The mooring above the Dane-in-Shaw Aqueduct was glorious, especially as we had it to ourselves. This morning we could hear a very elaborate bird song, which the Merlin app told me was a blackcap. And it was sunny again! As we’d got all yesterday’s washing dry we put another load on before we left. Even so, we were under way just after 9. Just around the corner is a very wide spill weir, which would take excess water from the canal down to Shaw Brook. The stones mean cyclists have to get off and walk.
At Congleton we went over a road on another aqueduct.
We were retracing our steps from the past couple of days, but the scenery is so good you can easily see it twice.
A property which calls itself Teapot Hall has had a For Sale sign appear since we came past on Saturday. It has lots of religious slogans all over it, and its interior design is, shall we say, ecclectic. It’s up for overs over £210,000 and the estate agent appears to have been on something when writing the description.
We stopped at the water point before Hall Green Lock to top up the tank, and while we did so a boat came up the lock. We were just finishing, so we all swapped places, them going onto the water point while we went into the lock and dropped the one foot down. We moored up a little further on, just before Red Bull Aqueduct. After lunch, we walked along the towpath and took our rubbish and recycling down to the Red Bull Services. Which are a couple of locks further down the Trent and Mersey. There are steps between the two canals. We walked back up the T&M, going under the Poole Aqueduct that we’ll cross over tomorrow.
We found the Tesco nearby and did enough shopping for tonight and tomorrow morning. We came back along the road, so we could see the Red Bull Aqueduct from below. We’ll also be going over this one tomorrow.
It’s been really warm today, and we’re going to get the Cobb barbecue out later. We are still just in Cheshire too, although Staffordshire is only a couple of hundred yards away.
5 miles, 1 lock. (19 miles, 2 locks)
