Moving the Historic Canal Boat Shad to Lion Salt Works Museum

Until recently my wife and I spent the winter months in the UK and the remainder of the year in an area in the States just outside Boston.  Ever since 2012 I have volunteered at the Ellesmere Port Narrow Boat Museum while visiting family in Liverpool.  Last summer we sold our home in the States and on Christmas day moved full time to the UK.  As a volunteer I spend most of my time doing joinery work in the museum boatyard.  At the moment I am working on a boat hatch for one of the museum boats and frequently called on to help with various other joinery projects associated with exhibits or facility repairs.

With having only volunteered at the museum during winter months I never had the opportunity to take part in any of the boat activities which typically take place during the warmer weather.  Because of this I requested permission to join a team during part of their task to move one of the museum's boat called Shad to an event to be held at the Lion Salt Works festival. Shad is a historic working boat once used to transport goods on the canals in England prior to the existence of highways for motorized vehicles.  

On the day before the trip I drove from my home in the city center of Liverpool as I was planning to meet the boat museum team the next morning for the segment of the trip from Barbridge to the Lion Salt Works. This segment of the trip was about 14 miles along the Shropshire & Union Canal which would take us about 8 hours due to the number of locks we had to traverse.

Driving in the UK is a new experience for me as I have not fully adjusted to driving on the other side of the road yet.  I decided to stay overnight near Broken Cross to avoid the morning traffic rush so that I would be well rested as the canal trip the next day would be quite long and followed by a trip to pick up my car that was left at the starting point of our trip and a then a drive back to Liverpool

The museum team was headed up by Martyn Kerry and was assisted by Alex De Lie as well as several museum volunteers. Early Thursday morning Alex, Martyn and Sue Philips left Barbridge and met up with Jen De Lie, Peter Clark and myself at the Venetian Marina for the next leg of the Journey to the Lion Salt Works just outside Northwich.

Shad moving through the Bainbridge Lock with Alex De Lie at the helm

Although I have been fortunate to have experience on many types of small boats this was my first trip on a canal boat through the canal lock systems.

Shad is an interesting and historic canal boat that was used to carry goods on the canal when the canals were a working system prior to the advent of highways in the UK.  I learned that Shad’s hull was built for speed and is capable of traveling faster than the recreational boats that are used on the canal today.  The purpose for faster speed was to be able to move goods quickly and more efficiently.   Top speed for Shad is about 7-8 mph where the slower flat bottom canal boats typically travel at about 5 mph.

Jeni De Lie relaxing while waiting to assist with the next Lock

A trip of this kind justifiably requires an experienced crew to move museum boats so I felt very fortunate to have been able to join the crew during their efforts to move Shad to the Lion Salt Museum.

Peter Clark is a new volunteer at the museum who was on board to learn lock operations and to assist with moving Shad to the Lion Salt Museum

The purpose of the trip was to bring Shad to the Lion Salt Works Heritage Transport Festival to give attendees the chance to learn more about the boat museum and one of the historic boats in the museum collection.  Two weeks later Shad was scheduled to be transported to Lymm for the annual Historic Transport Day by a team headed up by Martyn.

Because of the logistics and duration of the events Martyn and Sue accompanied Shad with their personal boat Cherokee which serves as their temporary home. I had a chance to sit in the bow of their boat for a portion of the trip to just relax and enjoy the fantastic scenery.  I can easily understand why many enjoy canal life as it is very relaxing and therapeutic. Martyn and Sue have a beautiful boat with sleeping quarters in the stern area, very comfortable living quarters in the middle with two very comfortable chairs for relaxing. There is a small sitting area at the bow that can be covered during periods of rainy weather and which is the area I positioned myself during part of the trip.   

Cherokee owned by Martyn Kerry and Sue Philips.  Martyn at the helm

After meeting the team at Barbridge I was given a short safety briefing by Martyn and issued a life vest that would self inflate should I have the misfortune of falling into the canal.  I am pleased to report I did not have the unfortunate pleasure of a canal swim.

I then loaded my foul weather gear onto Shad which fortunately was not needed, my camera gear and few cans of IPA for us to partake in at the end of our journey.  I should mention that the crew were well behaved and did not did dip into the supply of IPA during the entire trip however I cannot say the same for the photographer as there was one empty can when mooring the boats at the end of the day.

Although I have volunteered at the museum for a number of  years I never worked any of the canal locks.  On this trip we passed through about 15 locks so I had a chance to learn a bit about the process from Jen, Peter and Sue who are experienced hands with lock operation.

This was a great day to travel the canal as the weather was perfect and there were lots of waterfowl tending their young ones that were obviously only days old.  We also passed through several farms where cattle were grazing some of which were nursing their newborn.  The bird life and animal life along the canal was amazing. 

The architecture along the canal was interesting too.  Some of the locks had lock keeper homes and in several locations very beautiful private homes were erected all of which added to the beauty of the canal.  Probably one of the most interesting homes we passed belonged to a former lock keeper named Maureen Shaw. The lock is located in Middlewich and officially is named the Wardle Lock but more affectionately called “Maureen’s Lock”.    Apparently when Maureen passed away in 2012 her coffin was transported on the canal to it’s resting place in Middlewich.

Maureen’s Lock, Middlewich

During the trip we passed through historic Middlewich which was the only town we passed through.  Middlewhich is worth an overnight stay for anyone traveling the canal.  For those who are only passing through there are several pubs along the canal where it is possible to moor for a few hours to have lunch and a pint before moving on.

Shad passing through Middlewich

We passed through several large working farms.  A few farms raised milk cows, others raised beef cattle and others appeared to be agricultural probably growing animal feed or rapeseed grown primarily as a fuel additive and vegetable oil.

One section of the canal that is not too far from Middlewhich was recently rebuilt.  The stretch of canal that was repaired is on high ground and when the wall of the canal failed it completely emptied that section of the canal flooding the valley below.  Fortunately there were locks about a mile apart which prevented the breach from being more serious than it was.

Bridge #20 - One of the many bridges that cross the canal.

The stretch of canal between Middlewhich and Broken Cross passes primarily through some very beautiful and peaceful farmland.  This section of the canal did not have any locks to navigate as the land is relatively level. 

It was a beautiful warm spring day for traveling the canal

The following day Martyn, Sue and Alex proceeded to the Lion Salt Works from Broken Cross in preparation for the weekend festival.  

Martyn and Sue on their way to Broken Cross

For more pictures Moving Shad to Lion Salt Works click here > > > > Moving Shad