We've just returned from a week away in Cheshire visiting a variety of attractions.
There were two places I was particularly looking forward too seeing, The Anson Museum and the Anderton Boat Lift. The first was excellent, the second a real disappointment.
The Anderton boat lift is a wonderful piece of Victorian engineering and nothing can detract from its splendour nor from the restoration that's been done on it.
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big downside is that the viewing public aren't allowed within about 30 yards of the thing. That left me peering over the handrails at all sorts of angles trying to see any detail of how it worked and was put together. The more I looked, the more I wanted to see but couldn't. The visitor centre is a wonderful building with many displays and an excellent cafeteria. However, it's too much to expect that sort of facility to go into the level of detail I wanted to see. I spent a few hours there getting more and more frustrated and annoyed at not being able to see any detail whatsoever. I finally left feeling very disappointed and let down. If anyone is thinking of seeing the boat lift, don't bother paying, you can see as much from the canal towpath as from the visitor area and don't expect a lot.
The Anson was completely different. Geoff was welcoming and very hospitable. The museum is fascinating and filled with stuff I'd never seen or sometimes heard of before. The atmospheric engines are particularly amazing. I was even allowed to get my fingers on things and dirty. The only downside is that it's only open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays. If anyone's in that area, try to make time to see it.
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One other place that we visited was the secret nuclear bunker at Hack Green.
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is a relic of the cold war so is quite recent. It's a brilliant display of cold war technology from both sides of the iron curtain. I got lost in there for quite a few hours while the rest of the family abandoned me as a lost cause. I always thought nukes were quite big. They're not, they're quite small actually. The bunker is not well publicised but well worth a visit. If anyone does go there, make sure you see the cinema inside the bunker. They run a BBC film from the
60's that's chilling. It's almost worth going for that alone.
John