Bosley to Congleton

Now that the Bank Holidays are over for a while, the canal is fairly quiet again. We've only seen half a dozen boats moving today and these were all going the opposite way i.e. up towards Macclesfield.
It rained for most of the night but has been dry and sunny again today. We finished drying the washing outside this morning while Roger did some routine maintenance and I replanted the roof garden.

We've now got geraniums, Busy Lizzies and assorted herbs. The tomato plants aren't quite ready to go out yet and hopefully we'll have a decent crop this year, unlike last year when they got blight.

Roger treated himself to a new chair with a foot rest yesterday. He'd seen one on the towpath recently and the cheapest we could get it online was £30 plus delivery. We got the exact same thing from Lidl for £10. It looks too comfy for my liking, I can see him getting far too many afternoon naps!

 

We moved on a bit after lunch and moored on Congleton Aqueduct again. It's a lovely spot with views on both sides of the canal and is the perfect place for washing all the dust off the boat.

     

Red Bull to Bosley

We set off around 10.00 this morning as I needed to nip to Morrison's in Congleton to stock up the fridge. We moored up at Congleton Wharf which was empty apart from one other boat and took Chico and the Granny Trolley down into town. I know it's Bank Holiday Monday but Congleton was deserted, with hardly any of the shops open. I filled the Granny Trolley, which is probably the best £10 I ever spent on the boat, and we took turns pulling it back up the hill to the wharf. It might not be very trendy looking, but it certainly beats carrying shopping bags.
Just as we got to Congleton Aqueduct we picked up something big and metallic on the prop again. We're really not having much luck but as this is the third thing round the prop in a month maybe our luck'll change.

It took us a while to decide what it was, but finally came to the conclusion that it used to be a fishing landing net.  The canal traffic has been very busy again today and we got the last mooring spot at Bosley on the aqueduct ready to go up the locks tomorrow. Roger's been fishing again and instead of catching 50+ tiddlers as at Rode Heath, he's had a couple of nice sized bream.

Congleton Aqueduct

After a perfect day yesterday, we had a perfect evening. It was time for the first BBQ of the year and the pork ribs were delish.
The canal has been busy again today with lots of hire boats wizzing about. The fields are full of frolicking lambs and there are newly hatched ducklings everywhere.

We only cruised for a couple of hours today and moored on Congleton Aqueduct at lunchtime. It was so lovely here we decided to stay for the night and Roger fished while I sat in the sun and finished a book. Mid afternoon a couple of policemen came along the towpath with a handcuffed youth. Apparently he'd been caught in the woods below the aqueduct with a load of stolen goods. There's a river running through these woods and all afternoon we've heard the sounds of kids having fun jumping off the bridge into the river. I didn't think it was deep enough for that but we haven't heard and screams of pain so it must have been OK.