A Nice Day Out

By way of a diversion, our engineer joined the Crewe Dinner Association for a beautiful Sunday afternoon out on the 1903 tug Daniel Adamson from Acton Bridge to Sutton Weaver.  Due to lack of parking at these places we went to the Anderton Boat Lift for a bus to Acton Bridge.  Arriving early gave me the chance to tour the boat lift, a massive piece of engineering.  It was built in 1875 to link the Trent & Mersey canal with the River Weaver.  Boats are raised and lowered in two caissons.  It’s very interesting and worth an afternoon out in itself.   On to Acton Bridge and the Danny Adamson, for a lovely gentle cruise in wonderfully warm October sunshine along the scenic River Weaver as far as Sutton Weaver near Frodsham.

What, you may ask, has this to do with the George?  Perhaps only a little: firstly the commissioning owner of the Daniel Adamson was the Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Company, which just happened to be owned by the LNWR.  She was originally named the Ralph Brocklebank to honour an LNWR director.  She was renamed for new owners the Manchester Ship Canal Co.  The second connection is through the Crewe Dinner Association.  Originally this was for Crewe premium apprentices to enjoy a formal dinner with the  senior management.  Our engineer attended some 1960s dinners in London’s Cafe Royal, with such grand personalities as Sir William Stanier and Lord Nelson of Stafford, of English Electric fame, as guests of honour.  Things have changed, but then it was about 60 years ago.

The pictures show the Anderton Boat Lift and the final approach to Sutton Weaver, with the overbridge of the LNWR Chester-Warrington line ahead.

Now it’s time to get back to cleaning 100 years of paint off our LNWR toolbox before repainting it for use as our tool box at Crewe!