Saturday 24th July
I haven’t bored you lately so here is the latest drivel!
Thursday morning we left Marple and I have to say it was a relief to be on the level again after spending a couple of days at a jaunty angle in the moorings there! Mind you I haven’t got an excuse for walking into things now (except for the drink I suppose). We managed to get in at Higher Poynton although there were only 2 spaces when we got there. We had to get water first and were peering anxiously through the bridge all the time we were filling up in case someone whipped in there before us. Obviously we took George to the Boar’s Head and not so obviously we actually had lunch! Just sandwiches and chips but very nice all the same. Later on Ken did some (rather unproductive) fishing and there was a very strange man wandering up and down on the opposite bank staring across at us. Then he was wandering up and down past our boat staring in the windows and the cratch – weird!
Friday we left Higher Poynton and went on to Gurnett Aqueduct, which is where we are now. Unlike last week when we got here there was plenty of room and we got in easily. Sutton Hall beckoned and we took George for the usual. As the weather was nice when we got there we decided to sit in the, rather posh, covered smoking area as there are only 2 tables in there, one for four, which we sat on and one for eight. We thought we could avoid any unwanted canine attention if it got busy on the patio. However, the best laid plans etc ………. A group of 6 people turned up and it was obvious they were eyeing up the table near us. This would not have been a problem except they were waiting for 3 other friends with 3 dogs! When they arrived we said we would move so they could sit there, which we did. After they had rearranged the 2 tables and got settled they sat there for about 10 minutes, then they decided it was too chilly and went in to the pub!
While we were at the pub the manager, a really nice Irishman, came out and had a chat. He had seen us there several times before (surely not) and in the end he sort of talked us into going there that night for a meal. We had looked at the menu previously and tentatively discussed having a meal there so we were easily persuaded! It was a fabulous meal too we really enjoyed it, not cheap but extremely good value for money. Sutton Hall is not the sort of place you go if you just want something to eat but rather somewhere you go if you want a nice meal, if you know what I mean.
This morning we were sitting outside with our first cup of tea when we were engaged in conversation, by a woman off a boat called ‘Arlanza’, who used to live in Thurmaston. She had noticed we have Thurmaston painted on the side of our boat and said she had to come over and see if she knew us or if we knew anyone she knew. It was quickly established that she didn’t and neither did we! We had a long chat about various other things though.
Later on this morning Ken was actually useful and did an oil change! I decided to rearrange the stuff in the cupboard under the sink, which has been getting on my wick for some time now. However, I ended up putting everything back in in virtually the same places as they were before! After this flurry of usefulness we took George to the pub. We met a very nice couple, Julie and Peter, their boat is called Jenny Wren. They actually came over initially to see George, as so many people do but ended up chatting to us, also as so many people do!
After dinner tonight we witnessed something neither of us had seen before – a mallard duck eating a fish! We thought mallards were vegetarian! Last week someone had told us they saw a duck eating a frog but we thought it was a one off. Apparently not, ducks it seems do indeed eat frogs and fish.
Bosley Locks tomorrow then – aaargh! I haven’t done locks for ages. We will probably carry on to Congleton after that because – a) There is no phone or internet access on the Dane Aqueduct at the bottom of Bosley Locks, which makes you feel a bit cut off and – b) Penny is at Congleton so she can let us know if there are any spaces to moor and – c) We need to be getting a bit of a shift on anyway so we can get to the BW office at Kidsgrove and pick up our licence and other assorted mail. They have been hanging on to it for about a fortnight already!
