When I took the shower room porthole bung out this morning there was a strange pink glow outside, so I had to see what was going on through a non-frosted window. From the galley I could see the sky was bright red.
Red sky in the morning is a shepherd’s warning — and the forecasts for today and tomorrow were for a lot more rain. We were in no rush to get going as the rain came down, but by mid-morning things seemed to have eased a bit. I walked to the post box and decided I probably wouldn’t get too wet if we set off. So we untied and made our way past the other boats moored at Gurnett Aqueduct. As we did so, a kingfisher flew from bush to bush, waiting for us to pass and then moving to the next one. The usual poor quality photos followed!
We’d originally thought we’d go all the way down to the top of Bosley Locks before turning around, but local knowledge seems to be that it’s difficult for anything longer than about 50ft to get round above the top lock, because the feeder arm is now very silted up. So we decided instead that we’d turn at the first winding hole we came to, and return to Macclesfield. The section between bridges 44 and 45 is quite exposed, and the wind was blowing straight at me, so it wasn’t very pleasant. I turned just after Bridge 45 and headed back. Along that section it was a job to keep in a straight line because of the wind; the hills up ahead looked rather dramatic. I think one of them is Tegg’s Nose, but I’m not sure which.
Moorings in Macclesfield are not the best, and if the pontoon ones are full there’s nowhere else really to go when heading north. But people also moor between bridges 40 and 39, so I’d earmarked that. There are back gardens opposite, but an open space on the towpath side, so it’s not too bad.
We were cold and wet, so took a while to warm up, then after lunch headed out for a little walk as the rain had stopped. There’s a handy little Co-op not far away, and as I walked a bit further I also passed the firm which supplied and fitted our galley worktops.
3 miles, 0 locks. (20 miles, 0 locks)