Saturday 14 September 2013

Big Trip - Day 19

A few people have asked about the planning and permissions needed for yesterday's trip on the Manchester Ship Canal, so I'll do a special blog post in the next couple of days with all the details.

We had a visit last night from my sister.  She's doing her on-call weekend, but is allowed out of the hospital at quiet times, as long as she's less than half an hour away.  She seemed to think it was quite funny being let in the museum gate and walking down through the basins to Briar Rose.

This morning we had a cooked breakfast (our first of the holiday), then went for a walk around the museum site well before it was open.












At about 9am we set off.  I walked round to set the locks, while Adrian brought the boat round -- with someone leaving their breakfast table at the Holiday Inn to take a photo.



The eight miles to Chester start rather unpromisingly, with lots of industry, long brutal motorway bridges, and numerous pipe bridges.  But once the motorway is left behind the canal feels quite rural, with a variety of bridges.




There was no space in the basin at Tower Wharf, so we reversed back through the bridge and tied up on rings outside a new housing development.


We went for lunch at Telford's Warehouse by the basin, then this afternoon had a visit from my brother-in-law and neices, Rachel and Emily.  They enjoyed feeding the ducks and swans out the side hatch.


It's been really sunny and warm this afternoon, and it's a pleasant spot to watch the world go by on the towpath.  This evening, we're expecting more visitors, Steve and Chris, whose boat Amy Jo is in build at the moment.

8 miles, 2 locks.  (231 miles, 123 locks)

1 comment:

nb AmyJo said...

Lovely meeting you both and thank you for allowing us to come aboard.

Hope the weather does not close in too much for you to continue the trip.

See you at the locks
Steve & Chris