We started the day with a run towards two short tunnels, about a quarter mile each. Normally with a short tunnel, you just look in and make sure nobody is coming the other way when you enter. The first one, Saltersford tunnel, had timed entry. We found out why when we got there. There is a gentle S-bend in the middle, so you can’t see the other end when you go in. The first couple of hundred yards there is no evidence you will ever get out. I suspect they started tunneling from either end and did not quite meet up in the middle, so they just joined the two parts as best as they could.

We had planned on going down the Anderton boat lift this morning after the tunnels. This moves a section of the canal containing two boats up and down fifty feet from the Trent and Mersey Canal to the River Weaver. Unfortunately, while we could have got down to the Weaver this afternoon, the earliest opening they had for the trip back up was Friday, so we decided to give it a pass. Here’s what the upper level looks like, anyhow.

We decided to go and visit a salt museum instead, but it is closed Mondays, so we moored up nearby and did some work on the boat. Paula trimmed the bottom of a door that was sticking, and I started touching up some rust spots. Mostly Wharram Percy’s paint job is in good shape, but we can make it last longer with some preventative maintenance on the bad bits.

Here’s a photo I took yesterday of Paula taking Wharram Percy into Dutton Stop Lock