A brief stay at Swanley.

We had a very lazy day yesterday as we stayed put on our moorings in Nantwich.  Doug and Eileen took another folding bike ride, as they did the day before, to get our post from town.  After lunch we took a walk back into town: a) because we like the town b) to get some exercise c) to buy some shirts.  It’s great walking around some of the old back streets……..

……….and it’s not just London that’s got a Pall Mall.

Next to Pall Mall is the lovely terraced Pillory Street.  That bloke in the light blue shirt still seems to be around (different shirt to yesterday though!)

How many feet have used this wonderful stone mounting block, so fortunately spared for our enjoyment today?

Later in the evening we had a superb Fish and Chip supper on board ‘New Dawn’ which Doug kindly went for from the ‘chippie’ in town.
This morning was an early start for ‘New Dawn’ and ‘Chance’ at 7 o’ clock for the short journey to Swanley Marina on the Llangollen Canal.

We said farewell to Nantwich for the time being as we passed the Wooden Horse.  It’s a clever sculpture, made from old lock gates, depicting the loyalty and contribution made by the canal work horses of the past.

Our progress through the four Hurleston locks, taking us 34 feet from the Shropshire Union Canal to the Llangollen Canal, was a very rapid one thanks to the efforts of Eileen and Doug who worked the locks so efficiently.

The canal brings water down from the River Dee at Llangollen to this reservoir which serves Crewe and surrounding areas .  The delivery point from the canal is in the bottom right.  It’s thanks to the need for Crewe’s drinking water that the canal is still open – in 1944 there were proposals to close it.

Once up through the Hurleston locks our journey was a quick one to Swanley Marina, where we’ll being staying for the next couple of days and meeting up with some of our oldest boating friends. (oldest in the time we’ve known them we hasten to add!)  After a taste of the wonderful Cheshire countryside which can be seen from the canal, we were moored up safely at 9:30am having travelled ahead of the expected weekend ‘traffic’.