Monday 10th to Thursday 13th September stationary at Marple Wendy (Mike some of the time) cats Tilly & Mandy
The bronchial problem that had been dogging Wendy since the middle of August flared up badly in the early hours of Monday morning, so I looked on the Internet and found a local doctor for her to go to. Due to us both misreading the map, she had to wheeze her way round a rather devious route to the surgery that proved in reality to be very close to the mooring. She was prescribed some antibiotics and an inhaler, and told to come back in 48 hours if there was no improvement. She did a little shopping on her way to and from the pharmacy. The "Ring o' Bells", close to our mooring, doesn't do food on Mondays and Wendy didn't feel like walking far to find another pub for lunch, so she ate on board while I walked into the town for lunch (at a very pleasant pub called The Hatters) and some more shopping. Marple has independent greengrocers, bakers and a butcher as well as Iceland and a Co-op. On Tuesday morning we lay in until quite late. Then, while we were about to start breakfast, still in our pyjamas, there was a hammering on the back of the boat, and Wendy found a friendly boater holding our back mooring rope & pin that had pulled out, I guess as a cumulative result of passing boats. Wendy replaced it temporarily while we finished breakfast. Then another boat managed to pull out both our pins. While we were throwing on some clothes, the boat had drifted to the other side of the cut, where a couple of residents had got hold of out ropes and tied us to their garden. Once we'd separated the mooring pins from their ropes, we found there was a space on the mooring beyond the bridge, where we could tie to rings. Fortunately both cats were on board. I had to go to London for a couple of days on Tuesday afternoon for a meeting at the museum that evening and a hospital appointment next morning to be fitted with a hearing aid. While I was away, Wendy got to know Joan and Michael, from "Water Rat", moored behind us. They'd come past while we were drifting earlier. Their boat's name commemorates Joan's pet rats. According to their signwriting they are from Saul Junction. On Wednesday I 'phoned to say I now had my hearing aid. I was going to another meeting that evening and would travel back next day. Wendy had a good lunch at the "Ring o' Bells". At the next table were a group of ladies very like the coven in Last of the Summer Wine. One of them was suspicious because her husband had taken to hovering. This produced a chorus of "He's up to something!" Wendy was uncertain whether they were or weren't joking. On Thursday afternoon, I returned, and had to 'phone Wendy to help me up the hill from the station with some heavy luggage (no relevant bus that I could find). Then Pete Neville gave me a lift to Macclesfield to give a talk to the Macclesfield Canal Society. We went the scenic route, "over the tops", and I was delighted with the views - this scenery makes that in Last of the Summer Wine look ordinary. It was a good meeting. Mark & Jean Stedman were there (Mark's my ex-boss who retired to Bollington). Afterwards Pete brought me back again. Friday 14th September 2007 Marple to the top of Bosley Mike, Wendy, cats Tilly & Mandy Wendy felt that her medication was making enough difference that she didn't need to go back to the surgery, which later proved to be a mistake. 11:53 was a later start than we wanted, mainly because I was catching upon sleep. We set off just before Joan and Michael on "Water Rat". They were winding too, but not aiming for as far as we were. At the junction we winded - not very easily because of the wind. At the top of Bosley locks there is only one boat's length which is neither a long-term mooring nor the water-point, so we moored at 19:10 on an empty long-term mooring, hoping its owners wouldn't come back, which they didn't. DAY'S RUN 16.2 miles, no locks in 7 hours 17 mins Saturday 15th September 2007 Top of Bosley to foot of Bosley Mike, Wendy, cats Tilly (eventually) & Mandy While we were waiting for Tilly to come back, the boat between us and the water point moved off, so we moved into its place and took on water. We also used the rubbish disposal point. Tilly stayed out until 16:00, which only left us time to do the flight, setting off at 16:16 and arriving at the foot of the flight at 18:42. There we found plenty of visitor mooring space available and only one other boat there. DAY'S RUN 1.0 miles, 12 locks in 2 hours 26 min Sunday 16th September 2007 foot of Bosley to Congleton station Mike, Wendy, cats Tilly & Mandy Tilly stayed out again, so I went for a walk to try to get a photo of the Dane Aqueduct from down by the river. I was only partially successful as the only footpaths he could find were on the side of the river where the aqueduct was heavily shrouded in trees. He could see what looked like a good vantage point on the other side, but could find no way of getting to it. Eventually Tilly came back and we were off at 15:07 in very windy conditions. On the way we crossed paths with our London friends Ben & Judy Scott, just a week into the 7-week "sabbatical" cruise to mark Judy's retirement, so we stopped and chatted with them for a while. We stopped by Congleton station at 17:13, as I needed to go to London again next day. DAY'S RUN 4.1 miles, no locks in 2 hours 6 min Monday 17th September 2007 onwards stationary at Congleton station Wendy, cats Tilly & Mandy Perversely, because we weren't planning to cruise on Monday, Tilly came back for breakfast at about 08:00. I headed for London about mid-day (so as to be able to use a Cheap Day return). On my way to London, the train was delayed by a signalling problem. On the way back, all trains out of Euston going beyond Watford were running about half an hour late (some of them more) because of an earlier problem with a dead cow on the line. The result was that I missed my connection at Stoke-on-Trent and used a minicab rather than wait and hour and a half for the next one. While I was away, Wendy went into the town for some shopping and lunched in the local Weatherspoon's. On Tuesday Wendy was feeling pretty groggy again, so we found her another surgery, where she was prescribed some different antibiotics and told to rest for a few days. But she had an appointment at Moorfields about her eyes, which she didn't want to miss, so decided to take some her rest on the train. She left around lunchtime on Wednesday, to stay in the flat overnight before a Thursday morning appointment. We've now got permission from BW to stay on these 48-hour moorings for a week if we need to. Mike Stevens narrowboat Felis Catus III web-site www.mike-stevens.co.uk No man is an island. So is Man.
