On Thursday afternoon we had the spectacle of the Mayfly hatch with thousands of the little fellows everywhere. Apparently there are not many around this year due to the wet winter. They only live for a day or two after hatching, Once they have mated the female dips down onto the water and releases her eggs.
We pulled pins at 07.45 on Friday morning and headed towards Grindley Brook locks. It consists of 6 locks in total, 3 ordinary locks and a staircase of 3 locks. After coming through the first 3 locks ok we were second in the cue to go up the staircase.
At least here the lockie was very helpful and it wasn’t long before we got to the top ,When we got to the top there were 5 boats waiting to come down and we were told it was busy the day before with boats having to wait over an hour, although in peak season you can sometimes expect to wait up to 3 hours. Above the lock we filled with water and used the waste facilities.
After Grindley locks there are no more locks for twenty miles..But there are still a few lift bridges where Carolyn can wield her windlass …….
Just after Prees junction you come across this nature reserve. The Fens,Whixall and Bettisfield nature reserve, . It is enormous and the guide says it is home to a large number of Adders (snakes), As soon as Carolyn read that there was no chance of us stopping to have a look around.
As we reached Bettisfield we came across nb Kingfisher. This is the first boat we hired many years ago and it sowed the seeds for the life aboard we now have.
Just after Bettisfield and the other side of bridge 50 we picked up this peaceful rural mooring for the night.
On Saturday we had a bit of a late start and never pulled pins until 09.45 and set off for Ellesmere. We hoped we could get a mooring on the arm that goes in to the town as Since last time we were here they have built a new Tesco and with the wine and beer stock being depleted it would be easy to replenish it. Oh.. and we will buy some food as well.
We passed this boat on the way…..Its not as long as Inca its only ??????
After Entering the Ellesmere arm it’s a short distance to the end and in to the winding hole to turn around..(and yes Stewart I did cheat and use a bit of bow thruster to help us around).
We picked up this 72 hour mooring about 100 yards from Tesco. We ended up doing 3 separate trips to Tesco but at least we are now fully stocked although the old wallet took a bit of a hammering.
On Sunday we had a walk over to The Mere which is a large lake on the other side of Ellesmere and came across The Shropshire Triathlon. If only we had known it was on we could have entered ourselves. There were some very fit men and some very fit women taking part.
After dodging the showers we returned to Inca and Carolyn took a load or two of the bigger items for washing up to the launderette, the main items being the dogs beds and blankets. Although we have a washing machine and tumble dryer on Inca they are only a half size ones and they only take 3.5 kg of clothes. With a roast dinner in the oven and a bottle of Merlot open and breathing it will be an evening with the Grand Prix and watching Britain's got talent and hoping our nephew Matt gets in to the semi final with his dance group Crazy Rouge.
Happy Days
well that was a very good blog, xxx
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