No Particular Place to Go...

After our Easter outings we were quite at liberty to stay another week in Burscough and, on awaking to a beautiful (if windy) day, it was tempting to do so. However, our somewhat aimless meanderings sometimes belie a carefully crafted itinerary. Sort of. Mainly, we work backwards. As in, we need to be in (Insert Town) by the weekend of (Insert Date) so we'd better leave now/we'd better not leave yet. You get the picture. So, tempting as it was to play 'spot where the egret will pop up next' from the side hatch, we fathomed a cunning plan. 

Our two week holiday this year will be to have a few days on the Llangollen canal, before turning tail and coming back up to Middlewich in time for the splendid Folk and Boat Festival. We first attended this prior to buying our first boat and although we have stayed at Middlewich on both boats and been back to the festival again, we have never managed to coordinate the two. So this year we plan to be able to enjoy the hospitality to the fullest, ahem.

So, as I took pot shots at the water with my camera hoping for a direct egret hit, we got the (virtual) calendar out and started working backwards. We have a loose rule that we are prepared to travel a maximum of an hour to work which gives us plenty of scope for moving around and also means that we can start a holiday from the furthest reaches. This saves us a couple of days travelling in familiar territory, which means we can get further in our allocated holiday time. 

Bang gotcha!

So after calculating the number of weeks we have to travel before the holiday (which is equal to one day a week due to work commitments) to get to the place we need to be the week before we start our holiday (are you still with me?) including making sure we don't stay longer than two weeks in any one destination (CRT guidance- note I said guidance - that's a whole other blog entry), factoring in that the toilet tank will need emptying in x weeks and adding the extra days travelling afforded to us by the late May bank holiday, we ended up with  w(6) x crt2 x pmp + hol(3) = ???

Or to put it more simply, we needed to move.

Au revoir Burscough

I always like to see winter hill from the canal.

Growing up nearby it always makes me feel at home even when it's far away

This head and the strange dwelling below are just some of the strange and interesting sights you will encounter travelling along the canal here

We decided that we would head back to Parbold and enjoy a couple of weeks there before having a stint back at our mooring at Crooke and then back up to Sparks Bridge to empty the waste tank, followed by a leisurely cruise to Stockton Heath over the late May bank holiday ready to start our fortnights holiday. Or something like that.

After the recent unveiling of the new design for pylons I reflected upon the classic design of the current ones that have remained unchanged since their introduction

Swing Bridge number two and nearly back at camp

This stunning boat has been moored in these parts before

So, reflecting upon the last few days, we have managed to moor in our absolute favourite spot with the best sunset view you can buy, peace and quiet, no road noise and the birds for company. Perfect.

The lighter evenings mean I can go for a bike ride or a walk with my camera after work, spring is definitely in the air with everything bursting into life around us.