17.10.19
Our idyllic mooring for the night provided a beautiful sunrise this morning.
But John certainly thought it was our coldest morning yet!
Our journey today wasn’t long- 4 miles in fact. Known as Heartbreak Hill by the old boatmen and with 26 locks to conquer, it would be our toughest day so far.
The canal from Wheelock to Harding’s Wood climbs steadily through the countryside via double locks.
Now normally this would be great as you get a choice of which lock to go into, and theoretically it should speed things up as you don’t have to wait for other canal traffic. This did work our way several times, but for the most part, one lock would be in disrepair like these.
No matter, the day was absolutely glorious, and we motored on through rich farmland characterised by lots of horse studs.
Lunch at the Broughton Arms in Rode Heath was very acceptable, and we could keep an eye on Ellie as we ate.
The message on the loo door probably told us more about Rode Heath than we actually needed to know!
The crew worked like a well-oiled machine and we arrived at our nights mooring with plenty of time to spare. A bit of exploring further ahead (and a spot of caching) led us to the Poole Aquaduct, where the Macclesfield Canal crosses above the Trent and Mersey. Once again, engineering genius!
John’s hope of dinner at The Red Bull wasn’t to be. In fact of the three pubs available, two were closed and the third didn’t serve food!
A ‘simple’ feast on board of ham, sardines (the real Macoy from Portugal), salad, cheese, and avocado was more than adequate and probably the healthiest meal we’d had in two weeks! No chips!
Kanga And Wombats Adventures 