Pottering towards the Potteries, 19th May 2022

May 19, 2022

Lovely as Church Minshull is, by Tuesday it was time to move on. The taffrail was back in place with its first coat of oil and the weather had perked up, so we moved a whole 2 hours down the line to Middlewich.

An uneventful cruise except for double moored boats close to a bridge which looked quite challenging on approach.

Not so bad on arrival though.

Picking our mooring spot these days means checking if the sun can get to our solar panels, still an exciting novelty for us and which in summer can keep our batteries charged without the need to run the engine . So we stopped on the edge of town to do some basking. Andrew's siesta was interrupted when he realised the chandlery, which he wanted to visit, was closed on Wednesdays, so he hot-footed away with his shopping list.

In his absence, Alison was amused by Bad Mamma Swan, who left her babies in the canal to have an away date with Feckless Daddy Swan, in someone's garden pond.

Swans having a break from the babies

Wednesday morning we went shopping for groceries and hardware. Middlewich looks to have had a tough pandemic: a few more empty shops than I remember, quite a few existing businesses looking shabby. Got a good haul at Lidl including a replacement duvet for Andrew.

Andrew went for another walk later to make more progress on his Ring Road of Iceland challenge.

Safely aboard by the time the heavens opened and settled in for the evening.

On Thursday morning, we became aware of lots of boats passing so thought we ought to get moving and join the queue for the lock. Said goodbye to to the cygnets, no parents in view again. Alison driving, through the shortest canal in the country and then a fierce right turn straight out of a blind bridge hole and into Kings Lock . You never have any idea if you're going to be T-boned and can only hope for the best.

Lovely conditions, a gentle breeze and cloud cover so no nasty glare off the water as we continued south. As the canal has a noisy road alongside, we were going to Cruise a whole 4 - 4! - hours to Wheelock. Springtime in full flow and the Highland cows starting to feel warm.

Arrived at Wheelock by lunchtime, filled up the water tank and found a lovely mooring, quiet yet sunny. Andrew got another coat of oil on the taffrail and we both had luxuriously long showers at the service block.

Dinner at the Cheshire Cheese which reckoned chicken goujons a suitable gf alternative to naan bread.. not complaining 😏. It's Quiz night but probably heavy on the sports and doesn't start till 8.30pm - that's nearly midnight! So planning on retreating before too long.

Garden update!

Next day, Friday, was due to be wet in the afternoon so we stirred fairly early to walk into Sandbach. Driven past the Services countless times so curious to see the real place.

The walk itself was pretty