The cruising year begins

After spending the winter in Macclesfield Marina we finally cast off yesterday. The weather so far has been glorious, clear blue skies and sunshine, hopefully an omen of things to come this year. We had a really pleasant cruise up the Macclesfield Canal to Marple and then onto the Higher Peak Forest to reach Bugsworth Basin late afternoon. With such clear bright weather the views from the canal over the hills were spectacular. As usual, there are only a handful of boats moored in the basin and we'll probably stay here 2 nights. It's only a 15 minute walk in to Whaley Bridge and if we need any shopping there's a large Tesco on the way. Another main attraction of mooring here is the Dog & Partridge pub just 10 minutes walk away at Bridgemont. In the 5 years we've been coming here we've always had a really warm welcome from Kate the landlady. There are real fires, real ales and good food and if you time it right there is a Blue Grass session on the first Sunday of the month.