Here we are, back from Switzerland, reunited with Santiago. Sad to leave our Swiss friends, such a bittersweet time with one of them very ill. Nearly 2 weeks there, mountains, lakes, a mad fun folk club evening, trains through and round mountains, one to Italy for a day. And time to reminisce 50 years of friendship. Santiago rocks gently on her mooring, resplendent in her repaint, needing a good clean inside. And so for decision time - which agent to select to sell her for us, what route to take for a last trip. What to throw out, donate, keep. Amazing how much can be stuffed into a small boat. Today a 40min bus trip along the flanks of the Pennines, Pott Shrigley, Bollington to Macclesfield, where my mother was born, worked, married, and from where she left with our little family to Oz. An old mill town, bordering the canal, so familiar to us. Back with our shopping 🛍 along the same winding bus route. Another passenger pointe...
Overnight in Chester, moored near the walls (ceaster = fort), in the city centre. Halloween fireworks, parties, a little noisy, so for tonight we have moved 2+ miles east, near the village of Christleton. Our last day in Chester, we walked the timbered 'rows', verandahed first floor covered shopping, dating from mediaeval times. A sensible choice in this climate. A town crier entertained a crowd at the High Cross, later, a cheeful evangelist sang hallelujah, but attracted fewer enthusiasts. Leaving our mooring in the city, we moved half a mile upstream to the Cap'n's favourite supermarket, Waitrose, which fronts the canal, mooring provided. Think DJs' foodhall, with only metres to your kitchen. Love the convenience of boats. In the fine chilly late afternoon, walkie talkie in pocket, windlass in hand, 1st mate walks the 2 miles up the towpath, setting the locks for the Cap'n (that's where the w-ts are very handy). Around 6, as the sun sets, we moor up...
11/9/2018 Travelling north west up the Trent, the opposite direction we came in May, at the beginning of this journey. Through the Potteries, past the centuries old bottle shaped kilns, moored the night at Lake Weston, formed partly from mining subsidence. A dash - at 3.5 mph - to the Harecastle Tunnel, taking the canal about 2 miles under the outlier hills of the Pennines. This is a one way tunnel, managed by the Canal and River Trust, so with life jacket on the Cap'n, the rear doors closed behind him (helmsmen have drowned stepping back off a boat in a tunnel, through disorientation), headlight on, we just made the last passage. And so back to the Macclesfield, where the journey started.
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