WEDNESDAY. At Bridge 206, Trent & Mersey
The 2008 trip thus far: 304 Locks; 533.5 Miles; 56 Swing\Lift Bridges. Bus pass journeys 20
We said our goodbyes to Fred at Dutton and to Bryn at Saltersford; we are going to head slowly for Tarleton and the Ribble link. We have tried and failed two times to make the trip, let us hope that we succeed this time. We called at Northwich for supplies and to empty the PortaPotti before Myra went to the Anderton lift booking office, for the next available time slot.
Why are BW so ashamed of the booking office that there are few signs giving clear directions to its location? Could it be that they would prefer us all to give up looking, telephone in and pay a fee of £5? Now, just because I am paranoid; it does not mean that everyone is not out to get me.
We had only to wait long enough for us both to have a shower before we were called to take the boat into the lift. We were sharing with a Challenger boat; we went in first and tied to the upwind side of the caisson. A good job as well. I put two go kart tyre fenders down on our rear corner for him to bounce off. He hit the sliding gate frame on his side, bounced off, and then off our two fenders before he hit the far end caisson gate. Fortunately, not sufficiently hard to prevent it working!
Leaving the lift and winding to travel towards Preston Brook, we passed an oncoming boat in the first narrows, then one more as we waited to enter Saltersford tunnel. We moored just before the
winding hole at Bridge 206, where three more boats went south over the next 3 hours.
Weather – one light shower, strong breeze, sunny intervals.
