SATURDAY. Moorings, Top of Marple locks
The 2008 trip thus far: 409Locks; 732.5 Miles; 72 Swing\Lift Bridges. Bus pass journeys 36
A short day in prospect, it was raining again as I put the kettle on for our wake up cup of tea.
We started the 16 Bosley locks at 8.45am, Myra handling the boat as the bottom paddles are stiff owing to the water pressure in these deep locks. This flight is one of our favourites; the sheer rugged stonework is a pleasure to behold, the design of the bridges compliments the overall appearance – all of this on a system for moving goods. The locks also fill and empty quickly, but not enough to prevent you looking around at the scenery.
At 11.05, we arrived at the top. We had stopped to talk to a few people on the way; at the top lock, a couple from Manchester had never seen a boat going up in a lock. They saw Myra and Martlet do just that; then they had a short ride to our mooring spot and a look inside. As they said, you take things on your doorstep for granted, they are going to look with more interest at the canals from now on.
The view from our mooring was of distant hills, a pleasant sight for a short boating day; we walked into Marple for a look around, get Fish and Chips (very good!) for lunch, also a paper.
Weather – Drizzle then dry and sunny intervals.
