Swapping crews.

The next day, after a bit of a sleep in, we decided to go go to the Science Museum which was just the other side of the canal.

From the other side of the cut 'Holderness' looked in good nick. However it really needs a good wash and a bit of paint touch up.

The Middle Warehouse was built by the Manchester Ship Canal Co. in 1831 and was used to store maize from America until 1970's. The boats were drawn right into the building through the arches to discharge in the dry.


It does look a bit better now, but oh to see the original at work.

There were plenty of Canada geese gosling about and they seem to be very well fed by the visitors to the area. I didn't see any peas or lettuce, or anything other than bread!

The overhead railway lines can make the area seem really glum and sinister on a dull day, but on a beautiful day like this it certainly seems to be almost cathedral like. The water point is just after the cream coloured boat on the extreme right, and that is the way up to the museum too.

The museum is free and has several different halls. We were just in time to have a talk/demonstration in the fabric hall where the machinery from the a cotton mill was explained and demonstrated. We then went in to the power shed and enjoyed the steam engines, all made in Manchester. There is a tank engine that has been sectioned and again we caught a talk about how a steam engine actually worked. It was for children I think but I learned something too. This one ended up in Pakistan.

The York National Railway Museum it isn't but everything had been made in the Manchester area. I think this one was working in the Isle of Mann.

This is an articulated train! I didn't know they existed. It is not easy to see in the photo above but the bit that looks like a normal steam train is the boiler and drivers cab but ahead and astern are the driving parts of the engine and are hinged to the main part. The front boogie has a water tank too, and the rear one a coal tender. The reason for them is so that they can negotiate tighter bends than normal. This engine was working in South Africa.

We couldn't see much as we had to leave to go to Piccadilly Station to meet Helen back after her trip to see Mama Mia, the stage show. It was then back to the boat to drop her gear off, and pick up Amy's after we had been for something to eat. There were no trams from Piccadilly to Castlefield/Deansgate but there was a replacement bus. On the way back there were no there so we caught the Metrolink which went round the Wrekin and then, to add insult to injury, dumped us well short of the station. I have no idea why!! We missed Amy's train, but there was another in 30 minutes so she wasn't far off her ETA. This last week wouldn't have worked without her and it was great to spend a full week with her. It seemed lots longer, in a nice way I mean! See you later in the year, for a 'normal' canal holiday.