Back to Nantwich

Had a day watching boats go by yesterday. Mostly hire boats, with the odd “privateer” thrown in for good measure. It was fine and dry in the morning, but turned showery later.

This stretch of towpath is part of the Weaver Way, roughly following the Weaver Valley from Audlem to Frodsham. Along the way are interpretation boards, discussing the local area.
The one at Baddington Bridge talks about freshwater mussels that are found in the canal.

Apparently there are 2 types, the painters mussel, and the endangered depressed river mussel. I supposed I’d be depressed if I was an endangered species, too. I wonder what it was called when it was prolific? Elated river mussel? Manic river mussel?

Seriously, the name derives from the flattened shape of the shell, not it’s psychological condition.

We had the day boat out of Nantwich Marina arrive at the locks at 09:30 today. It turned around and moored on the lock landing, then the crew set off up the flight on foot. Odd behaviour which was explained when Meg and I caught up with them. They (Mike, Yvonne and Roamer the dog) had been asked to fetch a broken-down boat from above the locks. It was only a small one, so they’d borrowed the day boat for the job. We had a good long chat about boats, canals and watery things generally, before they set off back to Nantwich.

Mike, Yvonne and Roamer.
Off back to Nantwich
We followed on, about an hour later.

Although the day started grey with a few light flurries of snow, it soon cleared and this afternoon was sunny and warm if you could keep out of the wind.
It was so clear this evening that Mow Cop, 13½ miles away to the east, was visible.

Locks 0 miles 2¾