The fuel boat Halsall arrived as planned just after 7am, he
was in a real rush as he needed to be at Harecastle tunnel by 8am and in his
rush he under-filled my fuel, now I know last time I got filled up my tank was
over-filled so I shouldn’t be complaining but he put 30lts in which I thought
was very little but I hadn’t really checked how much I needed, I checked after
he left and I was about 40lts light, now that is a bit too much of an
under-fill! Oh well another top up due soon then. I also took 9 bags of
smokeless, 20kg bags instead of the usual 25kgs, I much prefer the smaller bags
they are a lot easier to handle.
We set off just after 8am, this stretch of the Trent &
Mersey is known as Heartbreak Hill, presumably because of the amount of locks, 31
locks (singles or pairs) over approximately 14 miles of the section from
Kidsgrove to Middlewich, nice but quite hard work, I managed to snap a picture
of Rods boat as I was leaving the first pair (42) and Rod was closing his
bottom gates.
The layout of the locks are all different and make for an
interesting if busy time cruising between them.
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| Leaving lock 42 meant crossing the wide exit area and a blind approach to pass beneath the aqueduct that carries the Macclesfield canal over the Trent and Mersey. |
Lock 43 was a single chamber, I was through first and Rod
closed up for me.
Passing the Canal and River Trust offices at Red Bull.
From here on it all got a bit hectic, no time for pictures
as we worked through the next 9 locks, most of which were duplicated but not
all, I think 7 were, as I was ahead and not one boat came the other way, I was
able to set both locks where they were duplicated, this didn’t require much
more effort on my part but meant Rod could go straight in without have to stop
on the often awkward offside landings.
Finally I was able to look back at the last lock for today (52).
We had made good time and the weather was pleasant enough so
although it was mainly a windlass winding day it was still enjoyable, and just
before midday we reached our intended stop at Rode Heath, luckily finding two
spaces on mooring rings just after the winding hole (turning point) and a short
walk to The Broughton Arms, a visit tomorrow could well be in order.
Current mooring:
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| The gap between me and the cruiser has to be kept clear for winding (turning) boats |
Totals today: 3 miles : 11 locks
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