Thursday 10th September in Stalybridge.
On another bright and sunny morning, we set off fairly early in order to stay in front of any boats that may have come through the Standedge Tunnel yesterday.
M said that she was not aware that the Isle of Wight had canals and locks; it is, of course, Lock 10W but we couldn't help thinking of the Island, Jamie and Alex.
The paddle gears, particularly on the tail (bottom) end of the locks are becoming increasingly difficult to operate. R had to turn them a quarter turn at a time, setting the windlass pointing downwards, then jerking it towards him and then taking the windlass off and resetting it pointing downwards and repeating the process. Occasionally, he resorted to jumping up and down to get some leverage! Slow and exhausting work.
For these locks, M managed the head (top) paddles fine but gave up on the bottom paddles entirely.
There were still lovely vistas behind us.
Some of the lock walls had been rebuilt towards the end of the 19th century and the dates were beautifully carved into the new walls like this:
The landscape is becoming less rural and more urban now as we approached Stalybridge. At one of the locks outside Stalybridge, M fell into conversation with a young man called Mark. He said that he lived with his Mum nearby and that their apartment overlooks the canal. Apparently his Mum likes to watch the boats go by. M said that we would pass by shortly and he should tell his Mum to watch out for us. Sure enough, there they were, waving from their balcony.
We moored in the centre of Stalybridge by a huge Tesco. It turned out to be a lovely spot to stay, as the local people constantly stopped to ask questions and chat.
The guide books recommend a walk to the local Railway Station, which apparently has a remarkable Victorian style buffet bar. We can confirm that it does!
It is a conucopia of railway memorabilia - and it serves real ales and excellent home made food - so we had lunch.
The station clock was reminiscent of Carnforth, only this one is a replica - the original is in a museum.
The platform has lovely views over the town to the moors beyond. R was fascinated by a blue plaque on the wall celebrating Fred Wood, a forgotten hero from 1907, who averted a major train crash and so saved many lives.
Back on board MM, we were rather surprised when a group of four children started asking questions and then, in a rather cheeky, but likeable way, asked if they could come on board and see inside. We obliged and they were polite, very well behaved and very interested.
We were surprised again when the youngest of the four, a very cute girl called Lexi, brought her brother back and asked if he could look around too!
We obliged again - but it didn't end there. Soon after, three young adults, very jolly and, by their own admission, rather tipsy, having been "in the pub for a few", tapped on the window, waved and then one of the two girls blew us both kisses. This led to a conversation and them asking to come on board and have a look around.
Again we obliged and were rewarded with many kind thanks and a huge hug for both of us from one of the girls as she left. M says that R looked very happy to be hugged by a very pretty young woman! Stalybridge folk are not shy in coming forward!
Another lovely sunset accompanied our supper.
Today: 2 miles, 5 locks and 2.8 hours.
Trip: 294 miles, 241 locks and 217.3 hours.
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