage time for the Preston Brook tunnel.

At the lock there was an older couple who had just passed through the tunnel. They were totally confused about the lock; they didn’t even know what it was. They thought it was a barrier and they had been ready to turn around. They had hired their boat from Canal Time in Sale. Lord knows what kind of instruction they had been given when they picked the boat up.

We winded in the entrance to the Runcorn Arm before stopping at Midland Chandlers. Here we bought a 4ltr container of Elsan toilet blue which we desperately needed. This breaks down the solids and deodorises the cassette. We had run out days before and this was the first opportunity to buy any.

They we started heading south on our epic journey at long, long last. The actual junction between the Bridgewater Canal and the Trent and Mersey is actually in the middle of Preston Brook Tunnel. We arrived at the tunnel just in time for the scheduled southbound passage at 9:30 and then came again to Dutton Stop Lock. Here was a demonstration of just how low the canal levels are. Dutton Stop Lock normally has a fall of about 9ins. However, we passed through without opening any paddles, so the two canals must be at the same level which means the Trent and Mersey has dropped at least 9ins throughout the whole pound to the Big Lock at Middlewich some 16 miles away. That’s a lot of water.





   



   Shortly after the tunnel we came across the first of the mile markers that line

   the Trent and Mersey Canal all the way to the far terminus at Shardlow in

   Derbyshire, 92 miles from the western end.





Then came mile upon uneventful mile covering ground that we had been over so many times in the last few weeks and months it seems.

At the new Oakview Marina off King Street we were shouted by Kenny and Sue. We thought they were moored at Park Farm Marina just up the canal. We stopped and spent a half hour or so with them. It was good to see them as we thought we were not going to see them again.

A bit further down the canal we came across Neil and Pauline, the proprietors of Andersen Boats. They were headed for the River Weaver. We are obviously destined not to moor with them. Brenda reckons it is Pauline trying to get out of giving her a glass of wine.

We are getting low on fuel and so had wanted to fill up at Kings Lock Chandlery when passing through Middlewich. He has the reputation of being the cheapest in the area and anyway, we had wanted to give him our business. He probably needs all the trade he can get. He must be really suffering with both the breech and fewer boats passing through the town because of the water shortages. However, Kenny told us he no longer opens on a Sunday so we decided to try and moor at Bramble Cutting again, stay there until Monday morning and then go to Middlewich, fuel up and drop the kids off.

We were dead disappointed to find Bramble Cutting filled with four boats and so had to moor further down at bridge 176. We will keep an eye in the morning and reverse up as soon as a space becomes available.

Fishing score: Manny 3; Eva 2; Grandad 2. Although they both had me at a disadvantage sorting out all their tangles.



Day Total: 2 locks; 18 miles; 4 Tunnels; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 7.1

Overall Total: 107 locks; 282 miles; 10 tunnels; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 149.1





  

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