ANDERTON Boat Lift is celebrating its top ranking in the Visit England’s national visitor attraction survey.

The much-loved Northwich heritage attraction was listed as 20th among the most popular free visitor attractions in the north west.

Built by Edwin Clark in 1875 to lift cargo boats 50 feet from the River Weaver to the Trent & Mersey Canal, the Anderton Boat Lift is now a significant attraction of historical and engineering interest and draws visitors from all over UK and around the globe.

The sheer scale of this engineering feat has to be seen, with two incredibly large water tanks, each with watertight sealable doors carrying boats up and down.

Celebrating 140 years of service and fully operational since its restoration in 2002, Anderton Boat Lift retains its working lift, and now includes a free exhibition with interactive displays, coffee shop and play area for the children.

Visitors can hear about the origins of the lift from one of the expert guides and relax on one of Anderton’s special canal boat trips, or take the ‘Top of the World’ tour that includes a guided walk out on to the lift along the aqueduct, taking in the previously unseen control room and machine deck.

The team at Anderton Boat Lift continue to support the ongoing restoration of the site and have recently refurbished two toll houses at the site, allowing visitors to step back in time and experience what it was like to book a boat passage a hundred years ago.

The £90,000 restoration project has been carried out by the Canal & River Trust, the charity which cares for the lift and the nation’s 2,000 miles of historic canals, and was jointly funded by public donations to the Trust and the Saltscape Partnership, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Trust plans to furnish the two tiny buildings as they would have appeared early last century and staff are appealing for the public’s help to send in old photos of the toll house and boat lift, and any memories or stories about the lift.

The public will be offered a first sight of the newly-restored buildings on heritage open day, Saturday, September 12 when they can enjoy free entry to Anderton Boat Lift visitor centre and other heritage buildings across the country.