On to Lymm in the Rain.

 Wednesday 5th July 2023 in Lymm.

We set off after breakfast as rain was forecast later. Sadly, the weather didn't take the trouble to study the forecast and the rain came earlier than expected and so was on and off throughout the morning. We pressed on through Stockton Heath, where we stopped for water and diesel, until we reached Lymm.

Lymm is a delightful small town full of real shops, lovely buildings and cobbled streets.

n.b.Hirondelle had been moored up next to us for three days in Runcorn but we never met her owners there. To our surprise, we found the boat already in Lymm and the owners, Chris and Debbie from Florida, turned out to be delightful. We managed to have a good chat with them before they moved on. We might catch up with them again later.

Above the village is Lymm Dam that was created as an earth dam in 1824 to carry a new turnpike road across the gorge formed by "Sow Brook" (it's now the A56). The resulting lake is now a nature reserve, which has a series of paths forming a lovely walk winding round the lake.

The lake is surrounded by ancient woodland full of beech and oak trees, some of which are absolutely huge. The ground is very rocky sandstone and many of the tree roots are exposed, serpentine fashion, as they cling to the rocks.

At one point there is a series of exposed rocks with deep channels etched into them called "Nye Channels". A nearby notice describes these channels as a particular type of sub glacial erosion caused by fast flowing melt water from the end of the last ice age, "though undoubtedly they have been embellished by the feet of children sliding down them over the years".

In Lymm town centre someone had knitted this charming cover to the local post box!

The mooring here is very unusual for the Bridgewater Canal in that MM is moored on rings rather than the more usual pins.

Opposite MM is this house, which M declared to be her "dream house"; it was perfect in every respect, other than (a) being totally out of her price range and (b) too far from the familes back home! Just look at that beautifully kept garden!

Today: 7 miles, 0 locks and 2.5 hours.

Trip: 71 miles, 53 locks and 45.9 hours.