We hadn't gone far before we came upon the site of the "Dutton Collapse". This was a collapse and wash-out of the canal bank that occurred in September 2012 that closed the canal and did huge amounts of damage. Contractors working for C&RT managed to carry out repairs and get the canal open only at the beginning of this month. We decided to stop and peruse the work to see how effectively our licence money is being spent. Walking along the towpath and looking out into the fields we could see the huge scale of the original wash out. The repair work has been completed to a high standard and should not cause any problems in the future. Cant say the same for the other mile or so of this elevated embankment though......
Sometime during the half hour we were in the tunnel it started raining - hard! We developed an urgent need to moor up and visit the Chandlers at Preston Brook where we bought several items - a decent reading light, and a rudder bearing which I will have to fit on our return. The tiller arm is vibrating enough to give us repetitive strain syndrome. In conversation the chap asked wither we were bound? "Stretford Marina to leave the boat for 2 weeks"..... There followed the same sharp intake of breath and head shaking as had come from the C&RT chap at Anderton. I wouldn't do that - its half term and the kids will be lining up along the towpath to throw stones at any moored boats. We changed our minds then and there and retired to the boat to plan our next move.
In the end we contacted Anderton Marina and booked the boat in with them, which means turning the boat round and travelling back the way we have just come and getting the train back from Northwich. We moored up for the night, still raining heavily near the winding hole at Daresbury.
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| The repaired embankment. You can also see where the water washed out over the fields. Note uprooted tree. |
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| The reinstated towpath. Mooring rings have thoughtfully been installed. |
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