The weather has been wonderful and the scenery gorgeous. What more could we ask for?

This really is a wonderful canal with scenery, villages and plenty of places to moor, loving it.

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We were concerned that Sale, Altrincham and Timperley looked very built up (I lived near here when I was young) but it is all very, very nice. A definite positive addition to our routes, so much so we have added two trips down here on our 2020 schedule, soon to be released!

Of course the glorious weather helps, but I always keep an eye on the reservoir levels when it is like this!

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Feted as being the first of the modern commercial canals, it opened in 1761 and set off the canal mania era. Whilst it was the first of the single cut canals not following an existing watercourse an argument could be made that the Sankey, St. Helens Canal, was the one that proved the point.

The Sankey canal opened in in 1757 and was the only canal project not to have anyone object to it. Whilst not a new cut canal, it followed the line of the Sankey Brooke, it was built as though it was a new canal. Its act of parliament said “for making navigable the River or Brook called Sankey Brook, and Three several Branches thereof from the River Mersey below Sankey Bridges, up to Boardman’s Stone Bridge on the South Branch, to Gerrard’s Bridge on the Middle Branch, and to Penny Bridge on the North Branch, all in the county palatine of Lancaster” (Thank you Wikipedia)

But whatever the rights or wrongs of that Worlsey is a lovely spot with some super architecture and now the addition of some lovely sculptures.

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We have been down to Worsley, lovely place and the wonderful Barton Swing Aqueduct.

The Barton Swing Aqueduct is the first and only swing aqueduct in the world. It carries the Bridgewater  canal across the Manchester ship canal. It replaces the earlier unmovable aqueduct built as part of the original Bridgewater canal. The swinging action allows large vessels using the ship canal to pass underneath, the swing bridge opened in 1894 and remains in regular use .

I have uploaded a couple of videos to YouTube of it operating, we were lucky when we got there they had it open and we watched it close.

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The canal is still closed near the Bridgewater Marina as a new bridge is going in, it is supposed to reopen toward the end of May, but there still seems a lot to do.

As you can see the canal is dammed by a causeway.

We recently moored by Astley Green and the pit museum. An interesting bit of narrow gauge track has been renewed, it used to take caol from the pit to the canal, looks like there are plans to fire up some of the engines they have, as funds become available, that would be brilliant.

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