Heading along on the Trent Mersey canal after an uneventful rise back up from the river .
Thursday night was spent moored out in the wild on one of the flashs ( small shallow  lakes caused by land settlement through which the canal passes ).Friday night in Middlewich and a walk round the the farmers street market on Saturday morning rather expensive though , it seems to be call it a farmers market and double the price .
 Saturday night will be out in the wilds on the Middlewich branch of the Shropshire Union canal .
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Heres a boat that is moored (resting ) just above Dutton lock on the Weaver , an interesting restoration for some one perhaps.

"Ouse Dunit "with Raggs on the rear deck keeping an eye on the locking up procedure .

Looking up to the adjacent caisson which contains a few hundred tonnes of water and a large trip boat ready to be lowered down to the river while we rise up

The railway viaduct crossing the River Weaver carrying I believe the West Coast mainline

This is the view as we reach the top of the lift from the back of Sybil , a guillotine gate with a few inches of upstand and a fifty foot drop beyond

Still on the River Weaver having travelled as far upstream as possible we are now exploring the lower reaches although I don't think we can reach the lowest part which ends in Runcorn docks  next to the Manchester Ship Canal which again we can not access without special permission and an extra licence .
As we need to return to home for a few days it will be back up the Anderton Lift soon and Sybil will be  taken to the marina next week and we will let Enterprise collect us again.
One thing I forgot to put in the last post was our hesitant exit from the lift when we reached the lower level the guillotine gate started to rise but then stuck nearly open , after a brief pause  it was lowered nearly back down and then  back up still no good so back down again then the operator went off for a consultation ,
returning after a few minutes , then a  third attempt , success at last we emerged to an expectant group of spectators all with cameras at the ready  and received  a round of applause.

This is Hilarys new friend Raggs she is travelling on "Ouse Dunit "along with Paul and Helen , they are all 

from York .

Raggs was a rescue dog and had a broken leg which didn't heal and left her with a floppy leg but she can still run well especially after a ball.

The old ICI works loading bay on the bank of the Weaver a bit like a giant climbing frame 

Here we are on the river bank just above the Vale Royal locks

upstream of Anderton 

And this is us moored at Devils Garden downstream of Anderton 

Quite a large heap of salt on the river bank one of the products of Northwichs industry .

Here we are in one of the locks along with two other narrow boats

space for a few more  .

Having now left the Shropshire canal we moved along the Trent and Mersey and reached Middlewich where we spent a couple of nights we then moved on to  moor in rural peace on the edge of one of the flashes (lakes) for two more nights Last night was spent near the top of the Anderton lift so this morning we went to the lift office to see about a passage down onto the river Weaver , amazingly there was a space at lunchtime so now we have descended the fifty feet down onto the River Weaver and have travelled up stream to Northwich , stocked up on food and every thing and now are moored on the river bank a few miles and two locks further up ( the locks on the river are much much larger than any thing we have been in before and are operated by resident lock keepers ) .The Anderton Boat Lift .

The Boat Lift

Back onto a river more space to move but perhaps more under water obstructions especially on the bends 

Here we are waiting to descend sat in the caisson fifty feet up in the air 

 An amazing shop in Middlewich called Temptations A maze of rooms over two floors in what was probably once  three cottages including sheds and out houses at the back.

One room on the first floor dedicated to motorcycles , cupboards full of models 

and a real racing bike in the centre.

Like many of the rooms not really sure what was actually for sale or if it was really just the owners collection

Now we have left Ellesmere Port behind us and are back down  in  Chester for two nights , only leaving there on Saturday as it was a race day many people enjoying themselves so perhaps not a good time to be moored in a city near the pubs , we stopped off on the way back down to visit Beeston castle a bit of a tester climbing the hill to the top , see the pictures , then back to the stone and iron locks and  a night spent in rural silence , apart from the early trains , not really a problem , next day back to Barbridge junction and a night spent listening to the rain banging down . Now we are going up the Middlewich branch and have moored up for tonight with a view of the river Weaver and the flash's (old salt extraction pools ) way down below us , quite funny being on top of a hill When we get to the Anderton lift that will drop us down on to the  river Weaver level if we wish , otherwise we stay on the canal
A couple of days are being spent in Middlewich only a fairly small market town but worth a look around

This is the view as you enter the Chester staircase bottom lock with water spraying in through the gaps in the  gates towering five metres above you while waiting for the paddles to be lifted and water to pour in and lift you to the next level where the gates will be opened and you move forward into the next step and repeat the procedure

This is the cutting around the Chester city walls dug  out of solid rock with road bridges over to allow access to the city

Beeston Castle perched on the top right hand side of the cliff viewed from down towards the canal

Resting on top of the castle views for many miles and time to get your breath back

Beautiful newly thatched cottage near the iron lock

Tuesdays gourmet meal .

Fried new potatoes , bacon , proccessed peas ,and fried egg  with a liberal coating of brown sauce.

We have spent a few nights at The Boat Museum in Ellesmere Port , for a small fee you are given  entrance to the museum  boat and all and then are allowed to moor in the lower basin , there you stay for the duration of your stay , you become a  part of the exhibits during the day and on a night the gates and buildings  are locked , you are free to roam  the outside exhibits at your leisure although we did have a key to exit and return if needed.
The museum is well worth a visit for any one interested in boats and canals although small children would need supervision due to deep water and locks
The boat Museum
Ellesmere Port does seem to have been hit by the adjacent retail outlet Cheshire Oaks  with a lot of boarded up shops on the road in although the town centre has been rebuilt there are  not a lot of historic buildings around it ..

     Moored in the lower basin along side  a much larger neighbour .

A visitor to the side door 

" Any spare food please wife and five cygnets to feed "

The magnificent Manchester ship canal another Victorian feat of engineering

Ok you have to look really carefully at this , behind the bow of the freighter next

to Sybil you can see the superstructure of a cargo ship passing on the Manchester Ship Canal

it towers over the  buildings behind the museum .

This is the sort of banks of weed we have had to pass through on our journey

The trick is to run at it then knock the drive into, neutral to protect the propeller , fifteen tons of boat will then push a way over the obstruction only twice did we have to stop and back up  to remove a wodge of weed and rubbish that was stuck on our bow.

The only time we got some thing stuck on the prop I had to open the weed hatch and remove a pair of blue Y fronts Well washed after they had been spun round  for some time , on one of the blades !!

Now we have moved on a little more around the city walls , the canal passes along a deep ravine with a rock face topped with houses at one side and the city walls at the other ,at the end of which we drop down a staircase lock, that is three locks all joined end to end if you get the operating  sequence wrong water overflows down the adjacent foot path we did see someone do that .
Last nights  mooring was in the basin opposite Telfords warehouse now a pub /restaurant , noisy early on but all was quiet later.
Despite rumours of excessive weed and pollution further on I was talking to a guy who had just travelled from Ellesmere port this morning and he said not really a problem so I think we will try  it either today or tomorrow
Yesterday morning spent shopping in Chester and in the afternoon we happened upon a Sealed Knot reconstruction of  the siege of Chester , Roundheads v Cavaliers , very good they really put some effort into their fighting.
Sunday night ,moored near the village of Stoak a rural setting no passersby or lights apart from a gas flare in the distance probably in Ellesmere Port the only  sound is wind and the hum of traffic on the M53 although as I type the rain has started again hammering on the roof .We are still warm and cosy , the heating has not been yet nor the stove lit but it may not be too long before we do there was not really a problem with weed on the way up nothing we couldn't manoeuvre round.

Access  to the Rows via this stone staircase 

The Rows are shops on a first floor walkway

supposedly to allow ladies to shop without walking in the dirty streets

Pikemen preparing for battle

The Rows run nearly the full length of the street

Carvings above the choir stall in the cathederal

This evenings mooring is in Chester  only a few yards from the city walls we arrived here around lunch time and started to explore the immediate vicinity  including would you guess a few charity shops and may I say with some success  . Tomorrow we will attempt the city wall walk and maybe the cathedral , we only have forty eight hours on this mooring but could move a little further  to extend our time here .
Evening meal tonight is to be fish and chips from just around the corner .

Moored in chester

The peace and calm of the city heading down to the walls ha ha .

Not my favorite situation really .

But got to go there occasionally .

We are back on the move again left the marina yesterday after a  ten day visit to both  home and down to Nottingham .
We attended a fortieth and a first birthday party during that time it was  good to catch up with ever body and see the grand children all growing up so quickly .
The start of our next journey is towards Chester and then onwards to Ellesmere Port and the museum of boating

This was our greenhouse when we got home looks like their will be a good crop of grapes

The flowers on Sybils roof on our return to the marina , the guy who lives on the boat at the end of the walkway had looked after them during our absence  .

I have never met him  just goes to show their are some good people around.

Stop planks these are used to block the canal to allow work to be done they are slid into grooves cut into the stone work  at bridges and locks to form a dam 

The iron lock on the way up to  Chester made from large sheets of interlocking metal  an experimental construction to try and overcome problems with soft ground

 The giant Dalek just outside Barbridge made from straw bales and a steel frame .

 An advertising thing for an ice cream shop it must be around ten metres tall look at the size of the people next to it for  a comparison .

I was told by our car hire driver that it rotates and has sound effects .