Moving swiftly on - we had a couple of days on our own when our last guest departed... a couple of days of hit and miss weather but we still managed to get laundry washed and dried (mainly out side using the whirlie gig - it's a glamorous life) before re-stocking the boat in readiness for our new- comers - Shopping in Nantwich is ok but it's a LONG walk back to the boat with heavy bags... SO long in fact, on our third trip we borrowed a friends "Shollie"...
Clearly pulling said thing along was designated a "light blue" job lol.
Whilst in Nantwich, we spent an evening with our friends Eddie and Wendy on their boat playing "Game of life" (that I'd picked up in a charity shop in Whitchurch... having never played if before it was good fun and certainly easier to do than rummikub - especially once the wine consumption increased.
After a boozy night with them - actually, scratch that... after ANDY'S boozy night, the next day was a more somber affair involving preparing the boat for our new guests and getting ready to depart.
Their arrival was a little later than expected - them having driven from Somerset, but once introductions (and a glass of fizz) had been done, we chugged off in the sunshine on our journey towards Stretord.
It tuns out, they're ex boaters (retired now) so it was going to be easy explaining boaty toilets and water usage etc.
New ground (well water) for us again as we turned on to the Middlewhich Branch...
It's also where we spotted our first swans/signets of this season... Swans have been conspicuous by their absence for a few weeks now around here... don't know why.
We also went over the site of last years major breach - it's hard to bevel what was here before...
At Kings Lock I nipped into the chandlers to buy an oil filter - at over 15 quid, I won't be getting another from them... 'will stick to Calcutt boats cause even with delivery it's cheaper!
We moored over night at Lion Salt Works but just before we did, a voiced hailed from behind a good looking boat (it was being polished at the time) "Hi - I read your blog... Barbara" - I apologised again for rubbish I write here but it was nice to say hello and put a face to the name.
Yesterday morning, we chugged on and got to Anderton about an earlier than our booked slot... tying up on the waiting area, I spotted (in the rain) another boat we recognized ... a couple we'd met last year in Saltaire. I still can't remember their names ... they'd just been on the Ribble link and stopped mid stream for a brief chat about their adventures...
Just as they were departing, I turned around to see a woman I recognized - this time from our journey up the Huddersfield Narrow canal at Slaithwaite ... she'd stopped and chatted then in the rain too. Once again I can't for the life of me remember her name... she was with her husband and scoping out the lift for things to do with their grandchildren... we nattered a bit in the rain whilst Andy was indoors playing rummikub with our guests and at 11.15, the lady came to get us into the lift ready to go down on to the river Weaver...
Having turned "right" on the Weaver, we got as far as the closed lock... stopped for a spot of lunch and then went back up stream to moor for the night in readiness for this mornings ascension (sounds most regal)...
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Once we'd eaten our tea (another marvelous ginger creation) we left our guests for some time alone and went for a ramble to burn off some calories... ahem, on route back to the boat we spotted the pub and popped in for a quick pint... ... ... or two and IN the pub bumped into Brian and Diane off Harnser - we'd spotted the boat looking very resplendent and hadn't realized it had just been painted ...HENCE the very smart appearance. After a quick hello and a chat, we enjoyed another couple of pints and then staggered back returned to the boat to retire for the evening.
THIS morning, we head up the lift and continue our journey towards Stretford...
Until next time...
1 comment:
It was good to see you two I had been looking out for you. If you are coming back Middlewich to Nantwich the chandlery at Venitian Marina is brilliant well stocked and very good prices. It’s just below Cholmondeston lock and you can moor outside! your blog is brilliant love reading it. Take care have a good summer x
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