We had slow start this morning after all the exhaustion of negotiating one lock yesterday!
The first thing I noticed on sticking my head out the front window this morning was this friendly fisherman. Glorious day!
Then, looking up into the beautiful blue sky were these great airstream patterns. Being pretty close to Manchester airport means the sky is busy!
An executive decision was made to continue down the Macclesfield Canal as fas as to the township of Congleton. No locks meant easy passage, with time to watch the world, and the ducks go by.
We puttered past Ramsdell Hall, where the canal was originally supposed to run behind the house. However, the owners wanted an aesthetically pleasing outlook from their house, so the canal was re-routed to run in front of this gorgeous ‘house’. Seem to have heard that story before somewhere!
It was Jen’s turn to take the helm, and she took this responsibility very seriously.
Sunday morning meant the bells were pealing loudly over Congleton town. As everyone else was obviously at church, we had the main street virtually to ourselves.
Morning coffee scored a 7 or an 8 out of 10, from Grahame and Jen, respectively.
Halloween meant the postbox decorations had gone from sheep in Hawes to pumpkins, mice and goblins in Congleton.
Jen had done her homework and found out Congleton had quite a reputation for bear fighting and cock fighting.
But it was also the birthplace of Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy (1833- 1918), pioneer of the women’s rights movement in the late 19th century. Voting rights for women, accessible education for girls, property and child custody rights for women, were among the issues Elizabeth fought for. Much more noteworthy than bears and roosters, me thinks!
We made our way leisurely back along the Macclesfield Canal to the Trent and Mersey intersection, doing what we all do best.
The weather was so warm, definitely time to smell the roses and make hay while the sun was shining!
Being a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon, we were the entertainment for many of the patrons at the Red Bull at Kidsgrove, who, having polished off their Sunday roasts, were enjoying the Partland/Marjoribanks manoeuvres through the locks. One lady told me they’d been sitting there for 2 hours waiting for a barge to come by!
Our destination for the night was the Broughton Arms at Heath, where we enjoyed a Sunday roast of our very own.
Delicious!
Kanga And Wombats Adventures 