Liverpool bound

Well hello there! It's been a while since my last blog when we were on the Monty at the end of June and a fair bit of water under a myriad of bridges. After visits to Devon and London we retraced our steps back along the Llangollen.

In between working and boring things like sorting out my tax return we enjoyed some

lovely weather, went for a delicious Thai in Ellesmere with our 'dry dock buddies' and had a lovely impromptu jam with some fellow boaters in Whitchurch one evening, much to the delight of an extended Indian family who were walking along the towpath. We also moored next to the historic flyboat Saturn in Wrenbury, saw some amazing wildflowers and spotted a rare blond mallard duckling!

Then it was back on to the Shroppie briefly before turning onto the Middlewich Branch (a favourite from our first winter aboard), and back up the Trent & Mersey. We even managed to get a spot at Bramble Cuttings - a lovely offside mooring. Near one of the flashes (large flooded areas following salt-mining subsidence) we bumped into Georgie & Denise who we'd met in Stratford last August. After being treated to coffee and freshly baked scones on their boat in the morning we invited them over for a chilli in the evening - much food and wine was consumed, rounded off with a selection of our home-made tipples!

We were heading off to France for Rob's eldest son's wedding in Nice, so we'd booked Jasmine into Oakwood Marina nearby. Knowing she was safe and secure we got in our elderly Ford Fiesta and drove, via a night at my cousin's (thanks Janie & Mark!), to Dover and then over a few days, down to the south. France was hot and Nice was boiling but the wedding - spread over 6 days - went really well. We returned via friends in a beautiful part of the Lot region (thank you Iain & Jane). Apart from the fan belt going on the motorway and having an unscheduled extra three days stay (paid for by our breakdown cover!) the whole epic trip of around 1700 miles over almost 4 weeks went really well and we saw some amazing sights.

It was lovely to get back on board though, and we had an exciting adventure ahead - down the Anderton Boat Lift. This impressive structure was built to transfer boats between the canal and the Weaver Navigation 50 feet below. Once on the river we cruised to Northwich, arriving on market day so the town was humming and vibrant. Continuing on we stayed at Vale Royal moorings for several nights, ventured to the far end at

Winsford and then returned to Vale Royal to soak up the late September sunshine. We explored the local area and remnants of its salt-mining history, found a great refill shop in Davenham (thanks to Vanessa, the Mindful Narrowboater) and discovered a delicious apple tree near the old abbey. We also got to know a local chap

and his son who walked past us every day and would stop for a rest on 'our' bench and join us for a tea and a biscuit.

But the idyll was not to last sadly. Some heavy rain sent the river into flood and the CRT closed the navigation! Luckily it was short-lived and as soon as it reopened we hot-footed it back to Anderton where we also got to see the Daniel Adamson (known as the 'Danny'), a lovely old steamship, about to go out on a trip. We went back up the boat lift, this time with friends Tony & Sallie who were also escaping!

We were now heading for Liverpool, through Barnton, Saltersford and Preston Brook tunnels which took us onto the Bridgewater canal, considered to be the first true canal in England. Sadly time on here is limited to 7 days, but we moored in some lovely rural spots, I enjoyed an afternoon at Walton Hall Gardens including an

unexpected and slightly damp outdoor showing of The Greatest Showman, complete with free drinks and snacks, as well as discovering the incredible glasshouses with their amazing variety of bromeliads. At the pretty village of Lymm with its lovely little museum, we enjoyed a drink with some friendly American hirers and went for some delicious tapas.

The summer had definitely given over to autumn now. The fire was lit and the weather was damp and windy. We had a chilly cruise through Sale and then, heading over the incredible Barton Swing Aqueduct which crosses the Manchester

Ship Canal, we got completely blown to one side! We skirted around Trafford Park and stopped to explore Worsley Delph - the original reason for the Bridgewater Canal being built as it was the site of the Duke of Bridgewater's coal mines. Unbelievably, at the time there were 47 miles of underground canals, on 4 levels linked by water-powered incline planes and lifts, used both to drain the mines and to transport the coal to the surface.

After Leigh the canal becomes the Leeds & Liverpool and there are numerous old cotton

mills. Over the next couple of weeks we stopped at beautiful Pennington Flash, headed through industrial Wigan and on to the lovely village of Parbold and then Burscough (more of which in the next blog) and back out into the countryside where we finally saw the aurora!

The next section has no locks but is awash with swing bridges - as well as floating pennywort, a horrible invasive species which made progress slow at times - however we leap-frogged with another boat which made life easier, and we safely negotiated the outskirts of Liverpool - not an area for stopping in, we'd been told. Our aim was Litherland - secure moorings from where we would make our final journey into the city. We reached it with a day in hand before our passage was booked so we jumped on a train and went in search of the elusive red squirrels at Formby. Sadly we didn't see any but we did enjoy a walk along the beach and a picnic in the dunes.

Then we were off to Stanley Locks where the lovely lockies helped us and nb Layla (very ably crewed by solo boater Kristel and her mum) down the flight of four locks before we were let loose to negotiate our way through numerous docks (including passing Everton's new ground, to Rob's

delight!) and a couple more locks before cruising through the famous Albert Dock and finding our mooring in Salthouse Dock - complete with a view of one of the Liver birds (see porthole pic). We'd made it!

We thoroughly filled our six days' stay - having a drink at the Philharmonic, visiting the Maritime Museum, the Metropolitan Cathedral and various galleries, taking in a film at the Picturehouse, enjoying a pint and a bowl of Scouse at Ma Egerton's, sampling the delights of the Rough Hand Made bakery and seeing a choir perform al fresco at St Lukes bombed out church. One of the highlights, along with having our friend Ruth come to stay, was going to the Cavern Club & listening to the Complete Beatles - and incredibly talented young tribute band. Phew!

Our return journey out of the city was a little more stressful. Storm Ashley was on its way and winds of over 40mph were forecasted. However the moorings were closing for the winter so we had to go - or stay there until March! Our friends Jon and Ali on nb Warrior were also leaving so we paired up with them and, despite the odd bump, we managed to get back up to retrace our steps to Litherland without major mishap. We then all hunkered down on the moorings while winds of over 50mph buffeted us overnight!

Join us next time when we head towards another city - but which one?!!

What a mooring! Salthouse Dock, Liverpool