As the weather was better than expected, we decided to take a trip to Buxton. We walked up the Middlewood Way to Middlewood Station; it’s about 40 minutes walk. From there the train takes about half an hour to get to Buxton, passing sections of the Peak Forest Canal at Furness Vale and Whaley Bridge. Buxton was a bit murkier than back in Cheshire, but we had a mooch about, going past the Opera House and into the Pavilion Conservatory.
The Crescent is now mostly a hotel, but it’s also where some of the natural spring baths are.
We found a nice cafe for lunch, then had a wander round the town centre. Adrian got some fleece-lined winter boating trousers, and we found some half price crackers for Christmas Day. Then we went back up the hill to the station, got a train bc, to Middlewood, and walked back to the boat. It was beginning to get dark by the time we arrived.
Of course a lot of our conversation today has been about the terrible breach on the Llangollen at Whitchurch. It must have been really frightening to have that happen in the early hours of the morning, and shocking to see people’s boats (and homes) in the bottom of the hole.
On a brighter note, the latest issue of Canal Boat is out, and includes a piece they’ve done about my podcast, The Water Road. Nice to get a mention on the front cover too, and hopefully it will bring a few new listeners.
