Sunday 27 July 2008

Stocks and showers

Sunday 6th July 2008

The adventure of Saltersford Tunnel was after our passage down Hunts Lock (see this post) and ascent of the Anderton Boat Lift. We'd done the lift four times before, so it didn't have quite the same thrill. You still have to take photos, though! I tried to catch the gongoozlers pointing their cameras, but as soon as I pointed mine, they lowered theirs. Bet Andrew Denny would have managed it! (You'd have directed them, wouldn't you, Andrew?)


We walked to the Leigh Arms by Acton Bridge for lunch, and saw a game or two from near the start of the Wimbledon Men's final.


How old is this sign on the Weaver?



"Crewe" was tied up near us (that's "Willow" behind it).



Once on the Bridgewater Canal, past Preston Brook, the rain showers got torrential. I was beginning to consider pausing under a bridge, but the rain always eased as the bridge approached.

At 2050 we moored for the night at Grappenhall, and walked into the village along a cobbled street. The sandstone church was looking eroded, but not so badly as some of the gravestones in the churchyard - why did they use stone with such an obviously short life? Between the church and the pub was a set of stocks boasting its original stone uprights. Into the Parr Arms for a hot chocolate. Oh, and a beer (average Black Sheep). A commotion from the room with the TV signalled the finishing of the tennis - we'd missed an epic! Now the rain was lashing down - didn't seem to ease much - and back to the boat and bed.

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