Nantwich to Hack Green and Overwater Marina and back to Nantwich

Thu 16th Aug  Nantwich to Hack Green

Following our disturbed night we had a fairly late start. We discovered that we had moored where there was a sign saying no mooring. We hadn’t seen the sign in the dark, and we had found mooring rings, which are presumably for boats waiting for the facilities opposite.

Some CRT guys arrived and changed the large sign on the toilet block for another one that looked identical. Perhaps a detail such as the phone number was wrong. Both signs were the new blue ones with the silly new logo.

We moved across there to use the facilities before setting off south for Hack Green.

Nantwich Aqueduct

We saw buzzards, a kingfisher and a sandpiper, as well as large flocks of Canada Geese.

Buzzard

It is about three miles to the two Hack Green locks, and there is a winding hole just before the locks. We were hoping to turn round and moor up before walking to the nuclear shelter, but the edges were not good for mooring, so we decided to go through the two locks, and moor on rings beyond, reversing back in the morning

Hack Green Locks.

At one of the locks we met a couple on a boat, and they said “We shared the Buckby locks with you”. We couldn’t remember, but they were right. On checking our blog, we found that in 2016 we had shared with Lizzie Beth, and the couple were Shelley and Gary.

Lizzie Beth

We visited the “Secret Nuclear Bunker” which is marked on all the maps, and has signs pointing to it, so it is no longer very secret. It was a larger building than the one in Essex which we went to a few years ago.  We were expecting the bunker to be as it was during the cold war, but this one was more like a museum, with lots of equipment and display items brought in.  Most of it we didn’t understand, but there was an abundance of electronic equipment with plenty of flashing lights, and a few nuclear bombs.

Hack Green Bunker

We bought some eggs from a house nearby and returned to the boat. We stayed on the moorings overnight.

Hack Green mooring

2 locks, 3 miles

Fri 17th Aug  Hack Green to Hack Green via Overwater Marina

We had considered reversing back through the two locks to the winding hole, and heading back to Nantwich, as it was two miles to the next place where we could turn, at Overwater Marina, and would take us an extra hour and twenty minutes. 

Heron

Overwater Marina

Then we remembered the excellent cafe at Overwater Marina! We set off south, and went into the Marina. We were indicated a pontoon where we could moor, and went to the cafe for breakfast. We sent a text to Roger (Ragged Robin) who moors there, and he came and joined us for a coffee. We arranged to meet him on Monday for the folk music session at the Shroppie Fly.

We returned up the canal and moored just before we reached the Hack Green Moorings, where we had seen some badger setts spilling onto the towpath.

Badger Setts

Relaxed Hugo

James picked our first blackberries of the season. It rained.  When the rain stopped, James went along the path and sat near the badger setts for an hour hoping to see some wildlife. No joy.

0 locks, 4 miles, 1 mouse

Sat 18th Aug  Hack Green to Nantwich

James had blackberries on his cereal this morning.

We had cloudy skies as we headed back down the Hack Green locks and returned to Nantwich. We managed to find a mooring just where we wanted, by the steps and ramp going down to street level.

Cloudy sky

Shropshire Union mile post

Hack Green Locks

Moored in Nantwich

We went to catch a bus to Crewe for some shopping. At the bus stop we noticed lots of ladybirds in the hedge. Apparently they are the invasive Harlequin variety.

Ladybirds

The bus arrived on time and we pottered around the shops in Crewe for a while.  We then returned to Nantwich, getting off in the town centre for more shopping, and a pie for lunch.

Back to the boat to recover. Hugo caught two mice.

2 locks, 3 miles, 2 mice

Sun 19th Aug  Nantwich

The aqueduct and embankment

We had ordered a taxi for 1000 to take us from the aqueduct to the Elim church. We had to phone twice as it was late, arriving after 1015. We arrived at the church with 5 minutes to spare and found Tim and Tracey, with Barry and Brenda, BCF people we had briefly met at the BCF meal in Ellesmere. The service was powerful, and the worship team excellent.

Elim Church at Nantwich

The six of us went to the Black Lion afterwards for a very pleasant Sunday lunch. We had to leave before dessert as we needed to do some shopping at Morrisons and Aldi. Then we found we had just missed a bus so we went for a coffee in a nearby pub before catching the last bus back to the aqueduct with our very heavy shopping trolley.

No boating today

Next: Heading south down the Shroppie