Between Locks 45 and 44
An early start for Mick who left the boat before 8am and walked up the towpath to the station. NB Halsall was above the top lock and by the time Mick got on the train they were pulling in behind a few other boats waiting for the first passage through Harecastle Tunnel. After stoaking the fire, Tilly and I enjoyed a cuppa in bed.
Boats started to come past, an almost constant stream of them up towards the tunnel, being met by down hill traffic. Most boats slowly passed as their crews walked from lock to lock. Others sped past aiming for a lock in their favour, this made for a bumpy morning.
A walk up the towpath to visit both Tescos and the new Lidl. Lidl doesn’t have much in the way of gluten free items so the extra paces were worth it for my prefered breakfast cereal and yoghurt. The remainder of my list was done at Lidl. Last time we were through here I don’t think the store had opened, so it was nice to see that there was access to the towpath just above the locks. As I headed back down the hill, NB Autumn Haze were just turning onto the Macclesfield and another boat we’d seen in Middlewich was climbing the last couple of locks to the summit of the Trent and Mersey.
Meanwhile, Mick’s journey back to Scarborough had him pass the cooling towers in Willington. The River Ouse in York was back within it’s banks and boats were moored at the bottom of the Museum Gardens. In Scarborough he made his way to the hospital where he was almost an hour early for his appointment. A wait of twenty minutes before he was seen. His ultrasound to check for an abdominal aortic aneurysm took about ten minutes. It was clear, no babies and no aneurysm. So no knitting of diddy baby socks required.
After lunch he headed to the house to pick up a box from when the bully boy batteries were delivered, bulky but light he managed it back to the station and started his return journey. Connections meant that he was back in Kidsgrove a little before 9pm.
Tilly and I had a quiet afternoon. She tried to bring a friend home, but didn’t suceed and I gave the inside of Oleanna a bit of a tidy and sweep through. Then the sock knitting came out and I watched Effie Gray (2014). The film is based on the true story of Euphemia Gray, a Scottish model and writer. She married John Ruskin and moved down to London to live with his parents. Their marriage was never consumated and was finally annulled leaving Effie free to marry again. Her second husband being John Everett Millais the Pre-Raphaelite artist. Throughout there are numerous images based on paintings of the time. A suitable film for a Friday afternoons knitting.
0 locks, 0 miles, 14 tickets, 7 trains, 10 minutes of ultrasound, 0 girls, 0 boys, 0 aneurysm, 3 bags shopping, pair 17 nearly finished, 1 barred cat and friend.