Leaving Liverpool this time was not via the Leeds/Liverpool Canal, but via the Mersey to the Manchester Ship Canal.
We had to time out arrival at Eastham, the start of the Ship Canal from the River Mersey, to allow for outward shipping. We were only on the river for about an hour all told.
The Manchester Ship Canal (MSC) was wide and deep and we only met one work boat on our journey to Manchester. Here we are passing Mount Manisty, named after the engineer in charge of this section, and made up of the cutting from the canal.
Stanlow oil berths are mainly export berths for products now as the crude oil comes in at either Tranmere jetties or from a single point mooring buoy off Anglesey. However there were four ships working at the quays on both sides of the canal.
At the old mouth of the River Weaver the sharp bend in the canal seems to be protected by these old lock gates. There is now a lock at the entrance, called Marsh Lock. Unfortunately for our later plans this was badly damaged the following day.
After Eastham the first lock on the MSC is Latchford and although slightly smaller, they are still massive, and all with the same type of equipment that they were built with. To the right there is a 'barge' lock of smaller dimensions, but unusable. Further to the right of that are the controllable sluices that regulate the water levels in the canal that are fed by surface water streams and rivers.
It was great to see the Barton Aqueduct from below, rather than when crossing over on the Bridgewater Canal above. It is the only swing bridge for a canal in the world.
After a couple of nights on a mooring at Salford Quays we headed up the Pomona Lock to the Bridgewater and ended up moored on the Coal Wharf at Castlefield. A nice handy mooring in the sun. It was great to complete a full navigation of the MSC with the trip over the Mersey thrown in. Not some thing you get to do every day.
Very handy for our moorings was the Knott Bar, just up some steps and on Deansgate. It is built into a iron railway arch with an extension. The upstairs is available and makes for a good dining area. The Knott is actually named after the station opposite, Deansgate. When first built in 1849 the station was called Knott Mill, and the name is still there above the entrance. The place has been in the Good Beer Guide for about 14 years now. It started out as the Smart Bar and then the Nowhere Bar before being obtained by the Marble Beer Co and had blossomed since. Now sold on it is still flourishing with a good reputation for food and for a great selection of around 8 hand pulls and plenty of cider and craft beers on tap.
I treied an experimental beer from Wander Beyond Brewing Co. They started up at the end of 2017 and can be found under Piccadilly Station in Manchester, despite the fact that Mat Breslin is from York. His family had connections to the Marble Brewery too. They have no core beers by design so they can experiment with seasonal and new ingredients in their brews.
I had a pint of one of these experiments, CF160 that is named after a new hop. The brewery are apparently know for packing flavour in without raising the alcohol over much. It sounded up my street and at 4.3% I wasn't disappointed either. It had a nice head for a n Indian Pale Ale style. First came the sweet orange taste and then quickly followed by a lovely hoppy and malty taste. I loved it and it would seem a shame I am unlikely to see it again. Mind you at £3-60 it was a bit more than normal, but par for inner city I suppose.
Named not after the East African Rift Valley but the none reflective molecular dust cloud between the Milky Way and the Solar System this 6.0% stout, also from Wander Beyond, did not live up to the CF160 for me. A nice black colour with a cream head looked good, but the lashing of lactose, oats and dark malts didn't pack the taste I was hoping for. It was very sweet but then there was just the alcohol taste at the back of your through. Not to be repeated, at £4-00 at least. A brewery to lookm out for though.
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