The canal all to ourselves until just before Preston Brook. There is a very useful canalside post office and village stores at Moore, but having stopped there we missed the window for Preston Brook Tunnel by 20 minutes. Going south one can only enter between 30 and 40 minutes past the hour. This tunnel as well as the other two before Anderton can best be described as curly. It was seeming chaos at the other end of the tunnel and the stop lock was busy, with one boat opposite direction just entering the lock, an old boat with a Bolinder blowing smoke wanting to reverse through with a bunch waiting for the tunnel. Our delay was short, however, and we set off on the Trent and Mersey proper. The canal is shallow in places with clumps of reed growth beginning to turn it into a single lane canal with passing places. The site of the recent breach looked good, but elsewhere collapsing concrete bank capping in places suggests to me that there will be problems in future. On this section the threatening thunder clouds finally played their hand and we were pleased to reach Anderton, mooring up near the facilities to take shelter before the second deluge. Still we had no decent phone signal and no TV, but otherwise we have to give the mooring a score of 5/10. We decided once the rain was over to move on a bit further and at least got a phone signal at the end of Marbury Park - a popular spot it seems. Tomorrow Wheelock, which will put us in good position for a run up Heartbreak Hill.
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