Going a bit further than we meant

Things seem to have gone to plan today, albeit that we modified the plan a bit… We made a cracking early start, having woken in very good time, and were on the water point by seven. Having eaten breakfast as the tank filled, just a bit of pottering was required until the water started coming out of the breather and we could get going again.

The weather has been very off and on, sometimes warm sun, sometimes short but heavy showers. It was an uneventful cruise back to Barbridge and the turn onto the Middlewich Arm, achieved without spectators and therefore faultlessly. It’s then a bit of a plod past the lines of moored boats but the cut was still very quiet and no-one was waiting above Cholmondeston. Once down the lock, I took it gently along the next stretch whilst Sheila got the washing machine going, finishing before we arrived at Minshull Lock.

It being a fine morning, we decided to carry on past our original planned stop at Church Minshull, especially as the wash load wouldn't be quite done, and to aim for Blackberry Wood. We thought of stopping short on the towpath, but there was nowhere quite as nice as the view from the SUCS moorings at the Wood. We did try to get into the side once, just before there, but it was too silty and we’ve ended up on the VMs anyway.

Amazingly, the rings are appropriately spaced for a 70 footer and the Armco is exactly the right height for our fenders. As we were getting sorted, I commented that it was all going so well there probably wouldn't be a phone signal, but Sod’s Law has failed to apply and we have 4G signals on both 3 and Vodafone.

It’s been another quiet afternoon. The weather isn't reliable enough to put the whirligig out but we’ve no complaints apart from that. We’ve even finished a Jigsaw Sudoku that’s been defying me for several days. In the end, I got Sheila’s expertise onto it but it still took a bit serious cogitation before the last numbers were triumphantly inserted.

We should have an easy day tomorrow, an amble along to Middlewich to do a thorough restocking from the choice of three supermarkets on offer, Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi. The day after will be a later start, too, as we need to get a pump out at Kings Lock.

Location:Blackberry Wood

Stormy boating

Normally, if the forecast is bad, we stay put for the day, but this week we're a bit committed. I should have a prescription waiting for collection at the Rowland's pharmacy in Middlewich, and we've a rendezvous in Stockton Heath on Wednesday that we really don't want to miss.

So, although it was blowing and raining, we set off regardless. It was Sheila's turn to steer – she seems to be getting the windy days at the moment, though to be fair to me, the last slog in pouring rain fell to me, so these things do balance out eventually.

We locked down Cholmondeston in the quiet of eight o'clock in the morning, and chugged merrily on to Minshull Lock, the rain coming and going. When it was dry, I was look out on the bow; you can tell we're back on the Four Counties Ring, there was soon a steady procession of boats towards us. One of them was locking up Minshull when we got there, and another three were waiting below. Apparently, it had been very busy in Middlewich yesterday, with some boats taking two hours to get through the junction, so this lot had ended up tied on the various visitor moorings before the lock.

It makes a change to be going the right way, and it really justifies our strategy on busy canals at this time of year, starting early and stopping early.

We arrived at the SUCS moorings at Blackberry Wood (between bridges 21 and 22) just on half ten. There were a couple of other boats here, still, but they've both left now.

We've spent the day snuggled down in the cabin, reading and browsing. We've got decent mobile signals again, so have been able to catch up on all the casual blog reading and CWDF browsing I've been missing out on. This is one of the really nice moorings on the system, quiet and with pleasant views over the Weaver Valley.

Tomorrow, we'll start around half seven, aiming to arrive on the visitor moorings just above Wardle Lock around an hour later. That will give us time to shop and collect my drugs before we go on through the junction and down the four locks, three narrow and one broad. There's a handy waste disposal site just before Croxton Aqueduct, where we can offload a large amount of recycling before tying at Bramble Cuttings or nearby.