Middlewich and The Anderton Boat Lift

Friday we cruised through the Cheshire plains. As you can see there is evidence of the huge resource of salt under the ground. The extent of salt extraction has created large areas of subsidence in the area.  Apparently there has been no building development around until recently as a great deal of financial resources have now been allocated to alleviate the problem.

British Salt processing works

Just before you enter Middlewich you pass by the British Salt processing works with a massive stockpile of salt stored in the open. You can taste salt on the wind. At Kings Lock we were hailed by John (Halfie) from NB Jubilee. He was visiting friends and said their boat was moored three locks down. We spotted NB Jubilee moored in the centre of Middlewich, we moored next to her and went into town to find Tesco for supplies. When we returned Jan & John were back and we had a chat before pushing on towards the Boat Lift.

Middlewich was busy with lots of hire boats returning and leaving. As we passed through the Middlewich 3 locks we came across Saturn the horse drawn boat however today the horse, famously known as Cracker, had a day off and the boat was being manhandled by people power.

Craxton Flash

We passed through Craxton Flash which was caused by the salt mining subsidence; it was a very picturesque site.  Just north of the Flash we moored for the night in the middle of nowhere, all was so peaceful and quiet. We had yesterday's left over curry for tea, we'd only eaten half of it as the portions were so large.  Went really well with salad and a few new potatoes - a very cosmopolitan dish!

Tata Chemical Works

We passed through the middle of the Tata Chemical Works which felt a bit like entering the gates of hell as can be seen from the photos above. It was rather an impressive sight though.

Saturday was a no-lock day so we had a restful time, although this didn't impress Spot.

After a steady cruise we reached Anderton and found a nice spot to moor by a small park only a couple of hundred yards from the Boat Lift and the Stanley Arms pub. This is a very popular spot with a lot of boats coming and going, although there are many mooring places. We walked to the gift shop to buy a fridge magnet (Jan's little quirk - she buys magnets as memoirs) and then onto the pub for a few pints of Spitfire and a nice meal. On the way back to TM from the pub we bumped into Halfie again. They had moored up a few hundred yards above us. John kindly asked us back to Jubilee for a drink but we were so tired and full up we sadly had to decline. In bed asleep by 9pm! Must be the fresh air.

The plan now is to go down the boat lift on Monday after we have pumped out as there are no facilities on the Weaver and we are not sure how long we will be on the river.  We're both really looking forward to this next stage of our journey.