My first photo today is timed at 0806 so we must have made a reasonably early start, although Hulme Locks were only just round the corner from where we were moored. The locks are in a very poor way, and can't have been used for decades.
A few minutes further west is Pomona Lock, looking rather more serviceable.
After turning left at Waters Meeting, Stretford, we stopped by the shopping precinct for a newspaper. There's a useful Poundland here. Our next stop was at Bollington Underbridge so we could investigate The Swan with Two Nicks for lunch. It seemed a bit pricy, so we ended up at the other pub in Little Bollington, which, according to my copy of Nicholson, is called Ye Old No. 3 (where is my log when I need it?). But I'm getting ahead of myself: by Bollington Underbridge were two men bending over backwards to ... well, just bending over backwards really. Was this muscle stretching before a run? The yellow T-shirt has "Manchester Marathon" printed on it. I wasn't sure: they held their pose for a long time.
By the pipe bridge was moored a Cara Cruiser (Andrew Denny posts about a Cara Cruiser here)
We got to Thorn Marine at Stockton Heath before it closed. No alternator belt of the right size in stock, but they ordered me a couple and promised they'd be there in the morning. That's Willow, sheltering under the bridge.
We ate in the London Bridge pub. Too long ago now for us to remember much about it (oh, for the log!). I cycled down to the bridge over the Ship Canal and took a couple of piccies. Here's one, looking towards the Thelwall Viaduct, which is just visible beyond the locks.
3 comments:
Hi there, Did you venture down the Bridgewater arm to Runcorn. It is very pretty and trouble free. There is the Bridgewater Motor Boat Club near the end where you can fill up with water and nearby there are a few supermarkets and a small town. You can walk the track of the old locks to the Manchester Ship Canal. See http://www.runcornlocks.org.uk/ There are also some facinating buildings built under the railway arches in Runcorn town incuding a tiny church. Well worth a look. Gosh! I sound like the Tourist Information for Runcorn. We keep our boat there and we think its OK. Sue n.b. Cosy Toes
Hello Sue, we didn't go down the Runcorn arm on this particular trip, but we did on our nine week cruise in 2005. We're actually thinking of visiting by car today to explore the old locks - if we do we'll look out for the railway arches and their hidden treasures. Thanks for the info.
An update for you, Sue: we did go to Runcorn today and I found the old locks. Saw Cosy Toes when we arrived, but you had gone when we returned to the car. I'll post about this soon.
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