Narrowboat Serafina: Three Days from the Macclesfield Canal Junction to Middlewich

It's been three busy days since we left our mooring along the Macclesfield canal, the lock tally continues to mount. We have settled in Middlewich for the next couple of days. Our trip count in Serafina, to date:

Locks: 31

Miles: 22

The scenery along the way has been beautiful, the villages have been rather small but quaint but they always seem to have a beautiful old pub. Rode Heath, our second night stop, was no exception. After a busy day working the locks Rachael and I got changed and went over to the pub, The Broughton Arms, right next to our mooring for a few cold drinks to finish the day. The weather on this trip has generally been great, apart from our first day it has been sunshine since then.

We were underway about 9am on day three of the trip and heading for Wheelock, once again prepared for a busy day on the locks. This day was a 14 lock day! Locks slow down the trip considerably, it seems to take around 10 - 15mins to negotiate each lock depending on whether you are the first boat there when another boat has just come up. There is nothing like arriving at a lock and the water is lapping the top of the lock gate just ready to be opened, rather than having to fill the lock first before entering. We continued on to Wheelock arriving too late for a nice mooring beside the park and having to settle for the side of the canal further down, at the back of industrial shed. Wheelock took all of 10 minutes to explore with a few pubs, a fish and chip shop, a convenience store and a very handy Pet Food Super Store.

With time on my side it was an opportunity to inspect the holding (ie poo) tank under our bed for signs of where smells were emanating. Turns out that not only was the Holding Tank Meter not screwed down correctly, with only two of the six screws fastened, but it was under reading as well! Our next priority job is to relieve the holding tank of its contents at the earliest possible time!

Middlewich is a popular destination for boaters, it is an old salt town from Roman times and a busy canal junction. Over the weekend there had been a boat and folk music festival and we expected that moorings would still be at a premium. Our plan was to get away early, knock over the last six locks and get to Middlewich around lunch time. I like it when a good plan comes together! We arrived at Middlewich and at the junction with the Shropshire Union Middlewich Branch canal ready to turn west, there were boats everywhere. We queued for our turn to go up the junction which was blocked after 20 metres by the last lock of the day, we were number two. After negotiating the last lock for the day we managed to find a nice mooring just a 100 metres up the canal.

Middlewich is a larger town than what we have passed through recently so it was a chance to walk the 10 minutes to a larger supermarket and stock up on food. It was also a chance to get to a large chandlery to pick up a few boat bits and pieces, specifically a cover for the flue now that the chimney is removed for summer. Oh, and blue for the loo to help it do what it does.

While I was at the chandlery I mentioned I needed a form printed to renew the boat licence, they told me that the local library could help me out, I didn't think of that. I'm so use to just having things like printers available and fifteen minutes down the road in the car is a long, long walk to buy one.

Tomorrow is a chance to sleep in and relax, I think Rachael has a little shopping trip planned.