A Holiday on Land

From the rural moorings at Coole Pilates we sailed into the busy little town of Nantwich.  We arrived on market day but a bigger event was due to start the next day; the Nantwich and South Cheshire show.   The showground was adjacent to the canal and as we sailed off in the morning people were streaming over the canal bridges and cars were queuing to park in the fields.  

After Nantwich the canal widens into a broad canal and the landscape changes, the steep cuttings and embankments give way to fields and round lock huts stand next to some of  the wide locks.  

Now disused, a round lock hut which had a single room and a curved door.  The planks in front of the building are stop boards which fit across the lock entrance to stop the flow of water in an emergency or for maintenance.   

We retraced our route from 2012 back to Tattenhall Marina where we left Brent III to take some shore leave at Mum and Dad's in Chester.  It was good to see the family again with Sar, Sam, Jo and Paul, and little Nellie joining us during our stay.  

Whilst in Chester we took the opportunity to buy a new camera to improve our chances of taking some good pictures of the wildlife we see on the canal.  Our new camera has a 50mm and a zoom lens and a multitude of functions and settings; luckily we can use autofocus until we've mastered the other settings.  I particularly like the continuous shooting option which increases my chance of a good photo from a moving subject. 

A grey squirrel in Grosvenor Park, Chester.  Sar and I went for a walk with the new camera and I was pleased to get this shot.  

After an enjoyable and relaxing stay at Chester we returned to Brent III and sailed south.  On board we have everything we need for a task we have been putting off, repainting Brent III.  At Calveley we were able to dismantle the wheelhouse and lay out the windows and roof on the bank, during the day, for painting.   We were able to make good progress although the tail-end of Hurricane Bertha kept us inside on Sunday.   

Our journey from Coole Pilates to to Tattenhall Marina and back to Calveley