Runcorn

As soon as we were ready we moved the boat into Uplands Marina in order to re-fuel. Unfortunately, Mike came alongside where he had been told to moor last night, only to realise that he was the wrong way around as their hose would not reach to the far end of the boat. Turning in the space available, with quite a breeze blowing, was less than simple!

A feature of this trip has been the number of herons we have seen - as well as plenty of other bird life, especially young chicks and cygnets.

By half past nine we were ready to leave and set off northwards. Before long we moored briefly at Barnton to buy milk at a local shop - no greengrocery (carrots) however, nor a paper. At least we will have hot drinks! We could see back down to one of the chemical works on the Weaver.

Next came Barnton Tunnel - just as we were entering we spotted a light coming the other way - as a result of the alignment, you have to be in the tunnel portal before it is possible to see to the other end. And the same happened again when that boat had passed out! In the end we made it.

A short distance on is Saltersford Tunnel - this one is shorter than Barnton but is too crooked to see through clearly so entrance is restricted to 20 minutes in each hour.

The next section was very pretty and we had occasional glimpses of the River Weaver and landmarks we had seen yesterday, including the pub where we turned around. Just before Bridge 211 the canal opened out and we had a good view of Dutton Locks below us. We also made a note that it would be a good spot to moor on the way back.

A little later we pulled in for a lunch break. By now the weather was beginning to turn continuously wet - although it stayed this way for the rest of the day it was never very heavy rain, more a damp drizzle.

After lunch we continued up to Dutton Stop lock, after which we joined the queue waiting for the next timed slot to enter Preston Brook Tunnel. This is much longer than the previous two and so there is only a ten minute slot each hour.

Safely through the tunnel it was short run to the junction with the Bridgewater Canal where we turned left onto the section up to Runcorn. Along the way we passed an interesting building which appeared to be a conversion of an old canal warehouse into apartments. At least some of the original brickwork had been retained!

The navigation here is much wider than the Trent and Mersey as well as very clear water. We were also surprised that it remained very green almost all the way up to the end, even though several large housing estates were just a few metres away.

We were also surprised, and a tad disappointed, that there is no good view of the Mersey from the canal, or even from the canal terminus at Waterloo Bridge - from here a flight of nine locks once led down to the river level. We had to make do with just the occasional very limited glimpse and a few sightings of the Runcorn Bridge. A couple of unusual mooring bollards are left at what was probably the lock landing.

 

After a short stop - and seeing nothing! - we set off back the way we came. Our arrival at Preston Brook Tunnel was well timed and we only had about ten minutes to wait, even though there was no-one else coming the other way or waiting to go south.

Eventually we arrived back at Bridge 211 as planned and found that it was indeed a good spot for satellite reception.