Thursday 25th June, 2015 in Audlem.
Awoke to another sunny morning. M, while enjoying her first cup of tea, was thrilled to see her namesake boat passing by (April 1st is her birthday).
We set off after breakfast to tackle the first of the twelve locks down to Audlem. They are in a delightful rural setting, the gates and paddles are easy and the constant passing of boats going up the flight gave us a "good road" (as the old boatmen would say) and brought out the best in the boating community - everyone cheerfully helping each other through the locks.
At the first lock, the cows came down to the water to drink and to gaze curiously at the strange parade of boats passing by.
When the canal boats were horse-drawn, metal plates were put on the bridge corners to protect the stonework from the tow ropes. The tow ropes were always full of grit and they wore deep grooves in the metal.
There was a drama at one of the locks when a mother duck and her six very small ducklings were stranded in the lock. This is not normally a problem as they will make their way out when the gates open - but this was clearly a mother duck of Very Little Brain! She hopped out of the lock, leaving her brood behind, stranded and completely panic-stricken in the lock.
When the gate opened, they were reunited - at which point she led them over to the by-wash (the overflow water flowing past the lock) and they were promptly swept down the turbulent underground by-wash to the pound below the lock. It must have been a roller-coaster ride! M held her breath, fearing the worst but thankfully all six survived and appeared safely below the lock.
The mother was now in a panic as she had lost her chicks and flew into the air, circling until she heard their plaintive cries from below. M said that the chicks must have been terrified as they were swept down the underground outflow, but R's view was that they probably said, "That was great, Mum. Can we do it again!"
We moored up at Audlem in the early afternoon and fell into conversation with three delightful ladies who were admiring MM and who were fascinated by the locks, having never seen one at close quarters before.
Chrissy and Pat are two sisters and Susie is Pat's daughter. They were so interested that we invited them on board for the "ten cent tour". They were great fun and we had a delightful half hour together. We hope to see them again, particularly as Pat lives in Nantwich, our next port of call.
We have a prime mooring spot directly beside Audlem Mill, a handsome building now fully restored and a two storey shop offering a huge range of canal related bits and a magnificent array of needlecraft - recently awarded "Best Needlework Shop in the North West". M was in her element!
There is an excellent deli/coffee shop in the village, called "The Deli" so we walked in for some afternoon tea.
In the Deli, M had a pasty, which she declared to be the best that she could ever remember having, and we were quite surprised to see Peter Rabbit pushing a barrow of Cornish potatoes.
The town is dominated by a fine church that sits high above the shops.
We had a very agreeable and quiet afternoon moored in this lovely spot and had our supper to the accompaniment of the local church bells.
Today: 3 miles, 12 locks and 2.4 hours.
Trip: 62 miles, 39 locks and 34.9 hours.
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