Saturday 19th October 2019



We awoke early and sat to watch the Rugby World Cup. England v Australia, a fantastic win for England, and Ireland v New Zealand, Ireland were disappointing.

While watching the matches, a boat went past. This is just the third boat that we have seen moving in 12 days. A very quiet canal, but it would be very busy during the summer months and school holidays for sure.

After the rugby, we went for a walk around this end of Cheddleton. The canal touches the village at both ends, and these areas are, by far the most interesting faces. At this southernmost end, is the Boat Inn, a terrace of canal-workers cottages, the caravan site we had stayed at so often and the Churnet Valley Railway Station, from which we could hear and see locomotives steaming up and moving in readiness for tomorrow when the trains are running.






     

                          
                                                                                         Canal-Workers Cottages                   
                                              
                                                                                        Cheddleton Caravan Site



     

                          
                                                                                      Cheddleton Railway Station         
                                          
                                                                                  Trains steaming-up in the mornings



We soon returned to the boat ahead of the rain. We heard off a live-aboard boater opposite, that the river section of the canal between Oakmeadowford Lock and Consall is closed due to the rise in the river level. We had noticed a significant rise and in the speed of the flow of the river adjacent to the mooring. However, we are getting off very lightly weather-wise compared to other parts of the country. We have had the occasional rain but never really very heavy and it has soon been clearing.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent preparing and cooking one of the pheasants along with leeks, garlic, onions and potatoes with a sauce of the stock, broccoli and asparagus. It was devine.

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