Somnia – Spring 2023 – H&P Adventures

Since my last Somnia blog our narrowboat has been moved from the Grand Union Canal up to Anderton Marina on the Trent and Mersey. We had three great weeks last year making the journey as far as Great Haywood Marina. Sorry, no blog for it!

Somnia’s berth in Anderton back in November

We have almost three weeks on our canal boat this visit as S&G had to leave early due to commitments at home, more time for us! We had a mini cruise overnight from Belfast to Liverpool, disembarking just after 7am. First stop was McDonald’s at Cheshire Oaks – at that time of the morning the best place for coffee, breakfast roll and a loo! We travelled on to Anderton Marina. This is where we will finish our cruise at the end of March so our car needs to be there. We moved all our stuff in to G’s car and headed on to Bridgewater Marina where we had agreed to meet up with S&G.

It was a glorious spring day, clear blue skies though a bit chilly. We decanted our belongings on to the boat and off-loaded S&Gs stuff in to their car. This done we made our way to Mason’s for brunch. A lovely little cafe and wine bar with an extensive menu and very friendly staff. We enjoyed tapas, a glass of wine and a great catch up with lovely friends.

After lunch we took advantage of the sunshine and walked along the canal towards Worsley. We stopped off at RHS Bridgewater gardens on the way. At Worsley we enjoyed a pint in the George before walking back along the opposite side of the canal to the marina

This details the Leeds Liverpool Canal to RHS Bridgewater Audio Trail. The trail will take you on a journey along these two historic canals where you will discover all the incredible heritage, wildlife and nature that the trail has to offer as the Lancashire Wildlife Trust aims to deliver a carbon landscape. The paths are great for cycling or walking.

Once visited by Queen Victoria and King Edward VII, Worsley New Hall survived a fire and two World Wars before it was demolished in the 1940s. The site is being returned to its former glory by the Royal Horticulture Society.

The magnificent gardens were landscaped over a 50-year period. Landscape designer William Andrews Nesfield, one of the most sought-after of his profession at the time, was involved in the project from 1846. The
terraces and landscaped parkland extended to a lake, and by 1875 the lake had been enlarged and a grotto built on its island, which was reached by a footbridge,

The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. Wikipedia More on that later!

Tuesday evening we had a lovely meal in the nearby Italian restaurant, Vesuvio, and were more than surprised to have a surprise visit by our friend Neil. Back at the boat afterwards we enjoyed a few more bottles of wine and craic.

S&G left early Wednesday morning and after tidying up our stuff we walked up to Boothstown for breakfast in Mason’s and a look around.

Poached eggs, bacon and avocado on hash browns

We couldn’t cruise on Wednesday, as we were waiting for an engineer to come to fix the heating on the boat. Steve duly arrived after 3pm and diligently set to work to find the problem – a corroded overtemperature sensor!

No heat because of this small component. The engineer brought every part available to ensure he fixed the problem!

By now the snow had set in so we hunkered down and spent the evening with H getting stuffed at Monoply Deal.

We had hoped to take the boat on from Boothstown to Liverpool and back to Anderton but winter maintenance at the locks in Wigan has scuppered that plan. The alternative is to head back towards Sale and Manchester – that’s not happening either! We are stuck!!

Only one boat has moved on this canal in three days!

The aqueduct across the Manchester Ship Canal, which S&G crossed last weekend, closed on Monday for a two weeks winter maintenance programme! Not part of the Canal and River’s Trust network it didn’t flag up for either of us that this was the case. Sure there is always a drama with the Bears on Tour! But we have a plan. We have arranged to stay in the marina for another couple of days until the snow has passed and then we will toddle on at our leisure over the 12 miles of canal accessible to us. We will definitely know this part of the Bridgewater canal by the time we leave.