Well here we are on the Trent & Mersey Canal at the Anderton Boat Lift waiting for passage down to the River Weaver on Friday. Some supplies were running low and as a consequence a reprovisioning walk to Northwich was planned. The route took us along the eastern bank of the river. The return distance was approximately 10km.
At 9.30am I telephoned CRT and booked our passage down the Boat Lift. To our surprise both caissons were at the top of the lift.
I had assumed the weight of each caisson countered the other however the CRT employee informed me they work independent of each other and only one caisson would be used on Friday.
There is a minor path at the base of the lift which joins the main path to Northwich. However we couldn’t use it as the Anderton Boat Lift is currently closed and the gate at the bottom is locked.
Looking back to the Boat Lift showing the minor path beside the riverbank.
The path between Anderton and Northwich is well defined with a firm surface and is well utilized by local walkers.
Another look back at the boat lift. We will see more of it on Friday.
The first half of the walk takes you through the Anderton Nature Park. This is former industrial land which has been remediated and converted to a nature reserve. The unusual soil conditions have resulted in some rare flora growing in the park. The second half of the walk skirts the edge of Carey Park which, with the adjacent Anderton Nature Reserve, forms part of the Northwich Woodlands. Wikipedia has more information.
As we got closer to Northwich we could see a large new building was under construction. It has a sawtooth roofline and a car ramp which led us to believe it’s a new shopping complex.
A view of the new complex from the opposite side
The local barber confirmed it is a new shopping complex which will include an Asda supermarket and cinema complex. I wonder what effect it will have on the existing bustling Northwich High Street. The town already has four supermarkets so competition is likely to get fiercer. We did our shopping in Sainsbury’s before retracing our steps to the boat.
3 comments :
Hi Tom,
The river Weaver was lovely when we were on it so you will enjoy it greatly. Devil's garden and Vale Royal are particularly nice moorings with pleasant walks. Lockys are really friendly and helpful.
If you plan to cruise as far as Winsford flash you will need at least 2m showing on the height gauge on the bridge wall and to get under the last bridge with enough clearance or book with C&RT to have it swung 48hrs before. Once on the flash keep to the left by the moorings to wind but do not proceed beyond as it gets quite shallow. Unless you fancy trying with a lead line to gauge the depth that is :-) We have sailed over by the sailing club at the opposite end and depth is good there but not from the canal end unfortunately.
I don't think we will go to the flash as we have already walked there. Lock access is currently restricted with 48 hours notice for bookings required. We'll probably do more walking than cruising.
The mooring at Barnton Cut is also lovely and you can walk from there up to the canal by the tunnel and then on to the village shop - we were there last July.
If you go upstream of Northwich to Winsford you will see a strange structure like a pile of silage except that it's much too big, not covered in tractor tyres and also white. http://nbchuffed.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/head-of-weaver-navigation-and-back-bit.html. As an intrepid explorer you would probably discover its purpose without trouble - I failed ......
best wishes
Debby
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