nbfreedom: Winters back!!!

We set off this morning towards Middlewich , it was so cold it was unreal especially after the lovely warm sunshine of yesterday. When we got near the first lock we noticed loads of oil in the canal..there were some poor white ducks who no longer had white feathers.

There were about 5 peewits in the field next to the lock on the way to Middlewich-this one kept having an argument with a big black crow.

Tata salt works.

A charming name for a lock!

We flew through the locks at Middlewich today...last year it took just over 4 hours to get through 3 locks because it was so busy. Just the other side of the locks is Middlewich church and the now derelict 'Town Wharf'.

Once away from the locks the countryside is gorgeous. The River Dane at Croxton Park was flowing a lot faster than normal.

There are lots of lagoons along the Trent and Mersey caused by subsidence from all the salt mining that has gone on in the area. Some of these were used as 'graveyards' for old working boats after the second world war when they were no longer needed although a lot have now been salvaged.

The sun had finally come out when we decided to moor at Bramble Cuttings. Its now a small conservation area but used to be where the clay was dug up and used to line the bottom of the Trent and Mersey Canal. It was like a quiet little island as you can only reach it from the canal-although we did panic a bit when 2 60ft hire boats came along and one moored up for a while!