Flying up Bosley

The Captain was ordering his first beer in the splendid Sutton Hall bar, a manor house and former convent, when he occasioned a passing remark about his glowing phizzhog. The bar man asked if we'd been in another country. Only Cheshire, we replied.

A full day of sun and high winds made the ascent through the 12 locks of the Bosley flight quite interesting. In the end, we figured  that the only way to make any progress was to keep going at speed; one of us running between locks to avoid Lucy Belle being pinned against the bank by the high winds. It was quite a marathon.

The countryside changed as we moved closer towards Macclesfield with familiar high peaks and gentle farmland. We badly needed a tea stop and somewhere for Jem to stretch out after banging off the sides of the narrowest locks in the country.

We tied up in a tranquil, sunny spot at a lovely mooring just down from the Fool's Nook. The pub said it was "currenty closed due to flooding". Curious. This was our planned dinner stop  but it looked flyblown.

We pressed on to Sutton Lane where we are tied up for the night. We had yet more excitement with an electric swingbridge and a jammed manual swingbridge. Luckily, we met young adventurers on their way to Leeds. It took all 4 of us to get out of trouble. There always seems to be something unexpected to foul your plans on the water. But, all in all, it turned out to be gorgeous day and evening for us.

Not so good for Jemma who endured a solid 2.5 hours of lock mania and managed to fall down the steps into Lucy Belle's saloon.  Although shaken, she has since stirred, and is now stretched out in front of a roaring stove having her ears rubbed. So we are hoping she'll recover. Tomorrow we meander slowly homeward towards Furness Vale. We plan to have an easier day with visits to Macclesfield, Bollington and our last sleepover in High Green.