Thursday 21 October 2021

Tameside Heritage and the Anderton Boat Lift

Today, we’re moving on from the farm where we’ve been staying for the last four nights. We emptied and filled our tanks before hitting the road.


Our first stop today is the Portland Basin Museum which features exhibits showing Tameside heritage. There is a recreation of a 1920’s street which is complete with the sights and sounds (including a flushing outdoor privy) of the era.









This free museum was very impressive and we spent an hour or so wandering around.











We popped into a Lidl we spotted nearby before heading on to our next destination which was the Anderton Boat Lift. 






We had lunch before going into the small visitor centre where the construction and use of the lift was described.


Built in 1875 the lift hauls canal boats vertically up and down the 50ft height difference between the River Weaver Navigation to the Trent and Mersey Canal. The lift consists of two large tanks which are raised and lowered by huge hydraulic rams. The tanks are large enough to carry two 75ft narrow boats side by side. We were lucky enough to see the lift in action whilst one of the volunteers explained the process.










Next we drove to a pub on the outskirts of Chester where we’re staying in their car park for a couple of nights so that we can visit the city. We tucked Kiki into a corner and went for a walk around the area. We found the canal which leads into the city that we plan to cycle along tomorrow.

Returning to Kiki we had our evening meal before settling down for the night.

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