Three Different Canals in 20 Minutes.

Sunday 14th August, 2016 in Middlewich.
We slept well; luckily, there was very little noise from the nearby road due to it being a Sunday morning.
After breakfast, we set off towards Middlewich. When MM left the first lock, M started to walk towards the next (because for the last couple of days, locks have come every few hundred yards), but jumped back on board when she realised how far the next lock was!
On her way, M photographed yet another closed pub on the road into Middlewich. Pity, as it is a handsome building.

This is the third "tug style" narrowboat in "LMS" (London, Midlands and Scottish Railway) livery that we have seen in two days! This very pretty boat, nb "Tebay", reminded us of the wonderful service area of the same name on the way to Penrith.

The pub by King's Lock has the same name. Three years ago, we visited it when Sue, Mick, Michael, Nicky and Eva dropped by. The food and the service were awful! Since then, it has had a change of ownership and was recently voted in the top ten canal pubs in the country!  A commendable turn-around.

As we know from our travels, pubs' ratings are very often out of date and so many of the ones listed in the guide books are no more.
Shortly after, at the junction, is a very tight turn off the Trent & Mersey, towards the Shropshire Union Middlewich Branch, through the arched bridge on the right.

When the Middlewich Branch was built, the owners of the Trent & Mersey built this little extension and the lock to act as a link between the Middlewich Branch and the Trent & Mersey Canal. It is called the Wardle Canal and, at 154ft 6in long, it is the shortest canal in the country. But it meant that the T&M owners could charge an extra toll for all boats that used the "separate" Wardle Canal and then also charge them to use the Trent & Mersey Canal!

So, by turning off the Trent and Mersey, through the Wardle Canal and on to the Middlewich branch, we did three different canals in less than 20 minutes!
Two women grace the lockside. One, a very glam scarecrow monitoring the comings and goings below the lock.

The second, who sadly died in 2012, was a lady from a traditional boating family who lived in the cottage next to the lock, on the right of the picture.

Her name was Maureen Shaw and she spent her days helping people through the locks and chatting to them. She still spent every day at the lockside right up until she died at the age of 78. A plaque by the lock celebrates her life.

We moored up shortly after the lock and went off to the supermarket for a "few bits". We have been to Middlewich twice before and this time found a very quiet mooring and a pleasant way to walk into town.
Very little remains of Middlewich's mediaeval past, other than the occasional timbered building and St Michael's Parish Church, which mainly dates back to the 14th century - parts of it to the 12th century. Note: The "few bits" temporarily at rest.

Beside our mooring was a dense hawthorn hedge, inhabited by a colony of sparrows. Their antics and their chatter kept us amused all afternoon. At one point, we caught them all sunning themselves.

After the recent rain and wet grass cuttings on the towpath, MM was in need of a good wash down. R decided to give the towpath side a good polish as well. It was hard work, even with M helping, but worth it afterwards when MM gleamed in the sunshine.

Later, as the sun set, the evening light was lovely, a beautifully clear summer evening.

Today: 3 miles, 3 locks, 3 canals and 2.5 hours.
Trip: 242 miles, 191 locks and 183.4 hours.