On to Appley Bridge

Now the rain has stopped play because we didn't move on Thursday and had a lazy day in the boat.

On Friday morning the plan was to set off at 8.30am, but with the sound of rain on the roof and Al with a bad back we made it a bit later. We pulled the pins at 10.00am and the sunshine had come out at last..

We have enjoyed Parbold and its village feel, it wasn't a bad place to be stuck for a few days..

We took a nice steady cruise to the deep lock at Appley and a tricky lock it is too. First it leaks very bad and also one paddle wasn't working which made it slow to fill. It has gate paddles but you can't open them too early or the boat would just fill with water..

We then got to Appley Bridge which looked nice but was busy, this meant we were leaving Lancashire and now back in Greater Manchester.

This took us through a swing bridge and we then hunted for a mooring..

We only had a couple of hours before it was going to rain again so here would be perfect. We moored each side of a winding hole in which was to be the last rays of the sunshine.

After some lunch in the cratch we waited for the rains to come.. At 1.00pm we got the first few spits then the downpours.. It was a good decision to stop when we did..