Saturday 18th July

Cruised down to Middlewich stopping for water just before The Big Lock. This is a wide lock but not very deep. We stopped for shopping and a visit to a very nice coffee & cake cafe with free wifi enabling us to book car hire for our trip home at the beginning of August.

Middlewich is a large boat-hire centre with at least 2 businesses having fleets of hire boats here. Saturday is their main turnover day but when we left at 2pm we were not held up a great deal as new hirers learnt how to work the locks. 

After filling with diesel we turned up the shortest canal on the system (100yds), the Wardle canal. We moored shortly afterwards for a very late lunch and decided to stay the night. The residents here have back gardens on a very pretty stretch.

The house owner opposite us feeds the ducks and they were all over his garden. As the sun began to set the ducks all suddenly started frantic grooming, and then collectively tucked their heads round and went to sleep. What I would like to know is why do they sleep standing on one leg? Seems rather difficult to balance!