We’d arranged a flyover with Neil and Christine on nb Comfortably Numb for today, and luckily it all went to plan and they passed under us whilst we passed over them. We were on the Barton Swing Aqueduct over the Manchester Ship Canal (MSC), and they came along the MSC from their overnight mooring at Salford Quays.
I was out with the binoculars to look out for them, but we knew they were coming around the bend as Neil phoned us just as they were going under the previous bridge. The boat looks tiny in comparison to the size of the canal.
We did deliberate trying to throw down half a loaf of freshly baked bread as they passed below, but thought it might do more harm than good if it landed in the wrong place!
After turning right at Waters Meeting and onto part of the Cheshire Ring, we saw noticeably more narrowboats on the move compared to all quiet stretches before. As we passed through Sale, we were having to share the water with a few other craft too, with a few rowers and paddlers out and about. Some of them clearly knew the rules of the road (or river I should say), others maybe not so much!
We stopped for the day by Dunham Massey, where there’s an offside mooring that looked perfect on the map. In practice it seems a little underused and overgrown, but perfectly usable once Sarah trimmed a few brambles back with the secateurs!
Sadly for us, the house is closed on a Thursday and Friday, but the park and gardens are open and we timed it well for a 1:30 pm guided tour of the grounds. They have around 180 deer in the 190 acres of parkland, plus some lovely gardens and a huge number of outbuildings such as the old wood mill below. The deer seemed totally unfazed by all the people about, we could even hear one snoring as it dozed!
Of course, no National Trust visit is complete without a trip to the cafe – Mum would love the cherry bakewell, yum! Sarah resisted the temptations and had a nice cuppa.
Back to Oliver and Sarah cooked a delicious Chinese-style lemon chicken dish for dinner. Tummy’s now full, if the wi-fi can handle it we might watch an episode or two of series 2 of Killing Eve. Highly recommended if you missed it before – it’s all on BBC iPlayer.
You made the crossover! And exchanged photos already so we have a view of you and Oliver from the Ship Canal below!
Great that you got the timing right for the crossover and very interesting pictures. nb Comfortably Numb looks about 90ft long and Oliver might be a train if we didn’t know better.
The Old Wood Mill is a cracker.