Many Meetings: On to the Bridgewater Canal.

Monday 2nd May 2022 in Little Bollington.

It was overcast this morning and rather misty but thankfully the rain held off all day.

Eighteen miles to go today, so we set off early. Our first tunnel, Barnton Tunnel, loomed almost immediately.

It was relatively short and easy to see through it in order to make sure it was clear.

A second short tunnel, Saltersford, follows very quickly but it is crooked, so you cannot see through to the other end. Loud blasts on the horn warned others of our coming (luckily, there was no reply!).

This heron took off indignantly when we disturbed him fishing for his breakfast.

For some reason, this family of ducklings decided to give chase to us, paddling as fast as their little webbed feet could go. Their panic stricken mother was forced into the air to catch them up and stop them. In the distance, a sad sight, a sunken boat.

The Peloton! A happy group doing a "Town Run" on the towpath. They all waved cheerily.

Dutton Tunnel is 1,239 yards long, narrow and one-way only. Northbound passage is restricted to the first ten minutes of each hour, so we had to wait for about 40 minutes to go through but the time passed very quickly and happily.

Finally, after four boats had come south through the tunnel, it was our turn to leave.

Looking up one of the few air shafts in the tunnel. They were used during construction but still provide ventilation.

As we left the tunnel, we also left Canal & River Trust waters and entered the Bridgewater Canal. A separate licence is required if we stay more than 7 days on the Bridgewater. Hopefully that will not apply to us as we are mooring up in a private marina over next weekend.

This is a very handsome bridge. All the bridges on the Bridgewater Canal are wide and there are no locks.

A lovely sight, proud parents with their very young cygnets.

At this point we needed to find a mooring for the night. We had originally planned to stop in the lovely little town of Lymm where we moored in 2015, but there was no space available.

The Bridgewater Canal has been delightful but one downside is the almost total lack of good moorings. Even popular moorings, marked at being "48 hours and no return within seven days" are still on pins. There are virtually no rings and no "armco" siding, where you can use hooks or chains.

Eventually we found a single space near Little Bollington. We moored between two other boats and found a single rondom ring for the bow rope, but the middle and stern ropes were on pins.

Just round the corner was "Ye Olde No. 3" pub, so named because it apparently had three ghosts!