Adlington to Macclesfield

It's bit of a wild life day today.  Before I left the basin at Aldington this chap turned up.  He is another with a top knot. I thought it might be a disease of some sort.

Next minute the two white ducks turned up with the same problem.  I now started to wonder if they are a cross with something else that has caused the extra feathers on the head.

A bit further on and there are three Mandarin ducks paddling away in the shallows.  I wish I knew if there were males and females in the wilds today and about to breed.

But what on earth is this.  Its not a bird box just two pieces of wood together with some ornamentation on it.  Do they go in for curses on boaters that moor here? :-) 

There is a lot of the woodland on both sides of the canal along here.  Very scenic.

Moments later you are out in the open with views across to the hills and down the valley.

We are heading for Bollington and the boatyard.  They sell diesel and gas here so its time to top up with both.

The large mill is the home of the Canalside Community Radio.

There is another mill across the canal from the boatyard. One is the Adelphi and the other is the Clarence.

The chap in charge of the boatyard is very helpful and today the cost of derv was 70p a litre.

A number of boats are moored along here.  This one is moored on the bottom and is full of water.  It looks as though it has been there some time and it really needs moving.

After Bollington there has been a lot of dredging of the canal banks.  I don't think that a lot has been taken from the middle.  My knocking is still there at this point.

The trees are coming into blossom and the cherry trees are looking really nice.  Anyone want to share it? :-)

The heron kept taking off and moving slowly up the canal in front of me but only just.  There are many ducklings about now and when the heron flew rather low over them (herons are partial to duckling dinners) the ducks soon saw him off.

However by now the knocking at the stern has stopped.  Is there more water here?  I wish I knew.

More open countryside to one side with the start of the Pennines and the Peak National Park on the other.

Moored up at Macclesfield.  The large mill built in 1820 belonged to Hovis but has been turned into apartments.

Had a couple plus pints at the Puss in Boots and heard the tale of the narrowboat that I saw with much flame damage.  The gent that owned it was cooking a meal and dropped off to sleep due to medication.  The boat is now just a shell.  He had only had it for a few weeks.