No news is infact good news

Today has been a long yet very enjoyable day. We left our moorings at Four Lane Ends not really knowing what the day had in store as we hadn't managed to find out whether the fallen tree had in fact been removed. We travelled for over an hour and a half without seeing another moving boat, before deciding to stop short of Macclesfield in a lovely spot and had breakfast. Another check of Waterscape, emails and CWDF all proved fruitless for updates. After a short time a boat finally appeared heading north. It was a relief to hear that the obstruction had in fact been removed, so after finishing breakfast, we headed through Macclesfield and Oakgreave before passing the location of the fallen tree. Some goods logs there for anyone who wants them.

Leaving Macclesfield behind

The offending tree and some free logs

The Macclesfield has been so quiet. We did services before descending Bosley, and again only passed a couple of boats in the flight. The sun was shining now and we were both able to brush the cobwebs off our shorts and sunglasses... it is July for heaven sake !!

Bosley Locks with an audience

Blue skies and sunglasses !!

We made the most of the sunshine and continued through Congleton, admiring the views from the embankments, before mooring in a lovely remote spot before Scholar Green only to learn that Andy Murray had lost in the Wimbledon final... what an absolute shame - he's just not our favourite. Well done Federer too - a worthy champion. 

One thing we have learned today is that Jasper can swim !! He lost his footing this evening getting off the boat in a rush and did a few circles of 'doggy paddle' before Louise managed to haul him out. Let's hope he doesn't make a habit of it. 

Tomorrow we will head back through Harecastle and up onto the Caldon for a few days.

Stoke and Macclesfield.

Yesterday we travelled up into Stoke on Trent which we have to say is not our favourite stretch of water. It seems to drag on forever and the locks are deep and heavy, but on the plus side, it was noticeable that there was far less rubbish in the canal than in previous years.

The tortoise and the hare

We had a brief wait at Harecastle Tunnel for one oncoming boat to emerge, and then we entered as the second of just two boats travelling north. We had been lucky with the weather until now, but the tunnel was very wet and we emerged some 40 minutes or so later into rain - we'd have been better off underground !!

Southern portal

We made the sharp turn at Hardings Wood Junction onto The Macclesfield and negotiated the stoplock at Hall Green. The rain was heavy now and so we decided to moor just beyond the lock for the night. The rain subsided briefly during the evening for some dog walking and fishing, which was very successful. A bite a cast with lots of skimmer bream, roach and perch, the biggest being a good two pounds plus which got the pole elastic stretching well.

Overnight mooring at Hall Green

We left quite early this morning as the weather forecast was for rain around lunchtime... will it ever end ?? Our neighbours were very keen as they headed off towards Stoke at 6.30, but even that was far too early for us. It is so quiet on 'The Macc' and even when we stopped briefly for a coffee at lunchtime just at the bottom of Bosley Locks, which is such a prime mooring site, there was only one other boat. We could see rain over the hills, but it seemed to be skirting us nicely, and so we decided to ascend the locks. We only saw two boats coming down the flight, the second of which was nb Moon Shadow, an almost identical boat to Blue Moon. We chatted with the owner about all things Aqualine - toilet seals, window seals and batteries to name a few !! The rain was still evident in the distance, but the gods were truly on our side today as we stayed dry all the way to the top. The views on the flight are spectacular and make the locks such a pleasant experience. We also watched a pair of yellowhammers and spotted reed buntings too.

Bosley Locks

We continued on making the most of the fine weather and had a run up to Gurnett Aqueduct at Macclesfield. Let's hope for the same luck with the weather tomorrow and that Murray gets knocked out of Wimbledon. Either one will do !!