7am. Still dark.
Today we worked 23 locks. That’s more in one day than on the whole length of the Llangollen!
But the day began with a victory for John. Because of the strong wind, he’d been super stressed out about negotiating the corner where the Middlewich Branch joins the Trent and Mersey.
It meant navigating around a sharp right turn immediately after a road bridge, then face another road bridge just before a lock.
John was so concerned about possible misadventure that he and Grahame went on a reconnoitre prior, just to check out the reality of the situation.
Armed with this additional knowledge, we set off!
The wind was actually partly in our favour, so John managed the turn beautifully! And he was pretty chuffed with himself!
Our ascent up to Kidsgrove began. It was a gorgeous morning, and the Awesome Foursome worked their magic both on land and water.
The cows were happy to share the paddock with the geese, but I reckon cow No. 181 had more dignity than cow No. 63C!
Many of the locks used to be ‘doublers’. But unfortunately, some had been relegated to single status.
In the afternoon we swapped roles, and perspectives!
Through either good planning or just ‘hoping and praying’, we ended up at what could be called our ‘local’, the Broughton Arms at Rode Heath. This was our 4th visit there! And the pub grub was pretty darned good.
The girls at the table next to us had ordered a Rocky Road Sundae, and although none of us could really fit in any dessert, we just had to order one. It looked amazing!
Delicious!
Kanga And Wombats Adventures 