A fabulous Monday morning with warmth in the air and blue skies. It wasn’t so fabulous for Toby with his continued migraine. If it had just been the two of us, we would have stayed put, we were on a mission of getting Anne-Marie and Simon back to Parbold and their car.
Toby stayed down below all day, and between the three of us we did quite well. Simon steered for the majority of the day, with me by his side, and I took over for any tricky bits including four swing bridges with drop offs and pick ups. Anne-Marie was great at taking big leaps off the bow and on to the bank, opening and closing the swing bridges – there is nothing quite like stopping all the traffic!
This sculpture of the half buried navvy marks the cutting of the ‘first sod’ of the Leeds and Liverpool canal on the 5th November 1770.
It’s rare a scene gets a second chance at the blog, but the five frogs have made it as I’m quite fond of them – I like Oliver’s reflection in the glass below.
We moored at Parbold in a perfect spot with Simon and Anne-Marie’s car the other side of the bank. Simon and I walked in to the village and found this delightful little fruit and veg shop in a converted house, this room used to be the sitting room.
It’s not often you see someone travelling the towpath on a mobility scooter!
We waved off Simon and Anne-Marie wishing them a safe journey back home. Now I’ve got Toby bending my ear ‘see, you can do it when you need to’, my answer is exactly, so leave me be and let me open the locks!
Hi Toby & Sarah,
Sorry to read about Toby & good to see that you can handle Oliver. Tried to send the following in an email but the address I have for Toby failed, sorry
Anyway, just a quickie to let you know how we got on today. We got away just before 8, Sid’s bus was late & a boat left Salthouse at 7 but we crept past that to be first at Mann Island. We’ve had a great cruise, only down the Weed Hatch once & that was at Handcock’s Swing Bridge. Nearly had to drag Chyandour through but we made it. Now moored at Burscough, got here about quarter past five.
Take care both,
Love Fred & Lisa.
Very sorry to hear that the captain was incapacitated. I did, however, notice a migraine day 63 then a photo of said individual drinking beer in the sunshine day 64. Anyway I hope it’s all gone now never to return. The peace of the countryside should help.
Well done, again, Sarah. I think you should take on the job more frequently until you have honed your skills to match Toby’s. You can then have an entry entitled Gained Confidence.
Thank you both, we had such a lovely time.
It was a great experience going out of the docks, through all that history. And especially getting a message later from Dona, a friend of us all from Oxford, who had seen us going past the Titanic hotel!!
Were you eating your breakfast and looking out the window Dona? Perhaps you were as surprised as we were when we got your message!
Beautiful countryside yesterday and today, very good for the soul. Enjoy the rest of your trip, and hope the weather is kind to you x