Thursday morning there seemed to be something important we should be doing but we just hung around for no good reason, much like Gordon Brown would be doing for the next few days (weeks or months).
Vale Royal locks offer timed passages 2 up and 2 down every morning. Same after lunch. We decided to aim for the 11:00 up so we shared Hunts Lock (the deepest on the River at 11ft ish) with the cruiser style nb Regency from Cosgrove GU. Then straight into Vale Royal responding positively to the lock-keepers request to tow his aluminium rowboat through the lock (no charge). Regency left the lock first and zoomed away down the Vale Royal cutting. All very peaceful except for the welcome, incessant clattering intrusion of the motor. More salt works on the approaches to an otherwise invisible Winsford. We approached the first of the road bridges by the Red Lion to the sight of regency winding, I had a whim to chug further but wimped out. UM winded OK with the use of pole and barely 10ft to spare of which Regency had occupied a convenient 7ft. A full length boat would struggle, perhaps. Who knows what navigational hazards lie beyond the 2 bridges. We reversed through them but the narrowing winding river caused me to chicken out before hitting the shopping trolley reef, the discarded safe or simply the bottom too near the top. We tied up about a mile from Vale Royal for a leisurely afternoon . It might have rained, it did much of the time we were on the Weaver. We then planned our departure first down locking through Vale Royal lock at 08:30 ( Locky arrived 08:29+5/4mins ) straight through Hunts and a call to the lift controller. If we could arrive by 09:45 we could have the 10:15 lift. So we did. What did we think of the Weaver? Bearing in mind our disposition after UMs woes we were happy enough to complete the trip, any trip, without interruption. Also, it rained. The rural bits are pleasingly rural, the industrial bits are reassuringly industrial. Northwich is town like, all the lock folk and lift persons are very friendly. Runcorn was still there. Would we make a return visit, probably only in transit but we are glad to have experienced it. I suppose it is reminiscent of the G & S in being a survivor of a different age. Leaving the lift we then headed for Dutton Dock to meet Tim Leech to talk day tanks. Unfortunately Tims workload will not allow us to get the job done before we need to leave the area. Uncle Mort really does not like the Preston Brook area complaining in all the bridge holes and picking up all manner of minor detritus on the blade. Ive had to investigate the weed hatch just twice this year both times between Anderton & PB. We left the area and headed for home, passing Wincham & Broken Cross to find a Friday night mooring next to one of the wide bits, just about an hour out of Middlewich. Instead of the planned early start we dilly dallied with a bacon sandwich and set off sometime nearer 11am. Bramble Cuttings (decent offside mooring) was empty first time thats been seen and we arrived at The Wide Lock just before opening time as the comedy piss head crew on a hire boat descended. Dont ask, suffice it to say their first few hours had already earned them a reputation along the canal from the hire base. We soon learned that a pound or two had been drained and struggled out of the lock before the bend with the pound 18 down at least. We bumped out over the cill and shut the gate almost in the face of a boat wishing to enter. The problem seemed to be the mitre on the bottom gates which let too much water past (even when closed) so we wanted to get into the next lock up before the down crew tried to fill the dodgy lock. Mrs B ran more water through and UM was persuaded forward. That was pretty much it. There was an annual gathering in Middlewich arranged by JC & GO Watson which we managed to gatecrash. So did Terry Streeter who had rejoined Arun with intent to do some Weavering. Very pleasant evening folks, thanks for including us. And then the last lap a couple of hours in warm Sunday sunshine back to Aqueduct Marina, which we have already left twice since our final departure. What next . . . . in June perhaps Chester, Ellesmere Port, even the Llangollen on the extended journey to our new base at Stafford BC. Who knows, perhaps we can even do the Lancaster ! Beeky
