Wednesday 22 April 2015

Kidsgrove/Red Bull locks



Here I am Rune
Distance 3.7 miles
Total 1078 Locks 59 Tunnels
Running total mileage 1459.9miles

Since we are still a bit ahead of schedule as I want to be just south of Chester by the end of the month, we have only done another fairly short day today of just over 3½ miles and one fairly long tunnel. The weather was superb and I’m already starting to tan in the sun. I must say that I do find the tunnels fascinating considering the time that they were built and the methods used. It was only on this trip through that I realised that there are no ventilation shafts which is obviously why they have to run massive fans when boats pass through. We again experienced the Harecastle ‘fog’ as they start the fans up, basically you go into the tunnel and they close the door behind you then fire up the fans. These fans suck the air through the tunnel so when they start the pressure inside the tunnel drops slightly and the water vapour in the air then condenses causing the ‘fog’. It clears after about a minute but is is slightly disconcerting since for that time you lose sight of the other end of the tunnel.

The briefing that you get before going into the tunnel is useful and, in light of the fatal accident in the tunnel last year, necessary. As tunnels go though Harecastle is less challenging than Gorsty Tunnel!

Tomorrow will be quite a hard day’s work down through the Lawton Flight, the Wheelock flight and a few other locks but hoping to get to Wheelock since that will be the majority of the locks between here and Middlewich out of the way.

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