North West Passage: Day 24

We slipped away at about 8am to complete the Middlewich Arm. The first lock, just after Aqueduct Marina, has a nice cottage alongside with what looked like a very productive vegetable garden.

These locks are deep, at around 11ft each.

The final lock on the Arm is just after Venetian marina, which is really just a widening of the canal. Then it wasn't long before we reached Barbridge Junction. A boat was reversing across the junction and then turned in; maybe he'd overshot, being unable to see because of the bikes and canoes on his roof.

We turned left at the junction, heading south on the Shroppie. Before long we passed the start of the Llangollen Canal at Hurleston Junction. Before Nantwich I finally managed to get a photo of a kingfisher on this trip. I've seen dozens of them this month, far more than usual. I wonder if they've had a particularly good year for some reason.

Originally at Nantwich the Chester Canal terminated in the arm to the right, which is now the Nantwich Canal Centre; the embankment carrying the canal south had to be built because a landowner didn't want the canal on his land.

By the canal a bit further round at Nantwich there's lots of new housing, with plenty more still being built.

At the two Hack Green Locks, the boat in front said we were the sixth in the procession. We had lunch on the move after the locks, then when we reached Audlem we found lots of boat had moored up so there was no queue for the locks.

We went up the first two lock, then moored so we could go into the village. It's very pleasant, and has a useful Co-op.

We'd decided to stay where we were, partly as we're being picked up by friends later, and partly because the forecast was heavy rain all afternoon. However, the boat on the permanent mooring opposite had its engine running, and the mooring was on a slight bend, so every time the lock was emptied we moved quite a bit. So at 3pm we decided to go up the next eleven locks to the Coxbank moorings whixh are a favourite of ours. There were a few boats coming down, then we caught up with a single hander ahead so had to turn the last few. Even so, we did the eleven in two hours, which is pretty good. Audlem is a very nice flight, and always a pleasure to work -- and the rain never came.

15 miles, 17 locks. (289 miles, 160 locks)