Connections
Access to the navigation was improved for traditional canal boats with the opening of the Runcorn and Weston Canal, which was completed in 1859. The canal left the Weston Canal at Weston Point, and provided a link to Runcorn Docks, near which two flights of locks connected to the Bridgewater Canal. This link was severed in 1966, when the Runcorn to Widnes road bridge was constructed. Half of the Runcorn and Weston Canal was filled in at the same time.
Significant change occurred when the Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1894. The tidal section of the river below Frodsham now flowed into the ship canal, rather than the River Mersey, and the exit lock from Weston Docks also joined the canal rather than the estuary. A new ship lock was constructed at Weston Marsh, which provided a more convenient route to the ship canal than the alternative route through Weston Point docks. The Weston Canal has been little used since. Although it is possible for pleasure craft to reach the Weaver from the Ship Canal, it is a commercial waterway, and most leisure users are dissuaded from doing so by the amount of paperwork and the requirements of the operating company.
Situated just below Northwich, the Anderton Boat Lift is now the normal route for leisure boats to reach the river. Following its closure in 1983, a Trust was created to campaign for its restoration. The lift became a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1994, and work eventually started on its refurbishment in 1999. It reopened in 2002, and is once more hydraulically powered. The use of modern hydraulic fluids is expected to prevent the problem of corrosion suffered when it was originally built.
The Navigation is managed by British Waterways, as far as Winsford Bridge. Beyond this are Winsford Bottom Flash and Winsford Top Flash. Both are shallow lakes, resulting from subsidence in the underlying salt mines. It is possible for some canal boats to explore the Bottom Flash, but the depth of water is limited, and great care is needed. The Flash is used for yacht racing by the Winsford Flash Sailing Club, which is based on the 90-acre (36 ha) lake.
Read more about this topic: River Weaver
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