Alpaca mac if you do

Monday 29^th July

We heard the last of the rain on the roof this morning, but by the time we were up it had stopped, and during the morning it developed into a very nice day, hot and sunny but not oppressively so, as it was on Thursday. We have had the full gamut of English summer weather in the past few days, from Saharan heatwave to Indian monsoon.

After breakfast Loulie took the dogs (minus Ruby) off for a good walk, while I followed to pick them up when they were ready. They got a good way before I reached them, a couple of miles, and along the way Minnie suddenly stopped and stared into a field. She had found some very strange creatures, though oddly the other four dogs didn’t seem interested in the slightest. And as the photos confirm, these are indeed the legendary Alpacas of Higher Poynton.

Alpacas looking at Minnie

We had some good fortune, because I had been worried about the collapsed state of much of the bank, and how I would get in close to pick the girls up. However I was at a bit of good towpath at a marina when I saw two boats coming the other way at a bridge, and I reversed (very nicely!) over to the side to let them past. Just at that moment the dogs came back through the bridge, followed by Loulie, and they were able to board in style. We pushed on, at one point getting a view of White Nancy. This is a folly/viewpoint built at the top of Kerridge Hill, overlooking Bollington, to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo.

White Nancy, just visible at the left of the summit ahead

This was the day we were losing our guest, Blossom, and we arranged to meet Shirley in Bollington at noon. Bollington is a nice little town, but built on very steep land around and above the river Dean. The canal cuts across the valley on a high aqueduct, so the main road and most of the town is 150 feet below. However two huge mills, Clarence and Adelphi, were built right next to the canal, and we moored next to Clarence, which is in very good shape and home to lots of businesses and a café and wine bar. It is nice to see one of these old buildings being maintained well – usually they are pretty scruffy, maybe home to a few lock-up style businesses or used for rough storage.

Clarence Mill at Bollington, at the north end of town

Shirley arrived and had a coffee, while I went down into the town to do some shopping. It was very easy scooting down on the bike, but coming back loaded it was a question of using the bike as a cargo carrier and pushing it up the hills. We said farewell to Blossom, and “Hello!” to our heavy-duty wet weather gear, which Jonjo had dropped with Shirley, we having forgotten to bring it with us. This would have been very useful on Sunday, but there is no doubt we will need it again, looking at the forecast for next week.

Adelphi Mill at the south end of Bollington

Teggs Nose

After Bollington we went through Macclesfield, or at least the eastern outskirts, the canal doesn’t really go near the town centre. There is an impressive warehouse and mill, which used to belong to Hovis.

Old Hovis Warehouse at Macclesfield

We were now back out in the country, and looking for somewhere to stop. As always on a strange canal you have the dilemma – do we settle for an OK mooring here, or travel forward looking for a better spot? – the point being that it is impossible in practice to go back once you have passed somewhere. We looked at a couple of places but didn’t fancy them, then soon after working a swing bridge (no gravel-related problems this time) we found a good place, on shuttering and well away from anyone else, so we put in the mooring clips and settled down for the night.

Moorings at Lyme Green

Map at 29-7-19

TODAY: 6 HOURS. 9.7 MILES. 0 LOCKS. 1 BRIDGE.

VOYAGE: 49.65 HOURS. 67 MILES. 43 LOCKS. 7 BRIDGES