Double Hail

Cheshire locks

It looked so pleasant the Captain  declared, “we might get a full day’s cruising in!” I wasn’t so sure but was glad his optimism had returned after a good night’s sleep.

We locked steadily down into Wheelock enjoying the dry but windy weather. We filled with water and set off again as it started to rain. Dark clouds amassed quickly. The Captain moored just before the railway knowing beyond that a busy road thunders alongside the canal for miles. He was determined to stay dry this time. It rained heavily for two hours during which time other boats moored up by us.

from peace..

 It brightened up by 2.00 and blue sky appeared so we got moving and ambled through pleasant surroundings until after the first lock where the road closed in and roared close alongside.

Locking is harder and slower with the road so close as Lottie has to be kept on a lead. At last we reached Kings lock and moored up as we needed to go shopping before continuing onto the Middlewich branch.

One boat left the lock and sped past inconsiderately as we struggled to tighten the mooring ropes. Within minutes a hire boat (that had moored on the lock pins) swung

...to a noisy road running alongside

across the canal its front mooring rope dangling.  Both boats were at fault one shouldn’t have been moored there while the other boat was moving too fast. The crew of the hire boat shot out of the pub and ran to rescue their floating home.

“Who tied that up,” said a boater wearing a captain's hat. As he was clutching the keys it might have been him, but any disaster is the captain’s fault. 

The weather was fine as we trekked to the distant supermarket but while the Captain  chose our dinners it began to hail. Lottie and I took shelter in the narrow doorway. A father emerged with his young son.

waterside garden

“Put your hood up,” he said.

The boy ignored him but soon ran back to our little shelter when he felt the stinging stones. by the time the Captain  joined us there were six assorted people (and one hound) sheltering from the storm.

When the squall blew over we trudged back to the boat. The hire boat was moored on the lock pins again. The absence of crew suggested they were back in the pub.

The rain stopped so we set off again to try and find a mooring away from the main road as we didn’t want to spend the evening with traffic thundering by only a metre from our window.

We went through Kings lock in the dry but black clouds billowed up from nowhere.

There was a slight delay as a hire boat had just entered the first lock on the Middlewich arm. As I closed up after them the sky opened once again. My hound deserted me and fled through the bridge back to the Captain . By the time our boat had risen through the lock the hire boat had moored up (very sensible) and the hail storm had blown away.

red clouds at night

However it had been worth moving as the mooring on this piece of canal was idyllic. We had a steep bank on our side of the cut and beautiful long gardens  lined the other side.

Lottie was keen to explore, so while the Captain  played in his engine pit we walked along the towpath. The area was silent apart from animated bird song. It was a beautiful place to moor.