I took the boat beyond the point of the Bridgewater Canal closure today so that we can cruise the network beyond Leigh to the south for a while. With the biting wind in my face - and gusting very strongly - believe me I was well wrapped up! I was alone on board for this trip (Elaine was busy elsewhere and would bring the car up to Boothstown to meet me) but enjoyed sliding Lottie sideways into the wind nonetheless.
There was only one piece of slight drama and that occurred at Mather Lane bridge where I met an oncoming boat at the bridge hole.
With today's wind strength and direction the mill here can create extremely tricky conditions (this is an old picture from quite a calm day). I knew the oncoming boat would struggle if he didn't power through the bridge so I was waving him through frantically as I slowed down for him. Unfortunately he chose to engage reverse and slow down himself, with the predictable result that the gale force winds around the corner of the mill slammed him into the towpath. Still, that left plenty of room for me to pass by as his three male crew mates jumped ashore to push him out again!
Nothing much of note to report for the rest of the trip other than seeing one of these.
I lifted this picture from the Internet. A quick check of my bird (nerd) book confirmed it was a teal. While I'm lifting pictures we saw one of these flash by us in hot pursuit of a blackbird during a walk in Lilford Woods last week.
Again, my book confirmed it to be a Sparrowhawk, another first for us. Who knows what we will see before the end of May and the canal to Leigh reopens?
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