Back start of cruise

Picked up a couple of friends for the run in Manchester today, Gordon, a young 80 year old, and Dave, who I work with.

We dropped Esther off near Altrincham so she could head off to her parents to try on a bride's maids dress for her brother's wedding later in the week. Dave's local knowledge helped her find the right station and easiest route to where here car was parked.

It was a bit of an eye opener as we passed the huge Kelloggs factory before heading into the city centre, then up the first 9 locks of the Rochdale canal - some of the hardest locks I have every done, heavy, awkward to get at and in one place no towpath. To get to the locks involved us having to walk back to the previous lock, while Judy had to back the boat (missing the various lumps and bumps in the canal bed) there as well; we then got on, and Judy ferried us to the lock so we could work the lock and continue out journey.

We are now moored at the junction of the Rochdale and the Ashton canals, ready for an easy get away. Dave is about to conduct us to a suitable place to eat - not a big problem near a city centre.
With Dave's local knowledge shining brightly (well I did tell him he would get a good mention) we ate in Weathespoons, which, as usual, was excellent value for money.
We'd moored on the other side of the canal to a building site, which was actually a lot quieter than one might expect as the builders had all gone home when we arrived, and were actually not a noisy bunch in the morning.

On to Tomorrow