The Olde Barbridge Inn, Shropshire Union

After only a few minutes of travel we were flagged down by a man walking his old Border Collie on the towpath. "Is that a Lainy Cain boat?" he called. We slowed and he walked alongside, telling us that Lainy and Lisa had built his boat, Once Upon A Dream, directly after Rainboat. Steve and his partner Jessica were moored at Venetian Marina, living on board with their dog Jo and cat Max.

We pulled over and moored outside Dee's Venetian Tea Room at the marina. It was dog friendly so we took Leo and Tiger in. Leo stole the proprietor's heart and even featured as 'Pup of the week' on their Facebook page! When we weren't preoccupied with the dogs we enjoyed chatting with Steve about our boats, Lainy, plans and life in general. We're so glad he called out to us. It would have been very easy to let us go by.

Carrying on through a lock we filled Rainboat with water and went on our way. Unfortunately there'd been no bins for some time and ours were overflowing. After this the journey was uneventful. We turned left from the Middlewich Branch to the main line of the Shropshire Union Canal, mooring shortly afterwards opposite The Olde Barbridge Inn.
Neither of us felt like going out and exploring so we took time to wind down in front of the fire that evening.Read more