18 October 2023

What is it about Wednesday???

So far the horror weather conditions have stayed away. Although it is pretty windy. And by the end of the day it got a bit wet as well! Yes the wet weather gear came out late this afternoon but the r#*n was more a nuisance than an inconvenience. (It was hardly worth the effort.)

Our visitors from last night were still with us this morning. And they looked so cute, growing into their white feathers. (Maybe that’s when the turn nasty!!!)

Anyway, one lock down it was all hands on deck as the stress levels ran high.

After yesterdays mishap at the Barbridge Junction, John was particularly concerned about our next sharp right onto the Trent and Mersey. It was a tricky one. We had to exit a lock, pass under a narrow bridge, turn sharp right, pass under another bridge and into the first lock of the Trent and Mersey all within a very short space (And Ellie is a longboat!) Given the strong wind, the danger of Ellie being blown off path and into boats parked in the other side was high. (See the yellow circle below). Fortunately there were no boats moored on the other side today so we only had the wind to contend with.

John and Grahame did a reconnaissance before we set sail and devised a plan.

Show time!!! The plan worked (although I wasn’t thrilled to be sent to the cocktail lounge as…. Ballast!! ) and we made the turn easily and before we knew it we were heading, once again, along the Trent and Mersey Canal.

The swans were out in force to greet us back on this canal and we had a peaceful, if not windy passage, through to Wheelock

Wheelock had a CRT water point and a little village with The Cheshire Cheese Pub. It was noon, so we thought we would take advantage of being ahead of schedule and stop there for lunch. A quick walk revealed that it was closed til 2 pm. Darn it. Should have done a bit more research!! We dined onboard instead.

The afternoon was spent meandering our way toward Rode Heath and our old friend the Broughton Arms. (We are almost life members there now.)

The countryside was stunning, with still lots of dairy farms and lots of dairy farm smells.

Ellie motored past little marinas ….

…..Under the M6 ….

…. Past cute cottages ….

…. Until we reached The Broughton Arms and our mooring for the night.

I had my first traditional English meal of the trip. Chicken Tikka Marsala, and boy!!!, was it good!!!

The pub was decked out for Halloween as per usual. These ghosts were particularly spooky and the best we’ve seen so far.

Grahame and I had a win at Euchre! The cumulative score now stands at John and Jenny 7, Grahame 6 and Judi 2. Judi’s still hoping for a late comeback but with only a couple of nights left, she may have left her run too late!!!

There may have been even more wind in our cabin tonight, and I blamed Grahame, even if he didn’t have the Chicken Tikka Masala.