Some days of contrast; Day 35 was a slow start and we didn’t plan to go too far as the forecast was for it to be windy, which indeed it was we started down the Cheshire locks (sometimes known as heart break hill). It was really warm and most were set against us. As we went down the gill it got windier with D staying in the tail of one lock until J set the next if at all possible. The job was made more difficult because many of the locks had been left with the bottom gates open, in one case with the paddles up. This is a real no-no; you would think the boating fraternity would be particularly conscious of this at the moment as it is believed that the breach at Middlewich was, at least, partially caused by paddles being left up (Middlewich is really quite close to here). Generally the canal seemed really quiet, which is surprising given it is the bank holiday / half term. Moorings at Rode Heath were quite busy but the wind was really strong now so we moored up. Had our first visit to a pub! left when we started to hear thunder but the storm didn’t reach us until much later, although heavy it wasn’t that bad but the wind gusts were rocking the boat like a cradle.

Day 36 dawned bright and completely calm, really warm from the start with D in shirt sleeves at 8am (unheard of). J’s day didn’t start so well as, having put the tiller up, she returned to the rear deck and blinded by the sunlight she nutted the end of the tiller breaking the skin on the bridge of her nose; very painful

Good progress but some locks set really oddly, met a few boats coming up, until we got to Malkin’s bank where we were greeted with the news that the pound two locks below was empty and that two women had been cycling the locks to try to fill it. When we got there the depth was just about there so they decided we should go down with the next lock load of water. We managed to get through the pound and into the lock on the lower side which for some reason the people there had been filling slowly. There was a queue of about five boats with about 15 people waiting at the bottom. What J couldn’t understand was why there were only two people trying to raise the level of the pound. When we last went down this flight we had a similar problem and J and sister C had to fill a pound so we could get through. Uneventful run into Middlewich which seemed comatose except Kings Lock pub which was really busy. After searching fruitlessly for ice-cream we abandoned the overheated boat (about 31 degrees inside) and sought shelter in the shade of a tree with a cold pint. Sad to see the remains of a cabin cruiser which was 99% submerged on the up side Kings lock moorings having been the subject of an arson attack ten days previously.

You see all sorts of creatures in the canal, including a surprising number of these

Perfectly still evening didn’t allow the boat to cool down much even with as many openings (doors, windows, hatches) as we could manage in the boat.