11 October 2023

I obviously spoke too soon about the weather. If yesterday was perfect, today was the exact opposite. It r*#ned all day long with only the occasional let up. Our wet weather gear was certainly put to good use, as there really is no avoiding being outside if you are on the move. And on the move we were!!

We had drawn badges for our allocated tasks and despite having a big day ahead, it seemed that no one was actually in charge. (Jenny: Deck Scrubber, Grahame: Duck Spotter, Judi: Galley Slave and John: General Dogsbody) .

Fortunately, John had the necessary qualifications to take control and manoeuvred Ellie perfectly in the winding hole 180 degrees, heading her back along the Trent and Mersey to Middlewich.

We passed back through the chemical plants and narrow waterways with Judi now at the helm. Not sure that Galley Slaves are allowed above deck but we decided to promote her for the time being.

Not long after, the heavens well and truly opened and out came the wet weather gear for the remainder of the day.

Those who know me, know that I don’t mind a spot of r#*n I happily took my turn at the tiller under Grahame’s watchful eye. I’m still “Pointing at Problems” but actually progressed to a little throttle usage as well. I guess that means I now hold my Full Tiller License (FTL) and now have a “Provisional Throttle Licence.” (PThL ).

We arrived back at the Big Lock late morning and negotiated the three tricky corner locks with relative ease.

We finally got to turn right, leaving the Trent and Mersey for now, and entered the “Shropshire Canal : Middlewich branch” for the run to Barbridge Junction. We were happy to pass through that dreaded second lock that had caused us such grief. By now the backlog of barges needing to pass through had subsided and we had a clear run.

It continued to r#*n consistently all afternoon and Ellie’s central heating was on full bore, drying out our gear.

The scenery was still lovely! Green rolling hills with lots of smelly farms and cow sheds.

We passed the occasional fellow traveller, stupid enough, like us, to be out in the lousy weather.

We were relieved to arrive at Barbridge around 5:30 pm after a long, wet day on the water.

We moored, and headed straight to the Old Barbridge Inn to warm up and treat ourselves to a well earned ale or two.

Imagine our surprise to be welcomed by this bloke.

We asked the significance of having Captain Cook on their wall. The Bar tenders response?? “Maybe he drank here!!!”

We warmed up a little and had a drink where Captain Cook once drank (??) before returning to Ellie for dinner on board ( Tacos).

In our evening game of Euchre, girls went down to the boys in a nail biter. Sadly it means John is now on 4 points, Grahame on 2 points and Judi and I both on 1 point.

Despite the euchre result and the less than brilliant weather, it was still a good, good day.