The day proved that the weather forecasters sometimes get it right! Sadly on this occasion it meant that it was very wet all morning and generally wet until time to moor. At times it was rather chilly as well.
We had planned to go the short distance along the river to Northwich, go into town for a little shopping and then come back to Anderton to go up the lift later this afternoon. As it was so wet we opted just to go up the lift as soon as possible. Alas, when Mike went up to the office he was told that the earliest slot would be 12:50! Several other boats had already booked by phone - it seems that they are quite happy to accepts such bookings on the day without imposing the booking fee. Mike did mange to walk along the towpath and up to the shop for a newspaper.
Meanwhile Christine watched as the trip boat came down the lift with rather fewer passengers than the day we came down.
The previous transit left later than scheduled so we decided to have lunch and as it was cold we set about adding fried eggy bread to our usual sandwiches. Christine had hers and, of course, as soon as Mike had prepared his there was a knock on the cabin side -the lift awaited us! We shared with a single hander and the operation proceeded as it should. It still takes quite a time but this gave Christine a chance to chat with one of the lift staff about how the caisson seals work. The other boater told Mike that when he came down the gate at the bottom became stuck and was freed with the application of hi tech hammers and sticks!
Once out at the top we turned left but needed to stop almost immediately to call at Anderton Marina. They were supposed to be ordering the requisite air filter but had not managed to do so. nevertheless, they were able this time to work out our bill! At least we could use their disposal facilities which meant that we did not need to stop at the main services just beyond the marina entrances.
We continued crusiing south, back along the route we came earlier in the week.
The chemical works at Northwich seemed much more active than when we came up. Not only was there a deafening noise coming from behind this scaffolding but also plenty of vapour (hopefully non-polluting) was being pushed out from all of the site.
We struggled on but finally called a halt just before Croxton Flash. It was still grey but just about dry which prompted quite a few boats to set off again.
8.3 Miles - 0 Locks - 1 Lift
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