Nantwich is a good place to shop. It has lots of small independent shops, and the centre is traffic free. There's a good bookshop in the square, with a coffee shop, and so, after we'd picked up the post from the Post Office, we went there for coffee and to read the post. It's a delightful rabbit warren of a place, with charming staff.

Click here to read about the bookshop

We also found a nice pub, The Oddfellows, and an added bonus is that it's the nearest one to the canal. The only downside to shopping in Nantwich is it's a long way to carry everything back to the boat. Trev took his bike to the cycle shop in the town, to have a puncture repaired. When he went to collect it, the man in the shop said it had three holes in the tube. It's certainly a lot cheaper running a bicycle than a car--he charged GBP5 for his labour and the new tube! Woolworth's has gone, of course, but it has reopened with a new name--B&M Bargains, I think--and it's difficult to tell the difference between it and an original Woolies. I bought some delicious meat from Clewlow's the Butchers, though my jaw dropped when I got the bill. I bought fillet of lamb to roast, two sirloin steaks and two lamb steaks--and paid GBP26!!! However, the meat was absoutely first class, and I would certainly go again, though next time I shall make sure I have a mortgage in place first!

Here's Clewlow's website

Saturday, 23rd May
We left Nantwich today and set off north up the Shroppie. We had hoped to fill up with water at the Nantwich sanitary station, but there was already a boat there, and no room for us to wait. Never mind, we said brightly, we can get some at Barbridge. We cruised just two miles, and moored up just short of Hurleston Junction. We had just moored up when someone knocked on the boat. It was Chris, whom I had met in Hassall Green a few weeks ago, a fellow quilter. She came on board and we swopped gossip and had a drink or three. For dinner this evening we had the roast lamb from Clewlow's--mmmm, excellent!

2 miles

Sunday 24th, Monday, 25th May
We left after breakfast, and in just over a mile we came to Barbridge Junction, hoping to fill up with water, but oh dear, again there was someone using the water point, and nowhere to stop, so on we went. Never mind, we said brightly, we'll just stop taking showers and washing up.....We turned right at Barbridge Junction, onto the Middlewich branch. This is a fairly short section of canal, ten miles long, and has four locks. To be honest, I've never really rated it very highly, because it's very open and flat, and it seems that every time we travel along it, it's wet and windy and miserable. However, this time the weather was glorious and we really enjoyed it.

The Shropshire Union Canal Society was out in full force at the first lock, Cholmondeston Lock. They were fund raising and seeking new members. We gave them a contribution and bought a pot of home made marmalade, which they assured us was "liquid gold"! We're already members of SUCS, so they didn't need to try to recruit us. We were through the lock in about five minutes and that sped us on our way.

SUCS does a lot of good work for the Shropshire Union Canal, read about it here











We carried on and moored up at the new mooring created by SUCS between bridges 5A & 6. It's only just opened and has picnic tables and barbecue stands, and as the weather was so gorgeous today, we had a barbecue. We barbecued those steaks from Clewlow's and they were some of the best meat I've ever had. We aren't in a hurry, so we stayed here for two nights. The weather wasn't so good on the Sunday, but we found plenty to do. One thing we did was to empty the front lockers and have a sort out. We've decided that the season for fires MUST be over by now, and so have put the spare bag of coal, the scuttle and the chimney in one of the lockers, and have got out the flower boxes to put on the roof.

3.5 miles 1 lock

Tuesday, 26th May
It was raining first thing this morning, so we had another cup of coffee and waited. Sure enough, it stopped and off we set. We went through Minshull lock and on all the way to Middlewich, passing through Stanthorpe lock. We moored up and went to seek the new Tesco. Last time Trev went there to shop, it had been Somerfield, but had closed down. A sign announced that it would be reopening as Tesco in three weeks' time, and sure enough, it had. There was a man selling plants in the car park, and so I bought some for the flower boxes. As usual, Trev loaded all the heavy stuff into his rucksack, and I carried the lighter things, such as the bread, tissues and some disposable barbecues.

Then we set off for the last couple of hundred yards of the Middlewich Branch. We dropped down through Wardle Lock and onto the Trent & Mersey Canal. This is quite a tight junction, not helped by the fact that there is a chandlery, a boat builders, two locks, a blind exit from the Middlewich onto the T&M, moored boats and a water point all within a hundred yards of each other! I went ahead to check it was OK for Trev to come out at the junction. We needed water, and the water point was on the right of the junction, but we wanted to be going left. So the plan was that Trev would come out, turn left and then back up for water. There were no boats coming and so I called Trev out, and the plan would have worked, but for the wind, which blew him (and the boat!) straight across the canal to the opposite bank, under the trees. However, Trev hasn't been a boater for over six years--without a wimpy bow thruster for nothing, and soon had that recalcitrant vessel under control and back on the water point!

We took ages to fill up with water, and another boat came in wanting water. I'm afraid they had quite a long wait. Then Trev decided that we would fill up with diesel at the chandlery, so he manoeuvred the boat across the canal to the other side and we filled up. Then at last we could set off.

We passed Middlewich narrowboats, and then came to the first of three locks, all close together, with a rather tight bend between the first two. Given the strong wind which was blowing, I opted to operate the locks, and Trev steered. There were quite a few boats about, and so we could swop locks as they came up, and save water. After the first three locks, there is one wide lock, strange really, I don't know why there should be just one wide lock. Maybe working boats used to come down here from the north, to offload their cargo.

Now we have a treat; after the big lock, there are no more locks until we come out of the other side of Manchester! Hurray, that will make a nice change. So, on we went, savouring the beautiful rural scenery and the peace and quiet. There are very few boats about, which is odd as it is half term week. I expect they're all on the LLangollen Canal!

We were aiming to moor up at Broken Cross Moorings, where we moored last time we were up here, but we found a nice mooring a little before Broken Cross, and we'd had quite a long day, so we stopped there. It wasn't easy to get the boat in in the wind, and a man came out of another boat and took a rope. It was a lovely spot, out in the country and very peaceful.

10 miles 7 locks





Wednesday, 27th May
We set off around 11.00 a.m.--nothing like an early start--and really enjoyed the beautiful scenery. The views are wonderful, and for the most part the cruise was through countryside. ICI casts rather a blight over the idyll at Northwich, but we soon passed through there and back into the countryside. It was just mile after mile of lush green trees, and fields of cattle and sheep. There were no boats about--we had the canal all to ourselves--it was perfect.

Eventually we came to Anderton and stopped to fill up with water and offload rubbish. You might think we use rather a lot of water--perhaps we do, but I have done two loads of washing in the machine as we've been travelling along, and that takes quite a lot. Then we passed the top of the Anderton boat lift, after which we could see the River Weaver below us for quite a while. We passed several "flashes" which is where the canal has caved in due to underground mining--there are salt mines here. When the ground caves in it creates a wide area of canal, like a small lake, but there are warnings not to stray over into the flashes, as they are shallow.

We also passed the old Lion Salt Works, but it's in a sorry state. There is a move to get it restored as a museum, but one would need to be a total optimist to think one could restore these buildings. They're almost falling down.

Then we came to the first of three tunnels, Barnton Tunnel, 572 yards long. This is single width and we had to check nothing was coming through before we entered. After a very short distance, we then came to Saltersford Tunnel, which is 424 yards long. There is a sign before the tunnel, telling you that you may only enter the tunnel between the hour and twenty minutes past the hour. This is because this tunnel is also single width, but you can't see the other end, it's got kinks in it, and there might a boat coming the other way. It was 3.30 when we arrived, so we tied up. A boat came out at about 3.45. We waited until 4.00 p.m. and then went in.

We carried on for a couple of miles and then moored up near Bridge 212. The views here are stunning. We can see the River Weaver in the valley below, the mainline railway and miles and miles of countryside. I'm really enjoying this canal. We came up here some years ago, but I had forgotten how lovely it is. Tomorrow we shall come to the end of the Trent and Mersey Canal, at Preston Brook, and join the Bridgewater Canal into Manchester. That will be new territory for us. More about that next time.

13 miles 2 tunnels

Summer Cruise 2009

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