Thoroughly enjoyed our BBQ last night. Sitting in the shade overlooking the valley below made us realise just how lucky we are to have this lifestyle. Cant think of a better way to spend every day.
The bottle of red wine was all mine, Ian being a real ale man, and I'm ashamed to admit I drunk the lot! No wonder then that I woke with a headache this morning. With me now wide awake and Jade wanting to go out, I left Ian in bed, dressed and went for a very early walk. Like 6am early walk! By the time I returned Ian was up, made tea, had tiller on, taken ariel down and cleared away the BBQ. So with all this as a hint, we departed for Bosley bottom lock by 6.45am. I bet the neighbours loved us starting our engine at that time! Thankfully with the hospital silencer and loads of soundproofing FS is relatively quiet.
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| Early start to Bosley bottom lock. |
With the exception of the first lock all were against us. We reached Lock 9 and here our luck changed.
A procession of boats were coming down the flight so it was us up and them down until the very top. Here we stopped for water and loo emptying and I could even have used their washing machine if I so wished. Didnt fancy staying for a couple of hours while the washing went on and anyway I have a machine on board FS, but it's nice to think the option is there.
After making our way through row upon row of moored boats, encountering two boats coming at us right by a bridge ole, which made all concerned sit up and take notice, (hard reverse in panic mode) we came across the first of 2 swing bridges. The first was hydraulically operated by the BW key. A boat was already waiting to come through and the lady of the boat was baffelled as how to operate it. So Ian to the rescue and after closing the barriers, holding up numourous cars probably all trying to get ot work, he opened the bridge allowing the other boat and myself to go through.
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| Royal Oak swing bridge |
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| Relieved motorists |
At Maccelsfield we were dismayed to see the visitor moorings almost non existent. Jaq from
Nb Valerie had left a comment to say how difficult it was to get moored for Tesco and Jaq was not wrong. We could harly get in and two of the rings were missing. We stuck out by several feet but, as this was only a short stay, we secured FS the best we could and high tailed it to Tesco. The mooring stated 24 hours only and there were signs up saying no engines to be run in that period. Seems that boaters are not welcome in Maccelsfield! Anyway, arriving back by 1pm, another boater was hovering with the hope of finding somewhere to moor. We told him we were just leaving, so Ian got us going in double quick time to allow the chap to take our place.
Heading for a more rural setting to moor, the canal got shallower and shallower. So much so that in places we almost came to a standstill. This next photo shows how much erosion had occurred due to boaters creating a wash. No wonder the Macc is getting shallower. All the soil from the fields are being washed into the middle.
We found a convenient spot to stop before Bollington. The wind has picked up and the gust are really quite strong. Its the Marple flight tomorrow but, with only 8 miles to do, I'm hoping for a bit of a lie in.
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| One of Maccs turnover bridges |
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| Good vantage point until we arrived |
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| Frightened this poor sheep. Must have wondered what awful beast was coming to get it. |
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| Very unusual to see two together. |
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| And another Heron by our mooring. |
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