Back again

Well it seems like open live writer is working for us again so it looks like we are now Alive and Kicking once more .I just don't understand how something is working perfectly and then for no reason it stops working .Open live writer is a programme that allows you to write a blog offline and then post it to blogger when ever you want unlike blogger where you have to upload the pictures then write the blog around them . This is so handy for us because we often have times when we have very little Internet and it can take hours to upload the pictures. I still can’t find out what happened to the pictures from our previous blogs . The pictures are still on my computer so maybe there is a way to get them back ,just wish I knew how to do it..

So it’s now catch up time from our last post 2 weeks ago and it will take a few posts to catch up. We pulled pins from our mooring at Lymm at 07.05 and headed towards the end of The Bridgewater canal and then onto The Trent and Mersey canal . Arriving at Preston Brook tunnel we had to wait for half an hour as we slightly mistimed getting there .

Leaving The Bridgewater canal  and joining The Trent an Mersey we pass though this lock which was just built to stop the rival canal companies from stealing each others water.

After a long days cruise we picked up this mooring on a Flash which was a couple of miles short of Middlewich .With trees for shade we will have a day or two here to chill out with a glass or three of the red stuff of course.

Sunset over the Flash . Just the ticket.

We hadn't bought any diesel for over 6 weeks so when coal boat Halsall came past we stopped him and got him to fill us up, as always we try to use the fuel boats when possible as it’s these guys that break the ice to get to us in the Winter . We had used 135 litres and in that time had done The ribble link up to The Lancaster canal so that wasn't that bad and at 68p per litre it was a good price

After a couple of days chilling we pressed on pulling pins at 08.10 and were soon in Middlewich . After doing a shop in the town we headed up the locks and passed this piece of excellent mooring. I guess he was a little bit on the long side to fit in the gap.

Why on earth would you have this on the front of your boat ?. Carolyn said he might be a retired sheep farmer who was missing his Sheep.

After another longish day we moored below Wheelock locks which is the start of what's known as heartbreak hill . In total there are 24 locks which will take us up to Harecastle tunnel . As you can see many of these locks are duplicated so there are two single locks next to each other to speed things up . There are similar locks at Hillmorton.

Going up the locks we had another boat using the lock next to us . It worked out very well because if we were ahead of them we would set their lock for them and vice versa . It’s so good when boaters work together and with a bit of a chat and some banter on the way it makes life so much more enjoyable.

We had intended to stop after 12 locks but as usual we decided to carry on and picked up a mooring above lock 46 which would leave us just 5 locks to do in the morning to get to Harecastle tunnel . Another first for me was catching this little tiddler of a Fish . Its one that I have never caught before in a canal and I’m pretty sure that it’s a Barbel which is normally found in rivers but are being introduced in to some canals.

Tomorrow I want to be left here early so we can be at the tunnel entrance for when they open at 08.00 and try and get through Stoke without stopping.

                                                                                                       Happy Days