Day 15 Sunday 5 October
Middlewich to Church Minshull

Today we'd not really planned to boat as we were having a family meal with my Brother, his wife & their 2 sons at the Kings Lock pub in Middlewich.  This is a pub that I've heard plenty of positive comments about & we were surprised to find they had 3 still ciders on offer, which I've never seen anywhere else before!  We had a lovely meal & watched a few boats go through the King's Lock on the T&M Canal & then they all came to the boat, hopped aboard & we chugged up to Stanthorne Lock.  Both of my Nephews had a chance to steer the boat

My Brother, my Nephew & Stuart on the back of the boat!

At the lock we were able to tell my Nephews all about the lock & how it worked & then there was an opportunity for them & my Brother to show their strength to get the boat through the lock.  Once we were through the lock we said our goodbyes & then walked back to their car & we chugged on until it was dark.

We did see at least one Kingfisher which we did attempt to photograph but it just came out as a blurry blue splodge on the side of the canal.

Although we only travelled a short distance today, the Middlewich Branch has taken us though some unspoilt countryside, with true country smells!  The only other interesting thing we passed was some former canal horse stables that have now been converted into cottages

Former stables on Middlewich Branch

Today we only travelled for about 1.5 hours up 1 lock