Heading Home... En Route Chez Nous...

Misty mornings at Anderton Country Park.
A beautiful and ideal mooring...

Dad made it at last! (Thank you Martin and Alison ) Along with cousins not seen for decades...Hello everyone!

Halloween in Northwich...

And HOME!!!!

Here we shall stay until the canal re-opens and (we hope ) the rain stops...


See you all again in April 2013!!

And STOP!

The Trent and Mersey Canal. The boards are trying to keep the water in following the breach further up the canal.

Le Trent and Mersey Canal. Les bastainges sont la pour garder l'eau dedans apres la breche plus loin.

 Second line of defence, mud!
We are moored 6 miles from here, still afloat.This is the end of the line...Estimated repair date 2014.


Deuxieme ligne de defense, le boue! Nous amarre 10km d'ici,toujours a flot! C'est le fin du canal...Reparation estime d'etre fini en 2014.

                                                       




 High and dry..





Echoue!

Nine boats left stranded. Both ends of the canal closed.
Earliest repairs to the least damaged section, December 2012.
Time to go home and start again in April 2013...

Neuf bateau laisse comme ceci.
Le canal fermer en deux cotes.
Reparations sur la partie le moins endommage, Decembre 2012.
C'est le moment de rentre a la maison et recommence en Avril, 2013 

Northwich

The Anderton Lift gets us onto the River Weaver from where we can moor in Northwich   town centre.

 This, however , is the first view from the river, the soda works which eventually brought ICI into being.It is strangely attractive actually!!!

 And here we are moored at Town bridge. Weather's looking threatening...

Never mind, there's a rainbow! All will be well...

 Into Northwich,to some pretty buildings...




....and interesting parks,

and a lesson to us all!!

The Anderton Lift

 It really is a trip down memory lane! This Morgan is the same year and the same colour as the one we had in the dim and distant past....


C'est vraiment une voyage dans la memoire! Cette Morgan etait le meme annee et le meme couleur que le notre, il y a des annees.....

 But, on we go! To the famous Anderton Lift which takes boats from the safety of the Trent and Mersey Canal and deposits them 17m below onto the River Weaver.


On y va! The Anderton Lift, qui sert comme une ecluse. C'etait construit en 1875 et permit les peniches de quitter le caneau et arrive sur la riviere, 17m au dessous.

Now, listen carefully...


Ecoutez bien!

Into the caisson..

Down we go...



On descend doucement...

And out we go!





Et voila!

Easy!!



Facile!

Random thoughts,photos and friends!

                        " Buy a canal boat and live on it for a year? Why not?!!!"

Well now, nine months on let's see why not...how about, because drought,floods,gales and pestilence have followed us since January? ( OK, maybe not the pestilence, yet )

Or, because every few weeks we seek out a willing boatyard to pump out our overflowing toilet ( not nice )

And then there's the tunnels; cold long passages of crumbling wet blackness from which we emerge with John, grinning like a Cheshire cat, saying ,"Wow, wasn't that marvellous?!" ( Errr...No. )



Don't even THINK about getting me started on the locks. Hundreds of them.

 Heavy.

 Deep.

Ridiculous footbridges to cross over, or instead,"you could leap that gap"

 WHAT?!

On the other hand....

We have viewed at close quarters (and not just by falling in ) the rhythm of life enjoyed by the beautifully graceful swans,
 elegant herons with their languid, ' flap-if-I-must'  flight leading us along 

the canal, darting swallows and ducks a-plenty...

Then there's the weird and wonderful sights along the way..
cows in the water
and boats in the field 
to name just two!

Sculptures, amazing feats of engineering and oddities by the dozen!

And if that's not enough, we have caught up with family and friends galore, some of whom we haven't seen for years!! 

Sunrises, sunsets, tranquil scenes and idyllic countryside,

So, all in all,
"Buy a canal boat and live on it for a year. Why not indeed,it's fun!!"
And it's not over yet!
Oh good.
But ,
Winter??