Return through the Harecastle Tunnel

Hills beyond the Cheshire locks

We locked down steadily as the temperature rose enjoying the peaceful Cheshire hills. We stopped early at Rode Heath for a dog walk through bunny land and an ice cream as it is lovely mooring there.

Des res on the Trent and Mersey

In the morning we continued locking down towards the tunnel. We had to raise the paddles slowly as the locks were vicious and sucked the boat forwards suddenly if we raised them too fast. Twice we had to lower the paddles to stop the boat hurtling towards the gates. Sometimes slower is quicker! We reached the tunnel in brilliant sunshine with a half hour wait for passage through.

Only a few locks to go before the tunnel



Harecastle Tunnel's North Portal

The wait soon passed as 2 plastic bath tubs turned up. One guy had only owned his 2 days and didn’t know what to do. The tunnel keeper explained how the roof of the tunnel gets lower inside and he should remove his wind screen to avoid damaging it. He didn’t have any tools but Paul lent him a ratchet the right size. The boater handed it back reluctantly as he needed one to replace the windscreen as the canopy attaches to it. The canopy space is important on tiny cruisers. He also needed a working spotlight and horn neither of which he had. The tunnel keeper lent him a horn in case he broke down and the other boater helped him rig up an interior light outside to guide him through the tunnel. By the time they had done all that the convoy from the other end had arrived and we were sent on our way directly behind the plastic boater with temporary light as petrol boats have to lead the way. Three quarters of the way through the tunnel his light failed and he must have hit the tunnel wall and turned sideways. Paul caught him up but he turned the boat and made it out of the tunnel without assistance. I guess he had even more combat wounds on his already battered cruiser but at least his engine kept going. We stopped at Westport Lake as it is a lovely mooring and took Lottie for a walk round it. It was bustling with local people walking their dogs and letting their children cycle in a safe place yet there was room for everybody to relax.