Pressing on to the T&M

After a decentish night’s kip, we made another seven o’clock start, planning to be at either Westport Lake or Etruria by lunch. We’d normally take two days over this bit, with a stop at the Little Morton Hall moorings or else at Hall Green, but we’re pressing on by our standards.

It was a very pleasant day, with a fair bit of sun and rather warmer than yesterday. After enduring a streaming nose all last evening, I’m now feeling much better, though inclined to sneeze explosively without warning, but Sheila is still suffering.

It was her turn to steer and a case of plodding along a pleasant enough length of canal. Depth was much better than above Bosley, indeed the pound was on its right level, so progress was quite quick, though the foliage surrounding every bridge hole necessitated slowing right down to minimise scratches.

By half nine we were at Hall Green Stop and Sheila later made an impressive, one movement, no reversing turn out of the Macc onto the Trent and Mersey at Red Bull. No other boats were waiting when we got to the north portal of Harecastle at a quarter past ten; the tunnel keeper told us that a  convoy was just reaching the other end and that there was one boat waiting to come through northbound.

This meant a 45 minute wait and the chance for a cup of coffee. The downside of being the front boat is that the angle of the towpath to the tunnel mouth makes it really hard to get Sanity Again round and in, especially as there’s a reef of silt sticking out underwater across the mouth from the towpath side.

At least the water levels were quite high; we’d heard scare stories about it being 15” down from boats coming up Bosley, but if anything the level was higher than it had been in June.

Sheila steered through whilst I did the washing up and generally loafed about below. It took forty minutes, as usual, and so it was twenty to twelve when we emerged. Since Westport Lake was twenty minutes away, we settled on that for today; the extra half hour to Etruria will soon pass tomorrow.

After lunch we’ve been pottering, cleaning boots and shoes and plant troughs and otherwise chilling out in pleasant sunshine. It’ll be a more relaxed start tomorrow, with Barlaston as the target, about three and a half hours away.