A couple of hazards to contend with.

Had a great evening with Christine, Kev and boys and a really good meal at the Dog and Doublet. After the meal Kev and Josh decided to go fishing and I was most put out that both of them caught bigger fish than me.

Having left after 9pm we soon departed for bed as we fully expected to get away early. Well, we may just as well have stayed up late because storm Katie arrived with a vengeance   carrying on well into the morning  so gone was any idea of leaving by 7am. When we did decide to brave it the rain had stopped and we were almost ready to untie when a boat beat us to it, taking the empty lock which we had planned for ourselves. Hey ho such is life so we had another cup of tea to let him get well ahead.

Between lock 7 and 6 Ian who was walking on, stopped dead. Being a fair way behind I wondered what he was doing until he pointed to one of Katie's casualties. A tree down right across the towpath and almost onto the lock landing. With no way for Ian to get by, I battled with the wind to pick him up and then battled with the wind to drop him off again once beyond the hazard. Didn't help that a boat was moored on the landing almost in the middle either!

Better photo of it looking back. Just missed the landing.

Then by the C&RT yard, one of the work boats had got loose and was blocking the exit from the lock. Ian was all set to grab ropes to secure it when C&RT turned up. Apparently the bollard had pulled away from the bank no doubt due to the wind blowing directly onto the side of the boat, yet another casualty of storm Katie. Having reported the tree blocking the towpath we left them trying to secure the boat with metal stakes. Not sure they will be good enough to do the job.

Having stopped at Minworth to do an Asda shop we pulled pins wanting to get to Salford junction. Here we took the second exit to head for the city.

We wanted to stop at a secure mooring at Cuckoo Wharf and was slightly dismayed to find them now residential. Even the facilities mooring had a residential boat moored on it. Deciding to stop anyway at least to empty the loo, I hailed a chap doing work on his boat and asked about staying the night. With it being Easter Monday and the mooring officer away at the moment, he could see no reason why we shouldn't stay. So here we stay until the morning safe in the knowledge that no one will bother us and with a water tap right by FS.

Cuckoo Wharf

 And a couple of photos to make one cringe

Another trip hazard!