...and the weather keeps coming

Today was supposed to be the start of the nice stuff weather wise, so to wake to more spitty spiteful rain was one thing but it’s big sister mrs wind was back and gusting from the north to add more flavour to the weather mix. 

It was a long day today 21 locks and a bit of distance to get off the Trent and Mersey and onto the Middlewich arm/branch of the Shroppie. 

Only thing of note was we got a lock turned in front of us by a lovely lady on a private boat, no big deal other than the wind was a challenge to Percy blowing right across the canal to the off side  threatening  to pin Percy in the shallows, it all ended ok. 

We did the servicy bits at Weelock when it went from quiet to mad busy in the blink of an eye. But we were quick and soon passed the bushes where many years ago our youngest jumped from the roof of the share boat we had straight onto the boat hook that penetrated his trainers and right into his foot.... resulting in a visit to Crewe A&E ! 

We shared the lock duties a I drew the short straw of the turn onto the Wardle canal, just being beaten to it by a boat coming from the north. It was busy but nothing like the queue busy we had when I last did the ring anti-clockwise. The timings and no doubt later in the summer it’ll be the place to Gongoozle as there is just one top paddle in operation so mayhem will possibly be evident.

We pressed on past the  Middlewich moorings to a lovely mooring on rings ( thank you Shropshire union society).

An easier locking day tomorrow but I am expecting  boat numbers to increase as the marinas start to empty and the hire boats keep coming out.... all good fun and what the canals need.

Leia ever patient at the locks 

The weather ....

More weather 

It took a lot of wind to shift the heavy clouds 

We did try and tell the hire boat crew there was not a lot of room on the Wardle canal.... thankfully they eventually pulled back to give everyone a chance to get where they needed to be !