Northern Exposure: Day 17

Now that we’ve made the decision that we’re heading home, we seem to have a new sense of purpose — particularly because we have a sneaking suspicion that it may not be long before there’s some sort of lockdown and we’re stopped from cruising at all.  We have a plan, and a plan b.

We set off just before 8, and after a mile stopped at the canalside Aldi in Leigh.  We’d hoped to use the moorings right outside, but other boaters had had the same idea, so we stopped on the other side of the canal and Adrian walked over the bridge.  In under half an hour he was back, with virtually everything that had been on our list.  We set off again, straight back onto the Bridgewater.  With the canal on an embankment for much of the way, there was a great view of the mighty Winter Hill transmitter on our left hand side.

I was a bit surprised to see a tank in a field, but it turned out to be a target at a driving range.  We retraced our steps back through Worsley, where there’s a busy boat yard.

On the approach to Monton, a dog walker alerted me to a mattress in the water — but at least it was floating so I could avoid it, and I could pass the message on to two boats coming the other way.  We re-crossed the Barton Swing Aqueduct — and this time the view is towards Salford and Manchester.

We were soon back on the main line of the Bridgewater, and facing the long long straight section through Sale.  While we’d been going along, Adrian had made some mushroom soup using mushrooms which were perhaps a little past their best — in human years, they would probably have been told to self-isolate.  It was very tasty, and exactly what we needed for lunch.

We made very good progress — the Bridgewater is both wide and deep, so you can go at a decent pace — so we made our intended target of Dunham Massey by 1pm.  We carried on, and stopped at the water point at Little Bollington where we filled the tank and got a load of washing going.  Once we were going again, we went under a bridge at the same time as a tractor went over.

Our next target was Lymm, but we were there at 3pm.  The White House by the bridge is the home of Matthew Corbett, the guardian of Sooty.

So we keep going, through Thelwall, Grappenhall, and Stockton Heath.  At Higher Walton the rhododendron-lined cutting looked lovely in the sinking sunshine.

We stopped at Moore, just before the little shop right by the canal.  It was almost 5pm; I can’t actually remember the last time we put in such a long day, and certainly not when we covered so many miles.  We’ve done a big reverse-C shape — Pennington Flash to Moore is actually only 12 miles by road.

30 miles, 0 locks.  (228 miles, 96 locks)