We set off in good time this morning and the sun was shining although it was somewhat cool. Despite my polite conversation with the bull last night it wasn't there this morning which upset me a bit. He really did look so funny peering over the edge of the bridge.
We got to the top of the Audlem locks and again there was a boat coming out, but strangely, this pattern continued through most of the 15. A few times I had to wait for a boat to come up from the lock below to get through the next lock but it was pretty smooth. I even managed to get myself off a bit of a mud-bank. I'd come out of a lock and was waiting for the one below to be free and the run-off sent me to the far side of the gates, and I got stuck. I tried blasting the horn but John couldn't hear it and then I realised that he couldn't do anything anyway since there was no way you could get there in any case. So against all odds, I stayed calm, reversed and moved myself (well the boat you understand - I mean I could move at all times personally) gradually off the bank and then got moving in the right direction. When I eventually got into the lock and said to John that I'd grounded his comment was "Yes the bloke coming up got stuck further down." Nothing resembling empathy or even praise.... do I expect too much?
We got to lock 11 and there were moorings there but I suggested that since it was still too early for lunch we'd might as well finish the 15. It had rained quite heavily but briefly twice during the earlier ones but the subsequent sun had dried us both out - we weren't even in wet gear, just fleeces. So on we went and lunched just after the bottom lock. This was the first time that we didn't have either a piling or rings to moor - we have been very impressed with the Shroppie as there are more rings along the mooring sites here than we have ever seen anywhere else, but for some reason there was nothing here and we had to find the stakes and mallet. A bit of a shock to the system.
Heartened by our success we decided to get to Nantwich for the night and we got through the two locks at Hack Green despite having to wait a LONG time for a boat to get to the bottom one and then actually get into it. It was a private boat with 6 people aboard and they were useless, here's us with just the two of us and we just get on with it. Talk about a drama!
As we near Nantwich the sky is getting darker and darker ahead of us and we can see rain in the distance off to the east. It's a race against time now and we lost. As we pulled into a mooring it started to hail - I've never seen Paddy so keen to get down into the boat - he nearly jumped it himself! We waited inside for it to stop before putting the pram cover up and dry everything out a bit.
We've had a walk down into Nantwich (again it started raining on us just as soon as we were away from the boat) but only to find a postbox and then we got back as quickly as possible and John has lit a fire and it's lovely and cosy in here. There's something very comforting about being in a boat and hearing it rain outside when you don't have to go out!
We've heard from Terry and Sue who are in N Wales on holiday and so we are hoping to see them on Thursday as long as we can get somewhere that's vaguely on their way home. Fingers crossed (again). The weather seems to be turning against us but nothing new there.
Erik Bloodaxe moored up in front of us again last night but we have passed him now - it's fascinating how you see the same boats again - there is a lovely Welsh couple on a boat called Gwynefh (I may have got the spelling wrong) but we have been passing each other the whole of the Shropshire so far and they are from Llangollen so we are likely to see them again.
There is an impressive aqueduct just up the canal from here that I'll get a photo of tomorrow.
Johns new way of getting across the bottom lock gates - I hate him doing it and children don't copy him - he's a very silly man.
The river Weaver - the same one as later on has the Anderton Boat Lift. The canal goes across it at this point.
The entrance to the new Overwater Marina just outside Audlem - it looks very nice but it's an extremely windy site - mooring could be fun!
The sky starting to look ominously black ahead of us as we near Nantwich. It got worse!!!!
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