Yellow duckling

yellow duckling - a rare sight

paired locks

Lottie woke us at 6.30 to go out and use the dog toilet. When we cast off there was high grey cloud cover but no rain in sight. Lottie loved the rural aspect and explored each lock reveling in her freedom. 

only one working lock here

We moored for an hour at Rode Heath to buy milk. Lottie seemed disappointed when we moved off as she likes the rabbit trails but soon made the most of us queuing at the next lock by exploring a open field there.I enjoyed counting ducklings as we cruised on, one mother had twelve! Another had one bright yellow ball of fluff among her offspring.

We had spots of rain as we headed to the next group of locks then it brightened up. The Cheshire locks were built as pairs but some of the locks have become dilapidated and can no longer be used and a couple have been filled in. It is pleasant to walk up to a pair of locks and find one ready to use though once both were against us.

As we left the last lock at Hassall Green it began to rain so we moored up quickly. We had lunch as the rain pelted down glad to be inside and had a lazy afternoon after doing a bit of cleaning.

The Captain was clearly in some discomfort. When the rain finally stopped at 3.30 he declared he liked the mooring and was happy to stay put.