Friday 20th March 2020
We
heard today, not unexpectedly, that our holiday to India in April has been
cancelled due to the Corona Virus threat. Very disappointed but we had only
been waiting on the news.
In
the morning, I again walked around the canal basin with Harvey and after our
breakfast of cheesy crumpets, bacon and maple syrup, we made ready to depart
Ellesmere Port. We firstly manoeuvred to post a few things in the apartment
post box and then entered the bottom lock.
The
transit through the locks was not without incident with crap in the locks,
having to fish out a car tyre and half a tree trunk and having to power up to
slide over a submerged object into the top lock. There was then a tinky boat
moored on the water point, that, with a bit of persuasion, moved down the quay
to make room for us.
Afterwards
we moored in an awkward position to have our bow under Powell’s Bridge ready
for her christening. I knocked on the roof of a moored boat and Barry agreed to
take photos.
Bridge Street beneath Powell’s Bridge
It
felt surreal, with Bridge Street having been launched almost 2 years ago, to
christen her under the bridge she is named after. While it was not quite the occasion
we had envisaged, we had originally planned for family and friends to
participate, a BBQ and the kids to name her, it was meaningful nonetheless.
Canal
boats were named by pouring canal water over their bows, which we did with
water taken from the bottom basin in the bottle Brenda had popped beneath the
bridge when we arrived on Tuesday. We then opened the bottle of champagne
Martin and Michelle had given us for Christmas and which we had been saving.
And
so Bridge Street was named:
“We name this boat Bridge Street, God bless her and all who have
fun in her”.
We
then said goodbye to Ellesmere Port, almost 50 years after my family left here on
12th April 1969. Beneath the motorway bridges and past the old wharf
of the Wolverhampton Corrugated Iron Company which had relocated to Ellesmere Port
in 1905. The site was enormous when I lived here, but has now completely disappeared
and is being redeveloped, only the wharf side remains.
It
is fully 2 miles before the industrial sites are left behind and countryside
starts after the Cheshire Oaks. All were eerily quiet with the country shutting
down because of this Corona Virus, even the motorway was noticeably quiet.
We
moored just 3 miles from the centre of Ellesmere Port beside the sleepy looking
village of Stoak. My family history research brings us here as there are connections
with the village.
Few
boats would moor here as the majority would travel direct from Chester to
Ellesmere Port without stopping. The setting though, has to be pretty unique.
On one side of the canal is 180˚ of countryside with just the odd farm building
showing in the trees and the stump tower of Stoak Church above them. One the
other side is Stanlow Oil Refinery and the M56 motorway droning in the distance,
albeit very quiet. The views on this side look out over the Ince and Frodsham Marshes,
an area that a few hundred years ago would have been submerged beneath the
River Mersey but now fertile farmland. The Read family originate from Ince and the
census of the mid-1800’s shows the population as being split between farming, fishing
and ferrymen, whereas now, Ince lies some miles from the river and separated from
it by the Manchester Ship Canal.
A memorable day.
Weather: chilly, but a lovely spring day
Day Total: 2 locks; 3 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift
Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; Day’s running hours 4.0 (including running for hot water etc)
Overall Total: 891 locks; 1568 miles; 53 tunnels; 61 Swing Bridges; 17
Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; total engine running hours 1059.8
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