Day 44 and I’m getting a bit attached to this canal. It is now my third day on The Shroppie (Bob coined the phrase not me).
We got to Nantwich marina in time for second breakfast. I joined the canal just at the point where the milepost says it is zero miles to Nantwich. However the canal goes on and after a lot of discussion we had decided to stick with it rather than go on a route march across country (which might have been a mile and a half shorter) because you can’t get lost on a canal towpath.
At the junction with the Llangollen canal (or more correctly the Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal) there was a bit of a backlog of boats waiting to go up the locks due to a water shortage at the bottom.
Bridge 100 was my last on the main branch as I turned right up the Middlewich branch at Barbridge junction. At the lock by the Venetian marina I met Bob who’d just come from the cafe. So we went back and had an ice cream.
I then carried on while Bob moved the car round to the end point for today and started walking back. The sun came out and the warm afternoon encouraged many Butterflies and insects to appear.
Boats passed me or I passed them. There seems to be a bit of a utopian culture operating on these waterways. The names of the boats reflect the aspirations folks have for a calmer, quieter life. Names like Dreamcatcher and Dunslavin or Moor to life. You don’t tend to see boats named Hell Hole or I want my job back or Too slow for comfort.
Some boats provide a thought to ponder: ‘Not all souls that wander are lost’, for example.
Just as the energy of the walking team was flagging a canalside notice announced the availability of more ice cream. It was a short walk through a lovely garden to a small shop in a farm yard. Having got our daily Snugburys we were encouraged to sit in the garden and eat them. Bliss.
Before long the West Coast Main Line came in sight, and it was a not too lengthy path from bridge 23 on the canal to the car on the road into Winsford.
From Psalm 145
God is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and generous in love.
We wonder how slow is slow?
We who speed along (after all twenty minutes a mile is faster than I used to go);
Who can’t even wait for ice cream to melt,
Or see the grass growing,
Who yearn for the slow lane,
As long as it’s not that slow,
We wonder at you God,
Your slow emotions, your limitless love.
As one step gives way to the next,
Keep me in step with you,
Generous Companion.
For tonight, God grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end.
JAL 19.05.2019
Day 44 of the End to End, Nantwich Marina to near Mole House Farm.