Into Audlem for a few days.... we thought.

We left our mooring at Church Minshull this morning as very kindly George had invited us for one of his famous barbie's.  We needed water at Barbridge too.  

A couple more shots at autumn colours Marilyn but as I said the leaves are late turning this year.

On occasions near-ish to us are some famous gardens with many trees.  If the growing year has been kind then we traditionally we go for a visit on our wedding anniversary on the 14th November, but if there have been gales we don't bother as the trees are bare.  We'll see what this year brings, it's our 40th this year Reader, had to believe I know but yes I am old enough.

These were ruby red but the early morning sun has drained them of colour a bit.

General views of the fabulous countryside hereabouts, maybe Staffordshire maybe Cheshire.

Only two locks to do on the Middlewich Arm for us today, here is David bringing WaL along.  I'm liking the light making the canal silver here.

On his phone I bet.

Yep phone in hand...

These cows had wet feet, but liked it.

Tiny patch of yellowing leaves, bit blurred, sorry.

This is a mooring maintained by the Shropshire Union Fan Club, the volunteer at the next lock told me it's very popular in the summer.  Clearly not for me with all those trees not much good for solar either but I'm glad their hard work is appreciated by boaters.

We got to Barbridge and moored up.  Two lots of signs telling boaters to only moor for the services..... But no services!  The water has gone, the rubbish bins too.  

Why leave the signs???

A kind dog walking boater told us where the next one is, 

"You'll have to wait though"  and we did.

The reservoir at Hurleston Locks, the locks are around the bend where you go onto the Llangollen Canal and Wales.

Nantwich Aqueduct

These look like redcurrants, event the leaves are similar.

 

So quite a long day (For us) to get down to Audlem, the sun was shining but the wind was straight into our face, I felt quite wind burned on arrival.

We bagged a mooring below all the locks here, actually we felt the best mooring in the area as we looked out onto the Weaver Valley and the mini lake just below us.  It was a 15 minute walk into town, quick showers and change then off to The Shroppie Fly pub to meet George who had driven in to pick us up.

Well recently George and Carol had found their dream house after many years of living aboard firstly a narrow boat then a wide beam.  This house has uninterrupted views over farmland and the garden faces west for sunsets.  Its absolutely gorgeous and if they sell ever (They won't) I'd like first refusal please. 

Grumpy looking David outside their fantastic summerhouse in which we ate the most delicious food.  Oh and George's tongs.

Yeah I want one of these.

Our mooring view over the valley, out of shot were many birds on the lake.

So tomorrow I'll have to post the photos I took of us all as they are on David's phone and he is out.

Thank you both so much for a fantastic evening.

Can we come again please? 

Supper with Pals.

I was quite excited today as we were to meet up with jolly chums, George and Carol.

Frequent Flyers to this blog will remember that two years ago in July 2019 that we entered into a "Swap".  Pretty unusual arrangement in the boating world but we did it after consulting our respective insurance companies.  At the time David and I enjoyed a month on the river Thames in their wonderful widebeam WB Still Rockin'  HERE   it was the most wonderful experience in the hot sunshine that we enjoyed, sadly C&G had dreadful weather but if you haven't already you can look and laugh at the rain they endured....   HERE ,  I mean its pouring this weekend so what else is there to do?

Well David went off to do a recce of the moorings further up the canal at the intended place, Church Minshull.

He returned and said you won't like it there, nice armco moorings but its in a deep-ish cutting.  He knows me well, I hate cuttings, I'm not keen on being under trees and I loath cuttings with trees.

So we stayed put in the lovely open and moved WaL up much later in the afternoon. 

We left the lovely moorings and pootled off I guess about 4pm and set sail for Church Minshull and the pub.  To be brutally honest Reader, I can't remember exactly in what sequence these photos and day they run, but let's just say that here are some pictures of the scenery on the lovely Middlewich Arm, next time we take this route we'll be sure to stay much longer on it.

So Carol and George arrived at WaL on the moorings in the cutting to meet us.  They had parked down in the pub cark park and walked up the hill.  A bigger hill than you might expect seeing as the countryside is almost flat.  It was "Rush Hour" in the village and as the road didn't have a pavement I walked in the face of the oncoming traffic as I had white jeans on, a little scary as there was a thick hedge, so if a vehicle did get too close there is no verge to jump on.  There evidently is another path way over fields down to the village further on the canal, I think we'll give that one a go next time.

Supper was lovely, really lovely, very attentive to Covid rules such as they are now which suited us just fine.

Sorry to say no photos, which was silly of me but kindly that nice George fella drove us back up the hill in his new Babe Magnet.

George also invited us to their new house close to Audlem tomorrow to have a Barbie Queue.  

George is a Supremo at this lark, Geoff and Margaret reminded us that George has Barbie Queued in the snow.

Oh I just found these two.  NB Panacea crossed the Wash with us.

We had a giggle about this farm, a nice looking bungalow has been built but right next to a barn, smells and flies come to mind, but worse still, that large green container to the left of the barn is a slurry store, slurry is a nicer word than....  I reckon the farmer that built that bungalow there has a good chance of being single, either now or in the near future.  

 

 

Queens knees and chicken.

In the morning, bright and early, fairly early, we departed.  Last thing before leaving was to walk the few yards to the  water point and fill two saucepans, the kettle and our five litre mini Gerry can.  We weren't desperate for water yet but wanted to spend a day or two on the lovely Middlewich Arm.  The next water point is at the other end of the Arm at Barbridge

A boat or three went past, we followed along.  Now Middlewich has a tiny look of a rundown town, post Covid a lot of towns do, but it looks tired.  So I was very pleasantly surprised to see some gorgeous properties along the canal here.  I felt I could retire to Middlewich...

On reaching the lock there was a boat waiting on the lock landing.  The helm of this waiting boat said he'd been waiting ages and there was a problem.

I went forward to help, it turned out to be slightly bad news in that an unseen object was blocking the bottom gate.  There was a boat in the lock unable to exit because the gates wouldn't fully open.  Lots of crews around and they had already refilled the lock and emptied the lock to try to WHOOSH the object out.  

Now this lock was the site of the major breach  HERE   go open that link to see the truly shocking photos and I was told that with the breach in mind that CART  have put stoppers on the bottom gate paddles to prevent them from being fully opened.  Now I don't know if that is true or not but the lock did empty quite slowly.  

If anyone does know the exact reason for stoppers on the gate paddles I would like to know.

When the lock did fully empty about four of us wiggled and waggled the gate and finally did manage to open it.  By this time a large queue had built up waiting to come down...

I couldn't help wondering if the object might relocate to the underside of the gate again.

three boats waiting...

Oh and a few more.

Now these following few photos are for Marilyn a boater who resides in Wellington NZ.  Ordinarily Marilyn and her David enjoy a nice NZ summer then later arrive in the UK for an English summer aboard NB Waka Huia    HERE         

So if you care to glance at her blog you will see spring blossom in flower looking magnificent, but mostly they have departed these shores before the autumn colours appear.

Marilyn, they colours are a bit late this year, hardly any yellowing of leaves that we have seen so far...

I wanted to capture the blue of the skies here.

These Elderberries looked wonderful in the sun, some of my favourite colours.

We moored up a short way on from the lock, with a wide tow path and a hedge behind as protection from the slight breeze.

Gorgeous, and a nice view.

A very relaxing afternoon was spent in the sparsely occupied moorings but then a boat arrived and pulled in, he moored up right in front of us.  I was a bit miffed as there was plenty of space and not much traffic.  But I suppose we have always moored up bumper to bumper in honey pot moorings in the height of the season so serve me right. 

I wish it was that warm today, I say that whilst blogging with a rug over my knees like the Queen has.

Supper was Chicken parmigiana with green veg and peach surprise.  I just love peaches and prefer them to strawberries.

A bun fight, short tempers then peace broke out.

 Sorry Reader to have left you in the lurch, I know you have all been waiting expectantly for the next installment, but I took a night off then one thing led to another and before you know it a week has passed by and I'm all behind like a dogs tail.

But moving on...

David had been out on one of his excursions by bike and called in at Sandbach Waitrose on his way back.. 

Its evidently not too far from Wheelock if you find yourself hereabouts.  He brought me lots of tasty treats I'm not sure if as a reward for Heartbreak Hill or a sweetner for Audlem locks coming soon..

Last night as I said we just jumped on the very first mooring in the rain and flopped, but had we have gone on past the popular moorings we would have moored fine away from all the moored boats.  

There is water here and a rubbish point too I believe and as we sailed past the water point I said shall we water up here?

No we'll do it in Middlewich where there is water too.

Okay on we went on miles of canal out into the countryside, past gardens which I was able to pass judgement on and houses too of course, then close to a railway line.

Just a few locks as we dropped down on the approach into Middlewich, we followed another boat who in turn followed a single hander so it was rather nice to chat as we waited the short time for each lock to turn.

Here's a converted mill if that takes your fancy, myself I fear it's almost ugly and I won't be making an offer.

Now how's this for a pleasant lawn with a canal at the bottom, myself I would have those willows down the day I moved in.

Well this is such a rare sight I thought I must post it.  It's a hedge that's been trimmed leaving a decent height to see over.  Fabulous.

Coming down into Middlewich, houses now where enormous piles of salt used to be heaped.

I was glad at least this pub still stands.  It looked to be a restaurant now, I can't be sure.

Gorgeous lock cottage, but whoever planted those Laylandii should be taken out and shot.

Great fun was had in Middlewich, firstly a hire boat pulled out in front of us, the lock was to have been ours as another boat had just exited it coming towards us.  Had we of gone into this lock it would have been the first lock in our favour in about 30 locks.

David was a bit cross, actually I was too, so in the windy conditions David hovered and eventually it was our turn.

Looking over the bridge here at Kings Lock it was a right bun fight.  Boats approaching the turn to the Middlewich Arm from the north, boats coming out of the lock wanting to turn onto the Arm from the south, boats not wanting to turn but just get past.  

To turn onto the arm you have to make a right angled turn under a bridge so you are completely unsighted, now then add to the mix, boats leaving the Middlewich Arm wanting to go either north or south onto the Trent and Mersey Canal (which we were currently on) but if a boat had already made the turn then there isn't really room to pass by the waiting boat, so the waiting boat might have to reverse back into the traffic from whence he came.  Stay with me Reader here for right on this junction, there is the waterpoint which we needed to fill up with.

Well there were boats everywhere, going in each direction and actually there weren't any punchups.

I chatted to a lady watching all this on the bridge, she was an ex-boater and I asked her if it was always like this?  

"Yes" she replied, "Its great watching it all!"

By complete fluke when we exited Kings Lock the water point which doubles as the lock landing for ascending boats was free.  David ran forward start filling with water our water tap attachment didn't fit the tap.  Now Reader, this little old attachment is years old, has been with us all over the system and at every other tap we have used it had fitted..... but not here.

By this time the sun was very warm, we had done well over the allowable union hours cruising.  I DEMANDED that we go  around the junction and take the first sunny mooring available as I wanted to relax in the sun.  

As it happened there was a sunny mooring just above Wardle Lock, which we were told by a man leaning over his hedge that it is the shortest canal on the system, Wardle Canal  HERE  is the shortest canal in the country even, from the bridge, the few yards to the 72' lock then a few yards more above the lock.  

Who knew?

We moored up, small argument about pins or rings, when you are 70ft the rings always seem to be in the wrong place.... in the end David did something very creative with ropes and dangles (fenders) and I found the sun by now a bit too hot to sit in.  So later much later when the mood was calm and loving again we walked around the corner to the Big Lock pub on the Trent and Mersey canal except it seemed to be three miles away.  Anyway as we got there and had the pub upstairs to ourselves, there was a hire boat on their first day, low level anxiety was palpable from the balcony where I was gongoozerling, so a narrow boater who was descending the lock stayed behind and gave a lesson in how to operate a double lock to the rank beginner and Reader I have to tell you she was a marvellous teacher and I wish I had met her years ago, she deserved a round of applause.  

Newby Hirer in pink, marvellous Locking Coach explaining all.

I'm quite liking my G&T in a cut glass glass here.

Well, we left the balcony and went to sit in the converted carpark which is now the sunny terrace.  Only intended to have a drink but ended up ordering food, to enjoy in the sun.

So supper ended up being a bucket load of nachos with all the trimmings plus olives.

We waddled back to WaL, got lost in the town and was helped by a local lady who took pity on us.

 

Sorry how many locks did you say....?

I was expecting the day to be wet.  The forecasts had said rain in the morning and then showers, the other forecast said showers in the morning then rain setting in...  I have a new book and I was happy to have a day off, BUT cracks of blue sky appeared, then bigger cracks then loads of blue and we set off just to see if we could do a few locks before the rain appeared.

I was peeling off layers after the first lock and by the second lock we both had our sunglasses on. We have been down this flight a good few years ago but we had three young crew visiting and we just shot down the whole lot in one day, so I haven't much recall of the beauty of the surrounding countryside.

But it's really lovely.

Slightly out of sequence, as you can see the lock below is full and prepped, this was the only one of the day that helped.

This was our first lock of the day, see why we quickly donned sunglasses?

Now we are on the Staffs and Cheshire border which is big dairy farming country.  So good to see black and whites for us, a sight which is becoming uncommon down in the south of England.

I asked David if his heart missed a beat and would he of liked to have hopped over the fence to help the farmer get the cows in for milking for old times sake?

NO.

So that's okay then.

So Reader, you might recognise the photo below as Mow Cop.  Its accessible by foot from the Macclesfield Canal and we did just that some years ago but although I've searched I cannot locate the blog post to show you the photos from the top of the amazing views.

(It's called Mop Cop in our house but my SIL always corrects us.)

The views of the surrounding area from the top are spectacular.  

This was a "Turnover bridge" that is to say to my Reader in Brazil, when the towpath crosses from one side to the other and  the horse pulling the boat by rope could cross the bridge and not have to unclip the rope. 

Very very clever and the bridges are things of beauty.   But they are hard to photograph.

One half of the Turnover bridge

David was trying hard to avoid me curling up on the lock beam and going to sleep again so he jumped off and did some donkey work.

When I was down one lock I noticed these marks, I presume left by the stonemason, but I have seen similar on the door entrance at Tewkesbury Abbey and also on a house in Lecce South Italy in a house used by the Knights Templar.   

Well as you can see the sun still shone and I had wanted to stop here in Rode Heath, the moorings were full with no signs of anyone out and looking like they were thinking of moving.

So we carried on down towards Hassel Green, full moorings and so onto Wheelock. 

Rode Heath was full so on we went.

I might just like to say that I managed to get WaL into that lock below at the funny angle without any bangs or scrapes.  Not bad for a Rookie methinks.

  

Well sadly,  the clouds did arrive later in the day and the last few locks were done in a stiff breeze and steady rain.  Pity, but I was pretty shattered I have to say.  We had done 20 odd locks and bar one we had had to turn each one not meeting any other boats bar that one.

We exited the last lock at Wheelock and dived onto the first available mooring which was in front of the lock landing.  The creaks all evening from the lock being emptied each time were pretty noisy, anyway,  wet kit off and hung up in the bathroom, I was cold, laid down on the sofa under a blanket and promptly fell asleep,  David said it was an hour I say much less more like 50 minutes.

Too sleepy to go to the Italian here.  Supper was avocados with poached eggs on toast and tomatoes.