Christleton to Barbridge

Sunday 12th August

The first task of the day was to go to the winding hole and turn around! There was a canoe on the side and then a day boat pulled out in front of us so plenty to watch out for!

 John turned us round in the winding hole with no problem at all. 

 I dropped them off and they started walking along the towpath. 

 Dex decided it was time for a swim! 

 There are some lovely canalside gardens along this stretch. 

There are hundreds of moorings on this stretch of canal and it took ages to pass them as we had to go slow. I liked this boat slogan - on  an adventure before dementia 😀

Back past the marina. 

We could see Beeston castle in the distance.

Soon we got to Wharton's lock. There was a boat waiting to come down so they helped John.

We had to avoid this tree that had fallen in the canal.

A duck had already claimed it as a new home 😀

Back in Beeston Iron lock. I hate being in these big locks on your own as the boat gets moved around so much and you can't help being bumped on the sides. It's much nicer sharing these big locks. Apparently the Iron lock was devised by the great Thomas Telford. The ground is soft sand here and stone locks kept being eroded. The iron lock certainly solved that problem.

Beeston stone lock. 

Another boat was waiting to come down so John had some help. I have golfers elbow in my right arm at the moment so struggle with the paddles and gates so poor John is doing all the locks. So I am very grateful when he gets help.

Dex loves his daddy 😀

When we got to Tilstone lock a boat was coming out so I could go straight in.

Finally at the Bunbury staircase locks. You have to make sure the top lock is full so it can fill up the bottom lock when the paddles are open. Pleased to say all went well (we completely messed this up on honeymoon)

Further on we saw some day boats in party mode!

Back at Barbridge junction. It was tricky as a boat was moored by the services which are right next to the turning. Another boat was passing but we squeezed through.

Entrance to the Middlewich branch. We should have been turning up here to head north but all our plans have been thwarted because of its closure and the water shortages on other canals. So we will end our boating adventure soon. We will find somewhere to put her into brokerage. To be honest we are both getting a bit boat crazy anyway so enough is enough. But for now we will continue to enjoy our travels.

This house had a wonderful balcony and a hot tub in the garden.

This house had a great roof garden.

We moored outside the Barbridge Inn. We ate here on honeymoon so went back in for dinner. It was a lovely meal but not quite as good as we had remembered.

Later Dex and I went for a walk and enjoyed the sunset.