Macclesfield Canal, Hall Green to Rode Heath, Trent & Mersey

We awoke around 8am this morning quite a few people were on the move & the day didn’t seem too bad. Breakfast was toast & porridge & thoroughly enjoyed!  We left the mooring at Hall Green & through the stop lock.

Past Red Bull Services & a wave to Tony who fitted our 2nd new drive plate on Tuesday. round Hardings Wood Junction, through lock 42 & a stop for water at the BW premises by the bridge.

The cottage opposite has a very pretty garden.

Filled up with water we made our way towards Rode Heath,

The weather was now starting to rain persistently with hail stones mixed in for good measure & very little breaks in the cloud. We plodded on, passing the pretty church at Church Lawton.

We arrived at Rode Heath around 2pm 7 would have gone further in a day but the weather was foul by now so we decided to call it a day.

We walked to the village PO to post a parcel, a book from my Amazon online sales that we happened to have on the boat as Lochaber was reading it, Titanic, the boat that never sunk! What a co-incidence!  I returned from the shop livid, now remember that I am English living in Scotland  therefore had Scottish style notes in my purse, the shop informed me that they do not take Scottish notes due to the fact that most of them are fakes! Mine are not, if in doubt put them under your scanner, get a life they ARE legal tender, I think I made my point & she reluctantly accepted my £10 note.  That was the last straw, the diabolical weather, the Scottish note saga, let’s get in the pub for some grub & a beer.

The meal at The Broughton Arms on the way out was ok, I mentioned it in an earlier blog but today it was absolute garbage & I mean garbage, so much so that Lochaber raised his voice & complained & that is a rare occurrence. as we sat in the pub the sun emerged & the temperature rose so we moved to outside on the patio, what a difference to a few hours earlier. A mother duck came up the steps calling her young ones trying to get them to the bank, these were the first ducklings we had seen this year.

It turned out to be a lovely evening after such a miserable day.

Looks like more of a jaunt than work on a BW boat!

We had not long been back to the boat & most of the canal traffic had ceased then we heard the humm of an engine, a late cruiser we thought, it was John on nbAlton, the coalboat. they did not know us but we follow them on Twitter so I tweeted that we  had seen them.

Today 5.5miles, 13 locks, 4hrs