Friday, September 23

We left Anderton Junction Lift Locks at 9:00am & looked forward to an easy day to travel to the lock located just before Preston Brook Tunnel. Our travel distance was only about 7 miles but it included passing through two other tunnels-each one was about 500 yards long.

After passing through the 2 tunnels we stopped at Dutton Breach, a location where the canal wall failed in 2012 & the valley below was flooded. Then we walked up the canal about a kilometer & went down a side road to the Bluebell Nursery & Tea Room – a local nursery with beautiful gardens & a tea room.

Catherine & I enjoyed a nice cup of tea & some cakes & then she went off to tour the gardens while I stayed behind to catch up on my blogging.

We were just getting ready to cast off when we spotted our friends Chris & Jennifer headed our way. Time for one last gam!

After saying our goodbyes & exchanging contact information we went our separate ways.

We traveled for about another hour & moored up for the night at the last lock we will pass through before entering the Preston Brook tunnel.

Directly across from where we are moored there is a dry dock for narrowboats. The boats are floated into the dry dock & then stoplogs are used to block off water from flowing into the chamber. Then the water is pumped out & the sides & bottom of the boat can be serviced.

This is a pretty neat setup. Wish I could have got the chance to see one of the boats getting serviced.

Cheers!