Sunday 12th May 2019
As we started our descent of the main drag of Heartbreak Hill the weather gave us a break. By 12:00 the sun was warm and we were wind free.
At Lawton Triple top lock we met Mary, a lady who sits on the lockside and sells ‘cakes and makes’ for her chosen charity. It was her first day out selling in 2019 as she has had a hip replacement so missed most of 2018 as well. Her surgeon had mentioned that there was a piece of orthopedic equipment he’d like to buy for the NHS and so Mary is raising money for it – over £1k so far through coffee mornings and sales. Graham purchased a lemon drizzle cake and I donated some of my ‘beat the boredom’ brooches for her to sell.
Did I say this area is beautiful – it is! At Hassal Green the Romping Donkey is no more and St. Barbies has now got a tiled roof. We stopped after Hassal Gn locks for a logistical lunch and were overtaken by another northbound boat – drat!
As we were about to set off again, we watched a cow approaching the canal in the opposite field. As she walked along the rest of the herd followed but she ended up getting into the canal for a swim. The rest watched on and then set off along the canal towards their in-field drinking area after the next lock. She swam and waded along the canal following them and ended up swimming into lock 59. Traffic was stopped in both directions and Graham rang the CaRT emergency line whilst I walked down to the lock to see what was happening. Daisy was shooed out of the lock by some walkers and then the gate was shut. Meanwhile Graham was having fun updating the CaRT call handler with the latest goings-on. Just as all the relevant details were logged on the system in the call centre, Daisy had made her way back to a shallow bit of bank that had collapsed and extracted herself from the cut. Whilst the Cart call was being finished, the boat that had stopped behind us set off and took our lock and so then Graham had to turn most locks for the rest of the day until we met someone coming south.
Once in Middlewich we moored below the three locks in the pound before big lock. After dinner we walked up to visit John and Gillian at their house. We admired Tam Lin’s new paint job, the house extension all finished and the evolution of the garden. After an enjoyable evening catching up, we left them at 10:30 and walked back to Jannock via Tesco Metro. When we first started boating in the 70s and later when we started family boating in the 90s life was much more complicated – shopping for food had to be planned due to restricted opening and a shortage of canalside shops. We needed some milk and at 10:45 on a Sunday evening were able to get some from Tesco’s on the way home.
Middlewich is well appointed with a Jacks (cheaper Tesco), Tesco Metro and also a Lidl all in the town as well as a plethora of take-aways and hardware shops.
Brenda
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