Holiday Diary

Dear Diary,

Slight delay in reporting final day of holiday due to being back at work (inconvenient!), succumbing to a rotten cold (exhausting!) and running out of data on our wifi dongle due to uploading so many photos during our two weeks away (exasperating!).

We set off early (for us) from Moore after first being treated to the sight of historic butty boat Ilford passing us on it's way to Lymm for the Transport Festival the following weekend. It's a pity we couldn't stop for it ourselves but it clashes with the Braunston Historic Boat Rally which is simply too good to miss (report to follow....)

You can tell he's used to having his photo taken!

Another fuel boat operated by a young couple on the Bridgewater

Impressive work boats removing a fallen tree

Ilford mooring up at Lymm

Buzzard soaring high above the canal

Getting a lesson from mum

Crossing the Manchester Ship Canal on the Barton Swinging Aqueduct 

Approaching Worsley Packet House in the orange waters coloured by the iron ore from the mines 

If you look to the right you can see the branch that leads to the mines. This leads to the small basin 'Worsley Delph' and tunnels carved out to access the coal seams running underground for around 47 miles on four different levels! Specially built boats with ribbed sides (hence nicknamed 'starvationers') shaped like canoes brought the coal out of the mines. The canal allowed the mines to be drained, in return providing a source of water for the canal.

It is so silted up here that birds are seemingly nesting on top the water.

Left turn Clyde...the sharp turn takes us onto our last short stretch on the orange water which gradually fades as we near Boothstown.

Oh, we're back in fairy glen again

So diary, our fabulous holiday draws to a close but there's no need to be sad because 

although when we wake up tomorrow we are back to the 'grindstone' so to speak, 

we do so on a boat. 

And when you live on a boat, every day is a holiday!