Continuing Downstream

After a stock up of the fridge and a call to the sani station we continued our downstream journey.   Northwich has plenty of shopping opportunities but it was not a town that 'grabbed' me.

The journey downstream took us back past the lift and then the somewhat industrial face of the Weaver......albeit not a lot of industry going on.

Whinnington Swing Bridge, another low headroom, but none of these bridges have to be swung for us, although we could not afford to have too much on the roof.

Part of the huge ICI works just a bit further downstream....now sadly abandoned.  One of the lock keepers told us that there were plans for 17,000 private homes to be built on the site!

Our aim today was to find a congenial mooring from where we could climb up to Barnton which seemed to be the best bet for a church on Sunday.

So we went through Saltisford Lock to see what the moorings were like below.

We were surprised to be directed to the larger of the two locks...a lot of water has to be moved just for us.
The lock keeper told us the reason that the big locks are used here and the at Dutton is because they were built with ICI money and maintained and the smaller locks have silted up.    This was obviously in the days when ICI needed to get big ships up to their chemical works.

The ,moorings looked good, we have become used to the high banks now.

So we settled ourselves for another gentle afternoon on the river, although Geoff and Barney first went on a recce of the walk up to Barnton Church.   It was pronounced 'doable' for me!


Total distance:3.61 miles 

Elapsed time:2h1m12s 

Locks:1

Bridges:3 
Average speed:1.79 mph (2.28 lock/mph)