We got on much better with the heating last night, and woke to an exceptionally frosty morning. The roof of the boat and the solar panels were very icy, and both the arm and the canal outside were frozen.
We’d thought we’d head away from the yard for a couple of days, but the ice put paid to that idea. Donna delivered a box of cruising things, such as new mooring pins, a mallet, chains, etc. She also came in for a cuppa, and Jam came and moved the tv booster so it’s more in the corner and out of sight. Then I stowed the new stuff, and found it all fitted in the steerers step.
We also started going through more of the things we brought back yesterday, and rearranged some of the cupboards. I suspect there might be more of this! Then I went out for a walk up the canal, and found it still iced over in places, and big lumps of ice where a boat had broken it.
When I got to the second bridge I took a path down across a field and then a short distance along a road, and dropped down onto the Middlewood Way. This is a path and bridle way made from an old railway line. Had I gone right I’d have reached Middlewood Station, on a line between Manchester and Buxton, which is still in use. But I turned left back towards Higher Poynton. There are a number of bridges, and sections have two paths, so one is horse-free.
When I was back near the boat yard, there’s the former Higher Poynton station, which still has its platforms there, and used as part of the path.
After lunch we drove down to Poynton to buy important things including a washing up bowl, and some more baskets to keep things tidy in cupboards. Back at the yard, we used the exceptionally long hosepipe to fill the water tank. The gauge on the Victron app means you can watch it fill in real time, and know when it’s about to be full!
