Back to doing Locks Again!

 Friday 8th September 2023 at Wimboldsley.

One result of this warm and muggy weather is that we often have lovely misty early mornings which make for magical photographs....

... only enhanced by the sunrise and the arrival of a hopeful swan. This was an irresistible photo opportunity and coincidentally we have an almost identical framed photo at home, taken by a professional photographer near our home mooring of Aston Marina. 

The swan was followed soon after by his brood of seven hopeful cygnets. Sadly, we had no suitable food for them so they were disappointed. These days, one is discouraged from feeding bread to swans and ducks.

Setting off early to try to avoid the expected heat of midday, we went through the four locks into Middlewich. Thankfully, we teamed up with another boat for "Big Lock", which as its name implies is a wide lock, and the three following locks each had volunteers to help us through, so it went very quickly and easily.

Wardle Junction, between the Trent & Mersey and the Middlewich Arm, is always busy and, as we moored on the lock moorings to take advantage of the lock which was ready for us, unfortunately three boats pulled in front of us from the other direction. Eventually, we moved into the very short bit of canal before the lock (which is the shortest canal in the country at only 100 yards long) so that nobody else could jump in front of us. Good thing that we were not in a hurry!

Once above the lock, we moored up briefly in order to walk into Morrisons for yet a "few more bits" (i.e. the things M had forgotten to put on yesterday's list!) as there is not much in the way of shops on the Middlewich Arm.

When we set off again, we passed a number of cows that were definitely taking it easy next to the canal. Most were sheltering under trees but this lady decided to sit next to the canal probably to contemplate the possibility of a cooling dip.

A couple of miles further on, we found a shady spot and decided to call it a day as it was getting very hot. After a nap in the afternoon, dinner was eaten outside as the sun lowered towards the horizon.

After the sun set, the sky lit up.

Today: 7 miles, 6 locks and 4.2 hours.

Trip: 222 mles, 87 locks and 114.4 hours.