Through the tunnel

After all our mega boating (by our standards) we've had an easy day today. Last night we were very pleasantly surprised by the Toby Carvery at Etruria. It offered good basic food, with a choice of two chicken, two fish and four veggie dishes as well as four roasts in the carvery. The beer was in good nick, and the whole thing very reasonably priced.

This morning, Sheila set off a bit before seven, and made very good time to the tunnel; the combination of the light boat and deep water meant that she was at risk of breaking the speed limit for some of the distance. The tunnel keeper was already about when we got there at eight, and we were the only boat at the south end. He told us that we would be first through, but we had to wait for ten minutes whilst he gave the fans their first run.

He was in general a jolly soul; apparently the regular users of the tunnel have christened him and his partner at the north portal Ant and Dec.

Once inside, I settled down to read whilst Sheila thrashed on in fine style, taking just over 25 minutes to get through. A smooth turn onto the Macc, without using the bow thruster what's more, meant that we were on the last lap.

Hadar was tied on the aqueduct, so we had a shouted conversation with Jo and Keith before they set off the other way and we came on to Hall Green.

We've stopped here for the night, as we want to try the Bleeding Wolf for dinner. It's meant a very relaxed day, a nice break from all the steady boating. Two more days of serious work, one up Bosley to the Royal Oak swing bridge and the next to Poynton will see us home.