Keith and Molly Visit.

Monday 26th August, 2013 in Congleton.
We awoke to a beautiful morning. The water in front of the old warehouse was very still and made wonderful reflections in the morning light.

Keith called to suggest that they bring a picnic lunch with them to maximise their time on MM, as opposed to the pub lunch that they had originally planned.
M sat on the towpath bench, next to the aqueduct close to MM, to watch out for them.

Keith duly arrived; he had left Molly, the car and the picnic lunch about half a mile up the canal, so he hopped on board and we cruised up to where Molly was waiting. They both looked so smart compared with us scruffy narrowboaters and the cool box was huge!

After a cup of tea we set off north up the Macclesfield Canal. The guide books told us of the scenic delights of this canal but even so, we were taken aback as one beautiful vista after another unfolded round each bend.


Our way along the canal was impeded by a fallen branch.

We squeezed past it with great difficulty, going right up against the bank where the canal was very shallow. In the process MM ran along the shallows, tipping her over slightly and a bottle of red wine, that Keith and Molly had thoughtfully provided for the picnic, went flying and smashed into a thousand pieces on the floor spilling its contents everywhere. While M and Molly cleared up the mess, R backed up and attached a rope to the branch and succeeded in pulling it clear to open up the canal again. We were initially worried that the grouting in between the floor tiles had been permanently stained purple by the wine, but later in the evening we were able to return the grouting to its pristine state with a bit of bleach and a lot of elbow grease.
"The Cloud" (not the internet one!) is a craggy limestone ridge towering several hundred feet up to the east. A large slice out of the side of the hill is the source of all the beautiful local building stone, epitomised by the lovely canal bridges.

Keith said that the views from the summit are superb. Sadly, we don't have time to walk up it this summer, but are resolved to come back this way possibly next year. We moored up for lunch just below the bottom lock of the flight of 12 locks with "The Cloud" in the background.

Lunch turned out to be a banquet! Keith and Molly had done us proud, it was delicious.
After lunch, we went through the first lock to where there was a turning point, turned round and then went back through the lock. The sides of the lock chamber were made out of huge stone blocks, Very different from the brick-sided locks that we have been used to. We marvelled at how the Victorians had managed to quarry, dress, transport and fit such large, heavy blocks of stone.

It was a lovely cruise back to Congleton in the afternoon sun, where we said goodbye to Keith and Molly, but not before we had made them walk the plank!

We then returned to the same mooring as last night opposite the old warehouse, but as we were now pointing the other way, R was able to wash the other side of MM.
Today: 9 miles, 2 locks and 4.7 hours.
Trip: 321 miles, 257 locks and 261.4 hours.