It was forecast to be a nice day today, so we’d already decided we’d take a trip to Marple. We set off about 9.15 and while it was sunny there was still quite a chilly wind.
We started off an electric propulsion while we went past all the moored boats, then changed to diesel in an attempt to charge the batteries a bit. We’d been unplugged since lunchtime on Monday and the batteries were down to 66 per cent by the time I turned the engine on; however, we’d also done washing and had the drier on for our whole journey, so that used most of what we were generating. When we reached Marple we stopped on the water point, which another boat was just vacating, to fill the tank. Then there was a nice moment when a lady called across from a boat opposite to say that she and her husband have been enjoying the podcast.
We hadn’t come past any vacant moorings on the approach to Marple, and while the tank filled I walked round the junction to see if there were any there. The answer was mostly no, there was just a space before the first boat, but the bow would be next to quite a bank so it could be difficult. When we came through the junction, we decided to reverse up to the space anyway, to see if we could moor; then the guy in the first boat said he was just leaving so we could pull back further. There’s piling, but quite low down, but the stern is still a good foot away from the bank. However it’s a nice spot right by the junction.
After lunch we walked down the first few locks to Stockport Road, where there’s a towpath tunnel under the road.
We walked past the cinema and into the town centre, which has a pleasant pedestrianised street.
There’s a decent Co-op at the far end of the road, and then we walked up the hill to find the canal again.
4 miles, 0 locks. (5 miles, 0 locks)