Finally We Catch Up With Shelley and Harley.

 Thursday 25th July 2024 at Anderton.

Our plan this year is to go into Liverpool with our amazing Australian friends Shelley and Harley with their narrowboat "Lazy Bee". They are slightly ahead of us at Anderton and today we intend to catch up with them. 

The first lock is Wardle Lock and just above it the C&RT were doing repair work to the lock mooring; lots of huge concrete blocks had already been removed. Their workboat was on the lock mooring so we had to tie up to it so we could go and set the lock. 

The Wardle Canal runs from the lock to Wardle Junction. It is the shortest canal in the country, barely longer than MM! Its sole purpose was to be able to charge tolls to go from the Middlewich Arm to the Trent & Mersey Canal. The photo below shows the full length of the canal!

The last lock before the Bridgewater Canal is "Big Lock", so named because it is a wide lock built at a time when it was hoped to widen all the locks on the Trent & Mersey Canal. Sadly, nothing ever became of the idea and all the locks south of here on the Trent & Mersey Canal are narrow locks.

We shared the locks with a delightful family from Sweden, more visitors from Scandinavia.

This part of the canal is very industrial. It is dominated by the huge TATA works that is undergoing a massive expansion. Business is obviously good! On the other side of the canal is another massive chemical works belonging to INEOS, recent sponsors of a team in the Tour de France and joint owners of Manchester United.

We often see cormorants at a distance but this fellow started following in MM's wake and diving in the distrurbed water behind us and, if we slowed down, he would dive down inches behind the propellor.

Twice, he got a bit left behind and took to his wings to catch us up. Twice, he surfaced with a fish in his mouth which he then swallowed whole.

Eventually, after following us for two miles, he decided that he had gone far enough and flew off back the way he had come.

Such an unusual experience to be followed so closely for so long.  We think that it might have been the approach of these paddle boarders that put him off.

As we neared Anderton, we passed the lovely Danish people whom we had seen at Nantwich. They were at the end of their two week hire and were on the way back to their hire base just below Big Lock.

Finally, we arrived at Anderton.  How lovely to see Shelley, Harley and Lazy Bee waiting!

We both cruised round the corner and found moorings next to each other just before the Anderton Lift. Needless to say we spent the rest of the evening in Lazy Bee catching up over a glass or two of wine.

 So good to see them again (it's been one year) and we are looking forward to travelling together for the next few weeks. It's going to be great fun!

Today: 10 miles,5 locks and 4.5 hours.

Trip: 97 miles, 70 locks and 53.7 hours.