Beeston Stone lock

Keen to explore new waters we turned Rainboat round and headed North West towards Ellesmere Port. It took a long time to leave Nantwich as we needed to fill with diesel, pick up the oils and filters we'd ordered from Nantwich Canal Centre for Rainboat's next service, then fill the near empty water tank and get rid of rubbish and recycling.

The bright sunshine and unfamiliar warmth of the day made these jobs seem less arduous. We were therefore in good spirits when we passed the junction with the Middlewich Branch, from which we'd emerged early in November. The character of the Shropshire Main Line is markedly different from that of the Llangollen. For one it is wider, with more housing, old industry and roads bordering the towpath. The locks are double width and have little domed brick structures alongside, which may have been something to do with controlling water levels.

Vicky was pretty low on energy so Will got off with Tiger and worked the Bunbury staircase lock and the one after that. We'd forgotten how much longer the larger locks take and time was ticking on. Towards the end of our journey the blue skies changed to an intense steel grey and it began to hail. The cruise took 6.5 hours in total and we were so knackered we didn't even notice we'd moored under a half fallen tree until the next morning, which brought a beautiful frosty fog with it.Read more