The forecast for today (Friday 18th) was dry to start turning to rain later. They lied! It rained on and off all day. We started off from Crooke and immediately hit the first lock set against us. This was to become a theme for the day with 5 of the 6 locks we traversed being the same. I must admit that having Simon, Phaedra and Matt assisting me through these locks on father’s day meant I did not appreciate what hard work they are – especially the ones at Wigan that have been fitted with new gates. The rest of the journey was un-eventful. We didn’t even have to wait at Plank Lane bridge as the keeper was just arriving as we did and he waved us straight through. We moored in Castlefield basin, in exactly the same place as we did in 2004, however the Vietnam War themed restaurant that we smoked out with the BBQ then appears to have been demolished. In the evening all 5 of us went out to Kosmos, a Greek Cypriot restaurant that we recommend highly. If you come across a Greek wine called Thisbe give it a go. We finished the evening in the Cresent, a well known CAMRA pub. Smell of the day – Passing a bakery in Manchester that smelt of freshly baked Lardy cake and chocolate muffins. Mmmmmmmm Nice! Graham www.jannock.org.uk
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