Monday November 9th - Adlington

Sunday November 8th – somewhere near Bollington to Wood Lanes!

Once we were up and breakfasted Clive started the engine, untied the boatand we headed back to Wood Lanes.  The main reason for this was that our current mooring had a crap dongle signal and an even worse TV signal!  We made it in about an hour, turned around and moored up facing back towards Macclesfield ready for the morning. 

During the afternoon I was standing in the galley and saw a flash of turquoise and orange zipping passed the window – a kingfisher!  I saw it land on the boat moored in front of us and grabbed the camera. Unfortunately the light was fading and I just couldn’t get a decent shot of it at all – how frustrating!  Anyway at least I know that there is one living in the vicinity of Wood Lanes so I shall keep an eye out for it whilst we are here.

Monday November 9th – Wood Lanes to Macclesfield to Adlington

I set the alarm last night to ensure that we were up bright and early this morning ready for our cruise to Macclesfield –again! 

It was the most glorious morning, bright blue sky and warm sunshine but there was frost on the ground as it had been quite a chilly night. However it was absolutely lovely cruising along in the sunshine.  It took two and a half hours to do the trip and then we moored up again just beyond thebridge, opposite the Hovis Mill - once again about a yard off the bank! 

Clive once again disconnected the old tap and with both taps in a bag we headed off down the road to find The Plumb Centre.  We decided to take a short cut – which we knew about it because the taxi had taken us that way – and we noticed another plumber’s supply place, PTS Supplies, on the way.  I suggested we went in there first – Clive was a bit dubious as he thought they would only deal with the trade but I thought they might be able to advise us at least.  However when we explained to the guy behind the counter what our problem was he promptly came up with the solution!  An adaptor which screwed onto the flexible pipe and then onto the water connectors – perfect!  We bought two for the princely sum of £2!

As we were so close we decided to nip to Tesco’s and just pick up a few more bits and pieces then we headed back up to the boat.  When we got back Clive decided to fit the new tap there and then, just in case there were any other problems, in which case we were close enough to nip back to PTS! However it all went smoothly and we now have a bright shiny new tap and no more leaks – yippee!

New tap, fitted and working!

We had a bite of lunch and a cuppa then Clive untied the boat, quickly turned her around and we were off again, back the way we had come.

Dave Bassett is coming over tomorrow to fit the new cratchboard and window and we wanted a convenient place to meet him.  He needs to be able to bring his car as near to the canal as possible because the cratchboard with the window will be quite heavy.  We have managed to find a perfect spot just beyond a bridge at Adlington, where very conveniently there just happens to be a free council car park right next to the canal! 

So when we left Macclesfield that is where we headed for, it was about an hour and a half’s cruise. Once again we were enjoying cruising in the lovely sunshine and I had just expressed my surprise at the clarity of the sky– not a single cloud in sight as far as the eye could see, absolutely fabulous.  However about ten minutes later Clive glanced behind and noticed that there were large, grey clouds gathering in the distance! Within minutes they had caught up with and overtaken us and we were suddenly shrouded in mist!  What is more the temperature had plummeted and it was really cold.  We were both absolutely astonished at the speed with which the weather had completely changed. 

I had taken a photograph of one of the roving bridges a few minutes before Clive noticed the clouds behind us, just to show the contrast in the weather I took a second photograph of the next bridge we came too, which was about thirty minutes later and as you can see there is quite a difference!

The roving bridge bathed in winter sunshine

Just half an hour later we came to this bridge - look at the difference!

The bridge just about visible in the mist!

Fortunately we didn’t have far to go and were soon moored next to the car park as planned. We couldn’t get inside fast enough, by this time it was very cold indeed and we were really looking forward to warming up with a cuppa in front of a roaring stove!

So we will wait here tomorrow for Dave to catch up with us.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that the rain, which is forecast, doesn’t arrive too early thus allowing him the chance to work without getting soaked!  We will probably remain here for another night and then return to Wood Lanes on Wednesday morning. Hopefully my cousin Stephanie and her husband Chris will manage to pop in and see us whilst we are there and later my sister Thelma is coming over to see us and hopefully stopping the night.