Stone to Northwich

After a winter slumbering in Aston Marina, 'Ellis' will be chomping at the bit to get going again... It'll have  been 3 years since we last made this journey – hopefully (because it’s early in the season), the infamous ‘Heartbreak Hill’ will have enough water to allow us to make the passage – fingers crossed.

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This trip will start either in Aston Marina (parking available for a small fee) OR from Stone town (near the train station).  We’ll aim to end down on the river Weaver (if the Anderton Boat lift is working by then)  OR close to the Broken Cross Pub – Northwich.​

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​Guests will arrive approximately 1.30pm on day one and after an introductory blah blah (and most probably glass of something fizzy) we’ll chug off to begin our adventure.  The aim will be to make it up as we go along generally but we will need to put a few hours chugging in before we tie up for our first night… probably tying up at the bottom of Meaford Locks (if we started at Aston Marina) OR Barlaston (maybe near the Plume of Feathers) if we begin in Stone town.

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Next day, we’ll work our way up through Trentham and Stoke locks, on through Etruria and get to Harecastle Tunnel Entrance to overnight in readiness for first passage the following morning.

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Once through the tunnel  (keep an eye out for the ‘Boggle’) we’ll begin our decent of ‘Heartbreak
Hill’ – probably breaking off around Wheel lock to over night.

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Picking up the pace again the next morning, we’ll aim to reach Middlewich, where there’s a good (but expensive) fish and chip shop… if the Capt.is feeling flush, he might treat us to them to have a night off cooking!

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Our journey continues down Middlewich locks (including ‘Big Lock’ and on towards Anderton.  It’s a nice stretch – sometimes quite shallow but lots of twists and turns to keep things interesting.

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We won’t know until nearer the time if the Anderton Boat lift is going to be open – if it is, we’ll book a slot for our last day and take Ellis down onto the river Weaver.  The trip will terminate after breakfast (around 9.30am) on the final morning hopefully tied up at Northwich Marina.  IF the boat lift isn’t working, We’ll still chug along to Anderton to take a look but then return to The Old Broken Cross pub in Northwich and terminate there instead.

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This is a trip of 39 miles and 50 locks.