Trent and Mersey Lock No 74

We continued south along the Trent and Mersey, making our way up "Heartbreak hill" (so called because of the number of locks).  That day we worked our way through twenty one of them!  There are three locks at Middlewich which always slow things down.

Today was no exception, when we arrived there was quite a long queue of boats waiting to go up.  Fortunately all the boatyard's hire boats were out otherwise there would have been no where to moor.  We tied up on the area marked private moorings.

I may be biased but part of what was slowing up proceedings was the fact that there were volunteer lockkeepers working on the lock.  They were making boats wait in the locks until the other boat was out of the next lock coming towards you.  It would have been much faster to wait in the "pond" just outside a lock then another boat could be coming up the lock you had left.

The blip is a shot from the front of the boat, an unusual position for me I am usually up there working the lock.  KKK & G are standing one each side of the open gates on the bottom of the three locks.