The Anderton Boat Lift. The workings 

Here is the link to future engineering to learn about the Boat lift canalrivertrust.org.uk/things-to-do/museums-and-attractions/anderton-boat-lift-and-visitor-centre-cheshire/anderton-boat-lift-engineering-the-future-project

At the age of about 13 - 14 in 1967/8 I was a total canal-nut, thanks to a brilliant history teacher I had at school who taught us about the industrial revolution. So me and a couple of mates would cycle from Ellesmere Port on Wirral to Northwich to explore the Anderton lift. We did this several times (it was only 70 miles round trip) and on one occasion we got caught by the bloke in charge. But instead of chasing us off, he saw we were really interested in the lift, so he took us up to that cabin and showed us the control room and then he took us up onto the top bit where the gears are. It was very run-down back then and sadly no boats came through when we were there, the traffic had all but dried up by the late 60's. But those gears were covered in thick black grease and the whole thong had this wonderful mechanical smell. It was also very industrial, the factory on the other side of the river was much bigger then. As I've mentioned before, we also used to cycle to the pontcysyllte aqueduct on the Llangollen canal - but that was only around 60 mile return. Free range we were :)

Nice one, made my day, i saw Fred Dibnah's old Land Rover today in Farnworth, beautiful restored vehicle. 👍

Hat tip to you for always going up for us when you struggle with heights. Another hat tip to the crew for understanding and not making it worse. I'm not petrified of heights, but I do have to work up to do them, and my pals always make it worse with the shaking of the structure or acting like they're pushing me off 😂Oddly, I never had issue jumping out of aircraft in the military 🤔

Really loved this video. I struggle with heights. What is weird some days I am fine and then suddenly I can’t even cope with being a few feet off the ground. Great history All the best Alex.

What a piece of engineering that was, bonus of a steam gala. Much better than TV. Thanks for posting. Pete& Lorraine

My great great grandpa owned a fleet of steam lorries so I'm always excited to see them.

Great video. Really liked the photo of the gent operating the machinery dressed with tie and polished shoes. Here in Australia in the late 1800’s they built telegraph stations to send messages from Australia to Europe and other places. These stations were remote and I mean remote (😊look up Eyre in west Australia) I’ve seen photos of the workers dressed in suits with ties. Different time and places.

I had no idea steam lorries were a thing! I just assumed lorries sort of came about with the advent of internal combustion engines. So cool.

Thank you for this day’s video. Always interesting to watch and hear. Been under the weather for the past weekend. But there is no time limit on the viewing. Will watch them as long physically possible, Martin. See you and crew on the next. Cheers Martin. 🇬🇧🙂👍🇺🇸

Brilliant boys. Martin your only short of a flat cap and your full on Fred dibnah ! 👍

I can smell the coal and steam, almost. More please 🙏

I remember in 1979 going on a school trip on the lift, and it making some scary noises. When it became abandoned we used to jump off it into the river as teens,and ride the water sluce that runs off the canal on a rubber ring.

Cracking vid, and bloody hell Mart, I couldn't have gone up there, glad you did to show us all. How impressive to see all the workings etc

Very interesting! I liked James' comment that people were really proud of their work back in the old days.

Great video and great structure. I went down it in about 1967 on a round trip from Runcorn town centre/Bridgewater canal/Trent and Mersey Canal Anderton Boat Lift/ Weaver Navigation to Western Point Docks. Then a walk back to Runcorn.

Great video and a wonderful piece of engineering that should be preserved for the future and looks like it will. 👍

Great video Martin, thank you to everybody in involved.

Fantastic. Weren't you so lucky to get such a tour. I am most envious. Lovely always to see your James. Cheers and keep up the grand work.

Love the Anderton Boat lift. Not jealous at all that you got to go up top.... 😁 well timed visit with the steam heritage day.

The gears on the lift are known as herringbone gears. Citroen adopted this type of gear back in the early 20th century, hence the way the Citroen logo looks the way it does today. Regarding salt mining in Cheshire; the "wich" in such places as Nantwich, Middlewich, etc. indicates that it was/is a salt mining town. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky mentions this point, amongst many other interesting points, of a commodity we take for granted. A cracking book that is well worth a read.

Great insight into the lift and how it works. Thanks, Martin and the crew 👍

How unique is that lift! Would love to see it. I see you are wearing a Thunderbirds shirt! Brings back memories from my childhood watching that show on CBC. Great video. 👍

My earliest memory was of the Anderton Boat Lift. I remember being on my Dads shoulders and seeing a very unloved structure with various parts laid out on an embankment. Mid 1986 at the latest.

Thanks for this presentation, Martin. A most unique type of structure anywhere to be seen in the world! It's great that it got saved rather than going into ruin. You did have some nerve to got to the top where all the old machinery is situated. I'd have to have some courage, too! You picked a very good day weatherwise, and nice to see all the old traction engines there. Once again, cheers Martin (not forgetting James & Roy, also).

Hello Martin and Team. Thank you so much for the vlog on the Anderton Boat Lift. I admire your courage Martin for ascending to great heights; I used to be okay with heights but those days are over; cage walks spook me completely nowadays. Pete Glyde

A very nice followup video on the Anderton Boat Lift. The massive gear works is amazing. I worked once in a shipyard in Philadelphia and Mmsured the curvature of the Gantry Crane at Akers Shipyard with a theodolite. I waved to kiddoes as they passed by on airplanes that were landing at the Philadelphia airport. That crane was over a 60 foot dry dock that was part of the fall if you fell. Unlike the boat lift this crane has no safety railings (The British are famous for "Health and Safety). It gives you an appreciation of being at heights. The camerawork was excellent as ever and the shots at the top were superb. I enjoy structures like this thanks!

I was well pleased to go down and back up the lift in1980 on 70ft narrowboat Sycamore when twelve of us did a cruise of the Cheshire Ring and the Caldon Canal. Especially because it closed, seemingly forever, soon afterwards. It worked on the pully system then.

Another great video Martin 👍 the boat lift is an incredible structure. The Victorians knew how to create masterpieces of engineering.

Nice video and the knobbly knees contest at the end was a nice twist to an engineering video.

Wow wow wow Martin. What a fabulous video. So well presented and explained. Thank you for telling us all about this masterpiece of invention.

Any sign of James making a RU-vid channel. Brew review with James an instant hit.

This lift and the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland are engineering marvels. Amazing what the engineers of the steam age could accomplish. Thanks for the video, Martin.

Awesome. My pics of it when it was in hiatus in 1989-ish have never been scanned so I should perhaps do that. All the gear wheels from the top were lined up on the ground and quite a lot of it was accessible, so we did. No access to the control room though so it was great to see that. Nice one Martin Roy and James.

Better late than never ... watching your video. It just beats me how these forefathers of engineering thought up these ideas. Absolutely incredible the cog system, like a massive interior of a clock. As always, brilliant to watch. Thanks for making and sharing x😊

Wish we had something like this on the canal system here in the states Some surviving locks but that’s just for tourist and not pleasure or trade. Great video as always

Great day out there, been a couple of times. Same as Elsemere port museum, lovely staff and very interesting. 😊

Wonderful. --- You could easily branch out to steam powered stuff. Ships, pumping engines, etc. 👍

Great video, loved the story telling. I am with you on the heights thing! Thank you all.

Well Well that's definitely a awesome visit 😀, truly amazing Martin mate 👍,

I really like this sort of engineering marvels from past times. Thanks for showing this one - even though I knew it already from a different RU-vidr, who drove his boat through. That was more a "users look" on the thing rather than a historical / technical point of view. 🙂

Excellent! The lift, the gears, the steamboats. Good crowd there - nice to see people appreciating History! Cheers from New York.

Fantastic - what a structure...! All those gears out in the weather need looking after....

Great video martin, good to see the boys up and about. . Best regards from Chicago..

Awesome! love the steam, canal and history!

What a fabulous video. Love the old stuff, history is wonderful. Hope it never stops going. Congratulations on climbing up there I would not have got one foot off the floor. My heart was in my mouth when you started climbing. Thanks for taking me along. Please take care

Well done for getting up there. I'm also not good with heights, so appreciate it, but you brought us another great video 👍

Thought this was the rotating one at first, wasn’t even aware of this one!

Great video Martin. I remember riding my bike around there in the 80s and seeing all those gears and cog wheels laid out in a field below the lift. Extraordinary sight. Awesome structure, and Northwich - where I lived at the time - has a fascinating history. Many thanks.

Fascinating day out Martin, thank you.

Thanks you for nice video see you next time

Best Video Ever from you. Short and concise full of facts x.

Perfect timing I just made a pot of Coffee... Time to watch.....

Thank u for a really interesting video … loved seeing those gears at the top ❤

Great tour - been up there myself as its my place of work. Very interesting.

Hi Martin, I spent today at the National coal museum, you get your go down 140m into the mines, see all the machinery, water works, pulley systems etc. a fantastic place to visit, give it a go 👍

Really interesting, great video well presented and researched. Well done guys. These videos capture so much of the industrial history of our forefathers. Brilliant.

No, No, No my little guys were pulling in tightttttt when you were up a height, more so on the mesh flooring. In my early working years i was in a woolen mill where the carding machines were started by a transformer thing. Turn it on, the carding engine started slowly then needed the handle to be moved to increase the speed until the cards were at full speed. It was scary, the creaking/groaning as this monster came into life 😮 I think that transformer/speed regulator was like in a loco cab. Cheers DougT

Eagerly awaiting a new adventure Martin and team. Hope all is well in Zeroland. 💖🙏💖

I'd forgotten that they have salt mines in Cheshire, from that point of view it's England's Siberia. Also, epic tee shirt by the way.

Thanks Martin, another great video, on a smaller scale you should come to Liverpool and find out what happened to the raising railway bridge that once crossed the dock road to feed the high level dock railway , a hint of the foundation is left not far from the new stadium they're building. Keep up the great work 👍

I had the opportunity to briefly operate a steam powered train locomotive in Cuba that had been converted to burn fuel oil . About 1/8 mile back and forth on the track was more than enough for me . The heat was unbelievable . I couldn't imagine operation a steam powered lorry ( truck ) all day in the summer .

Fantastic as always!!! Instead of Where’s Waldo? How’s about, Where’s James.

When I was at college in the 70's part of my photographic tuition involved a trip here including the control room. There was a guest book at that time (which I signed) and on the same page were Roger Moore and Michael Aspel.

Hi Martin and guys, I simply love these old works of art. I used to wait a RU-vidr who had a conal boat that had a video on the Anderton Boat lift. Was Fred Bibnah Jr. at the steam show ? I hope that they can save the gears system at the top, such a beautiful system. Thanks for the video and information about this work of art.

I remember going on the Anderton boat lift on a school trip back in 1980, before it was moth-balled. What a day out that was. Our school PE teacher had just passed his test to drive coaches. We had a really old coach bought by raising money from various school fundraisers. Drove to near Northwich from Hyde and went on a narrow boat onto the lift. Like Martin I'm scared of heights but the experience was thrilling and one I'll never forget.

7:20 I use to work on a Speedway funfair ride, we had the exact same control for the speed of the ride, lol!

Very interesting thanks, and a short video about the Daniel Adamson would be good .

André Citroën was the guy who designed the double helical gear (teeth) u see on the gear wheels, and that is where the logo u see on the badge of Citroen Cars 👍

This was amazing, Martin, Roy and James, thank you! When I worked for Severn Trent Water, one of my coworkers bought and restored a traction engine.

very interesting video as usual ❤ an incredible structure

Visited the Anderton boat lift twice but during the period it was out of use. First time was with my local industrial archaeology group (coach trip) and second time was during a narrowboat holiday when we saw it from the Trent and Mersey canal. On both visits the huge counterbalance weights were still in situ.

Mind boggling piece of engineering. Hopefully the repainting and control system upgrade will keep it working for many years to come. Thank you for a very interesting video.

I'd so love to do that! What a feat of engineering and it's been going all these years. And all those other steam engines too. Loved the high tech swan remover! This was a terrific video and thanks for taking us along! Big, big shout out for the Canals and River Trust for restoring this and for all the other terrific work they do to keep our waterways usable.

Ive seen that Tarmac truck last year at the Malpas yesteryear steam show awesome machine! Much much more to see there. Wall Of death i cannot recommend more highly, paid three times to see it in one day. Two day event. September. Might be worth a look Martin for a poss video..?

Fantastic Video I Enjoyed it😊

As. Ever great video ...xxx

Awesome bit of history. Thanks for sharing.

Fantastic!

Another Great video. You need to get down to Norfolk and make a video of the ex fenland pumping engines I've saved over the last 40 years 👍

Fantastic Martin 😊🚂🚂🚂

Martin..your going to have to climb the steps in the monument in London...take a couple of extra skids with you.

Awesome

Very interesting xx

Fantastic

Love that sort of thing Martin, absolute quality!

Martin, you are so blessed to be surrounded by so much history. It is so varied, complex and dynamic to say the least. It's impressive how the Boat Lift, and other industrial revolution infrastructures were built "With Out" computers. Would be nice if we had the backstories of the workers at 8:37 they are lost to time but what they built lives on.

That is an awesome piece of industrial engineering and architecture, love it. I did however have one random thought whilst watching. As all the lifting gears at the top are now defunct and disconnected, if someone where to attach and electric motor to the main input shaft, would they still all turn? now that would be something to see.

Hi Martin, Well done for going right to the top, you know I thought you were happy at heights, but that walkway allows you to see right down. Amazing machinery At the top. All in all a marvel of Victorian engineering (or was it Edwardian?). Thanks too to the lady who explained the history and working. Perfect timing with all the steam motive power on display. A great day out. All the best!!

great video. i had a great view of the lift when i worked at that ugly Brunner Mond chemical plant you can see in the background, i think it wasnt in service the whole time i worked there. its great to see it up close and in full working order, Thanks for the infomative video Martin and gang. did i recognise Craig Hughes from Salvage Hunters with you ?. great video yet again.

wow those gears what a marvel...

5 mins from house. Wish I had known you were down there

I see you met a fellow old Flixtonian on top, Craig Hughes. You may recognise him from doing upholstery for Drew Pritchard on salvage hunter

What an amazing structure that is Martin. All that iron 😍 Those gears at the top reminded me of Lego. Chipping steam fair next week 💪🏼

This is very impressive and very much a Victorian wonder, but strangely enough in my 1892 copy of "Achievements in Engineering" by L F Vernon-Harcourt (that I picked up at a book sale), it rates just a sentence in a book where V-H typically rates British (and 'Colonial') engineering rather highly. Vernon-Harcourt instead gives us a detailed description (and photo) of the similar but larger 1888 lift at La Louviere in Belgium, possibly because its even more spectacular (and apparently the first of five projected for the canal it was on)?.

Thanks :)

The heat inside the tractor during a hot day would be one thing, but at 13:19 you can see there's an unguarded flywheel right next to the operator!

Hi Martin, do I get extra nerd points for knowing that the chevron teeth on all those gears were invented and patented by Andre Citroen, before he went on to found the motor company that bears his name, its possible that he may even have made the castings too. Thats why the citroen badge looks the way it does.

@Martin ... Thanks for the upload, to quote another U-Tuber, that was "Frickin, sweet, awesome! !! To actually get on top and see all the workings is amazing.

Nice little different video there martin , james and roy loved the old steam trucks as well