National Boat Museum - Ellesmere Port     We travelled to the end of the Trent & Mersey canal to visit the National Boat Museum, it was well worth it and we spent over 7 hours going round all the exhibits. We also got to moor in the museum which was rather special. However, we did not get away with offering boat trips for a tenner!           This is us moored outside the visitors centre across from a steam tug.   These are the restored Telford warehouses.             These are colourful working boats from the 1870's the ones with the long tillers are butties pulled by powered narrowboats to form a working pair.   This is the painted stern of Gifford one of the oldest narrowboats in the museum.             This is the museum building that covers boat building and life aboard for the working families.   This is the lower basin of the museum entered from the Manchester Ship Canal. They hold the boat festivals here.             These are very old Box Boats, sinking but still interesting! They are entirely made of wood.   They put out some old street games and I tried my hand at an iron hoop. It is much harder than you think.             These were the very first narrow boats, called starvationers for obvious reasons. They brought coal out of Brindley's coal mines in Manchester the model is a life size representation of a small boy lying on top of the boat as it is pulled through the tunnels from the coalface.   This is 'Friendship' the boat belonged to Rose Skinner one of the last Number 1's (owner / operators) who retired in her late 60's and went on living on the boat until she died in her 80's               This is the Manchester Ship Canal which is HUGE. Glad we did not decide to go up it.