Cathedral of the Canal is a miracle to marvel at

IF you want to see a miracle of engineering within around a one hour's drive of East Lancashire then the Anderton Boat Lift is for you.

Recently re-opened after a £7million restoration British Waterways has established an operations centre. It has a shop, restaurant and boat trip on the lift.

The boat is of great interest to East Lancashire folk. It is called the Edwin Clark after the designer of the world's first such lift which began operating in 1875. This vessel was covered from a former maintenance vessel which once operated on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal near Burnley.

Not for nothing has the Weaver been known as the River of Salt. From Roman times the area known as Cheshire was exploited for its salt. Part of a soldiers pay was in salt, which in Latin is salarium - the origin of the word salary.

The function of the Anderton Lift, soon known as the Cathedral of the Canal, was to lift cargoes between the Trent and Mersey Canal with the Weaver which is around 50-feet below.

The barges were carried in large metal caissons filled with water. This meant the barges did not have to be unloaded and which saved hours of back-breaking labour.

During my day out I went up and down on the boat, learned how the lift works and all about its history. I strolled on the banks of the Weaver and saw lots of ducks feeding.

After lunch I followed the towpath of the Trent and Mersey Canal from Bridge Number 199 (at the lift) to 196 and then strolled through Marbury Park (lots of picnic tables here and at Anderton) and around Budworth Mere. Budworth is a fantastic place to enjoy winter birdwatching and the Anderton Lift Centre is open every day, except Christmas Day, so this is a walk for all seasons. It was at Marbury that rock salt was first discovered while engineers were searching for coal in 1670.

The Trent and Mersey Canal runs for 93 miles between the rivers Trent and Mersey. It was completed in 1777 with most of the funding from pottery manufacturers, especially Wedgwood.

Until the canal was built they had to transport their delicate wares by road and the cost of breakages was great. The success of English pottery is almost entirely due to the waterway system. To glaze pottery they needed Cornish China clay. The lift cut down labour costs and, therefore, reduced the price of the goods.

The operations centre has links to the National Curriculum and school parties are made welcome.

Casual visitors are also guaranteed a lift and the Anderton added an extra dimension to my drive and stroll.

How to get there: From the M6 turn off at Junction 19. Follow the B5391 to Northwich and then look for brown signs indicating Anderton Boat Lift. An alternative is via the M56. Turn off at Junction 10 and follow the A59 until brown signs lead to the car park on the lift.