Our Canal Companion Guides have been invaluable. Each page dissects a 4-5 mile (about 2 hours travel by narrowboat) section of the canal offering a detailed map and an informative narrative. One such section on today’s travel upon the 200 year old Trent & Mersey Canal enticed us into pausing for two very rewarding hikes.

Yesterday’s post provided photographs of the enchanting Longacre Wood that is cared for by the Woodland Trust. If you have not yet seen those pictures they are worth the “visit” to that post and give some insight into the beauty that surrounds us on these ancient canals.

The second hike mentioned in the Guide is to the Dutton Locks on the Weaver River Navigation. Less than half a mile walk down a public right-of-way that travels along farm fields we intersected this inland waterway.

Into the late 20th Century one could see large coastal vessels navigating these waters. From the Trent & Mersey Canal the upper decks of large ships would seem to magically appear and ghost across the land and woods in the distance, the Weaver waterway being hidden from the eye. Sadly, the perfectly good Weaver has been abandoned by commercial trade and is slowly falling into disrepair for want of the funding required to maintain it. The sunken hotel boat Chica may well be a predictive metaphor for the future of the waterway and locks.

It is almost comical to see the two huge Dutton Locks (one of which has been out of service for 30 years) serving small pleasure craft. The lock-keeper told us that upstream is a narrowboat club and on holidays the club will send as many as 60 vessels into the lock where they assemble in an orderly fashion and pack together like so many LEGO blocks for a single downriver discharge. At the end of the day, presumably after a few pints, the boats return and present an impossible confusion of narrowboats colliding into one another in slow motion. For some reason their skippers are unable to replicate the morning’s feats of seamanship.

The locks were first opened in 1874, technological wonders of the 19th Century. 14 water turbines powered the valves and gates, controlled by large iron levers and windlass handles. Today the task is powered by electric motors and is controlled by the lock-keeper at a switch laden panel. He candidly states his preference for the reliability of the old system.

Another nod to the remarkable ingenuity of the 19th Century looms in the distance. In 1837 Joseph Locke designed and built the imposing Dutton Rail Viaduct. Composed of 22 sandstone arches, it has carried rail traffic across the the river valley for 180 years, from steam railroading’s infancy to the bullet-trains of today. It remains one of Englands busiest rail corridors bearing up to the scores of trains that cross is every day.

In contrast to the bustle of the distant viaduct was a peaceful green and well placed bench that provided us with the perfect opportunity for a self-timer group photo.

Peace Everyone. Pete

PS. I am typing this post in the very early morning hours of May 2nd. This is our last travel day on Great Britain’s canals as we will be returning to our Middlewich port this afternoon. Salten-Fjord has been our home and our transportation for 3 weeks. The inevitable question presents itself, will we do this again. I have to reserve judgment but promise more on that another time. We still have 3 weeks left ahead to us to this journey.

11 pence UK is roughly 14 cents US. I am 67 years old and in my experience it has been 60 years since 11 pence could purchase anything meaningful. As a child of 5 it bought a candy bar or a small bottle of Coke… a cup of coffee for an adult, even an order of french fries (called “chips” here in the UK) at a McDonalds. It has been decades since the equivalent of 11 pence was usable pocket tender… Now it doesn’t buy a stick of gum or even 15 minutes of time on a parking meter. Today it was the price of a priceless experience. Please read on.

On January 1, 1894 Queen Victoria dedicated and officially opened the Manchester Ship Canal. At 36 miles long it is a major commercial shipping artery that connects Manchester to the Irish Sea. It can accommodate vessels that are up to 65 feet wide and 600 feet long. Then the largest ship canal in the world, it remains the world’s eighth longest, slightly shorter than the Panama Canal.

Today our narrowboat plied the the tiny Bridgewater Canal and took us to within a short hike of The Manchester.

We moored near the town of Thelwall, an attractive village that traces its origin to the year 923 when “Edward the Elder Founded a Cyty Here and Called it Thelwall.”

From Thelwall we walked to the set of the major shipping locks on The Manchester, strolled along the edge of the chamber’s open chasm, and then across the actual lock gates. A pleasant stroll marked for the public, this is something that would NEVER be permitted in the States.

We continued back along the north shore of The Manchester to a point across from Thelwall. Hundreds of yards of water stood to thwart our return. But read on…

Before the founding of Thelwall, perhaps reaching into the recesses of pre-history, there was a footpath at the place where we stood. Under English Common Law that footpath had become a public right-of-way. When plans were laid to dig the massive ship canal that small footpath could not be ignored. An accommodation was reached whereby the canal company would establish and maintain a ferry crossing for pedestrians. We stood on one side of the canal and hailed across to the other. In response, a lean man who appeared to be tending a small green on the opposite bank picked up a very long oar and boarded a small aluminum boat. He “sculled” the boat across the channel to us much as a Venice gondola-man might have.

This was Kevin. A very pleasant man who for 17 years has been providing this one man ferry service as an employee of the canal company. He lives nearby and except on Sundays and bank holidays he rows folks back and forth between the two established wharves that he maintains.

Kevin spoke of his early years at the tiller. The waters were oil polluted and immune to freezing. Clean water legislation thankfully changed all that, but when the unusually cold winter of 2010 struck the canal froze. It was no impediment to shipping which just punched through the 3 inch thick sheet of ice, but it stopped Kevin for a time. Little else does.

He pauses his service during ship passings and for the occasional vacation (another local takes on Kevin’s duties to allow him to take his holiday). Understandably, the passage is not free. Since 1982 price increase the established fare, including tax, is precisely 11 pence UK, or about 14 cents US. Although it does not appear upon the sign, experiencing the short crossing with Kevin at the helm is priceless.

Peace Everyone. Pete