Busy Easter

We had stopped below Grindley Brook locks during the Easter weekend as many high speed boaters rushed to join the queue at the locks. They do not seem to realise that the large wash they make not only rocks moored boats but also damages the bank and kills the poor little ducklings. “Not that we have seen any yet.” Not really surprising that there have been so many breaches of the bank on this popular canal. So it was three boats up and three down as we watched on the sunny Saturday under the control of two lock keepers.

When we went up on Tuesday we were on our own with the lock keeper thankful for something to do. Once at the top we filled with water, used the facilities and dumped rubbish. Then set off for Whitchurch. Once past the swing bridge it was a sharp turn left so was easier to turn further on and then back down the short canal towards town. There was plenty of space here for us visitors. Plans to extend the canal further into town seem to have been scrapped.

Then it was off to rediscover the shops in town some way up the hill towards the church. We found a good butcher and hardware shops willing to take our money for their goodies.

Back at the boat we saw that the moorings were now full. During the evening there was some disturbance and we discovered that our flag had been removed from the roof. We suspect a couple of boys off the boat behind.

Next day Ann went off through the park to Tesco, thankfully not so far up the hill. I went later after the many visiting boats had left and helped bring the food back. We then moved out and headed back to Grindley Brook stopping at the top for the night. In the morning the lock keepers were well busy as we joined the queue to go down.

This time more boats going down than up and managed to do 12 lock miles in sunshine to stop just short of Wrenbury.