Back on the good old Trent and Mersey.

We stayed where we were for the weekend. There was quite a bit of traffic coming and going so we thought we’d keep out of the way. Just chilled really. The weather was warm enough to sit out, and Meg and I had a couple of good walks.
Walking around here, you’re never very far from the River Weaver.

It’s just down on the left.
There it is…
A better panorama from the mooring, with the sun out and behind the lens.
We were away fairly early today, around 09:00. The last couple of days have started out cool but sunny after frost, but today was cool and misty.

Off we go…
We had to wait behind one boat at Stanthorne Lock, but that was the only delay we had today. We wouldn’t have needed to do that if I hadn’t let him past. He pulled off the mooring just behind us, and was riding our stern, obviously in a hurry. So I waved him through.

Down to Wardle Lock at the junction and a boat was just leaving as we arrived, so we dropped down, back onto the Trent and Mersey. Mags executed a faultless right hander, and into Kings Lock which I’d set ready.

Back on the T and M, Kings Lock.
It was plain sailing from here, all but one of the locks set in our favour with boats heading in the opposite direction. It’s not as busy as I thought it would be, though.

What a poser! Me on the tiller, taken by Mags.
Out of Middlewich, near Elton Moss, brine extraction over the years has resulted in a lot of subsidence. The banks of the canal have repeatedly been built up to keep the water in.

The different layers of concrete are clearly visible in places.

You’d expect the canal to be deep here, but it’s actually very shallow, making negotiating some of the sharp turns a bit of a struggle.

There’s a very upmarket duck house at the bottom of a garden in Wheelock.

Not sure about the neighbours, though. Swans can be pretty territorial at this time of year!Read James and Amy about the Mr Asbo, the swan near Cambridge.

We stopped on the water point at Wheelock, filled and emptied as required, then moved 100 yards along to moor on the visitor mooring. I’ve got to visit the pet food superstore in the morning to get the dog food I forgot to order from Tesco.

The day finally brightened, and it’s warm and sunny now. Still a bit of a breeze, though, making it cooler than the last couple of days.

I think Vodaphone have been doing some work on extending their coverage. I’ve been able to get a 3G internet connection every night since we left the Shroppie last week. I don’t remember being able to do that before!

Mags is mad for ABBA, (it’s cool now, apparently) and there was 4 hours of documentary and a film on C5 last night. So we recorded it. The DVD player/recorder we have is not very energy efficient, and we had low batteries this morning. I’ll have to run the engine so she can watch the playback!

Locks 7, miles 9