20 October 2023

So !!! There’s a weather thing here at the moment. It has a name. It’s called Babet! And it’s dropping a bit of moisture nearby. And some of it landed on us today!!

We were near Stockton Bridge on the Caldon Canal and the r#*n started before midnight and it didn’t stop.

We were faced with an “over breakfast” decision: continue on the Caldon for a few hours to see what we could see or admit defeat and high tail it back to the Black Prince Marina, where we needed to be before 6 pm this evening anyway. We looked out the door , donned our wet weather gear, found the first available winding hole and cut our losses!!

The rain was relentless, but I do love my wet weather gear, so I was happier than most!!

Basically we just did yesterday afternoon in reverse. And there aren’t many photos because it was too wet to keep getting my phone out and we were just a wee bit busy.

Judi and John bravely stood on deck, manoeuvring Ellie back down the Caldon, while Grahame and I worked the locks and helped get us back to Stoke as quickly as possible.

Everything did look different though. It looked wet!!

There were short breaks in the r#*n and the landscape continued to be pretty.

As we got closer to Stoke, we all took the opportunity to have a nice hot shower. Ellie heats our water while the engine is running, so it was the perfect opportunity to all have hot hot showers. Judi stoically stayed on tiller duty until the rest of us had showered. When it was my turn, I was aware of a little rocking and rolling, and some strange noises, but it wasn’t til later, I learnt that we had had a little “grounding” on one of the bends in the canal where it was a little shallow. Oopsies! The long poles came out and the situation was easily rectified.

We arrived safely back at Etruria (Stoke) not long after midday. Ellie’s heaters were going full bore and by late afternoon we had mostly dried out and were cosy and warm.

We spent the afternoon planning, blogging researching and chatting before heading to Toby’s Carvery for our final dinner together. (Kinda wishing I had done a little packing, but almost all my stuff is in dire need of a wash and I just couldn’t bring myself to deal with that just yet. A laundromat is on our list of to-do’s tomorrow)

Toby’s Carvery is a bit like the old Sizzlers back in the day. A whole pile of meats, Yorkshire puds and potatoes and veg in as many different combos as possible. It’s an all you can eat style setup, and we did just that.

We have done a fair bit of exercise over the last two weeks and we’re well deserving of a “good hearty meal”.

I am very sad to report that the final Euchre game resulted in a win for John and Grahame, meaning they drew the tournament with 8 points a piece. I finished with 7 and Judi 3. Judi and I suggested the boys “Paper Scissors Rock” off for the overall win but both politely declined.

We have had a fabulous time,once again, ( this is our third canal trip as a team) during our two weeks with John and Jude. Despite a few colds and coughs, a bumped head, a wedging in the canal at Barbridge, a minor brief grounding today in the Caldon, a broken lock that upset our early plans and a little bit of wet stuff, it’s been a great canal trip.

We’ve opened and closed more than 142 locks, putt-putted approximately 300 kms, (walking a good far few), helped “rescue” fellow travellers from a breakdown in the Chirk Tunnel, descended the Anderton lift, crossed the Pontcystyllte aqueduct TWICE and passed through the Harecastle tunnel TWICE. We’ve travelled on the Trent and Mersey , the Caldon, the Llangollen, the Macclesfield, the Shropshire Union and the Middlewich Branch canals. Not bad for two weeks. Oh!!! And we’ve visited a few pubs!

Once again , Ellie has been a good friend, keeping us safe, warm and dry. She’s not the young thing she was four years ago, but with age came a little wisdom. She would protest just a little if we pushed her too hard and reminded us that slow travel is great travel. I hope she has lots more canals to tour, locks to negotiate and travellers to transport. Go well Ellie!!!