Cheeky mooring, Mikron and the Missing Man

At the (very) beginning of this month we were in Welford to see the Mikron Theatre Company perform Hell and High Water, their excellent dramatisation of the history of the Bridgewater Canal. As we approached the basin at the end of the arm we passed end-to-end moored boats, many of which had, no doubt, also come for the play. We knew we could wind at the end, so we kept going. And then we saw that we could probably tie up the other side of the winding hole, in front of Tyseley, Mikron's boat. We checked it would be all right - we were blocking them in, but would be leaving before them the next morning - and nabbed one of the best spots on the arm!


We enjoyed the performance, which brought to life the characters of Francis Egerton, the third Duke of Bridgewater; James Brindley and John Gilbert. Gilbert often seems to be forgotten in brief histories of canal building - at least, he is not as well known as Egerton or Brindley - but he was the engineer whose idea it was to construct the canal from Worsley in the first place.


Mikron Theatre Company in performance at Welford