16.10.19
I woke at 7am this morning to the sound of planes coming into land at Manchester. Oh, and rain on the roof. Relentless.
Miraculously, by the time we finished brekky and were on our way, it had all but stopped (and the day turned out to be sunny and even hot)!
The first adventure of the day was the big fuel up and pump out. After 10 days of roast dinners, chips, pork pies, chips, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes and chips, a pump out was a necessity. A giant blue hose is hooked up to the boat and attached to a powerful sucker! Kevin, the attendant, was cheery, informative and helpful.
There was one minor problem. Two bathrooms but only one on the port side. Grahame bravely offered to ‘do the deed’ and practised his trapeze and balancing skills on the starboard deck! Probably the first and last time I can say my brother in law has pumped out my poo!
Jen took to the helm and navigated us back through the weedy channels to Middlewich.
With only 5 locks between Middlewich and Wheelock, the going was pretty cruisy. We enjoyed the blue skies and sunshine.
We even passed Kevin’s house, but he wasn’t home…still pumping out the poo I guess!
With nothing looking particularly appealing in Wheelock, we hiked about half an hour to the old market town of Sandbach 2kms away. It has a cobbled market place where two ancient Saxon stone crosses dating from the 9th century stand.
The 16thC church of St Mary’s with it’s unusual battlement tower was looking peaceful in the dappled sunlight and Autumn colours.
But it was our dinner destination that was truly to delight. The Old Hall was a restored former manor house with Elizabethan half-timbered architecture. It was stunning.
Well worth the hike!
Kanga And Wombats Adventures 