We awoke to a grey morning and a lot chillier than over the long weekend. However, by the afternoon the weather improved considerably and blue sky dominated, much warmer but a pleasant breeze so 'doing things' was not too tiring! Alas, we remained largely without internet - it appeared very briefly at one point during which we had an email update and Mike was able to send just one to Kings Lock about the Eberspacher. Not enough time, however,. to create yesterday's blog and tonight's will have to wait for another day.
Mike went to Tesco whilst the others were getting dressed and had a further look around the town centre, but did not find much new. When he returned to the boat, grass cutters (mower and strimmer) were at work on the towpath and quite keen for us to make a quick getaway as they have to take great care alongside boats - usually they have to wait for the boat to leave and then come back again. All too easily a boat can be left covered in fine grass cuttings. Not desirable and quite hard to clean off.
Ellesmere Tunnel may be one of the shortest but it is approached on a bend so that it is only possible to spot oncoming boats at the last minute. We had to wait for two - the first was a rather strange and ornate version of an Oxford barge. Please do not spot the front centre line almost falling off the edge - we fixed that just as soon as we could get through the tunnel.
We had a pleasant run alongside the Meres - Alice opted to have a driving lesson, the first of three today and she took the tiller for quite a long time.
Passing the junction with the Prees Branch, you can see just how dull the sky was.
After the following lift bridge we pulled onto a vistor mooring close to the Mosses Walk we noted on the way up. Buty first came lunch and then we set off, having found a good guide in a box at the lift bridge.
The area was established as a raised peat bog a very long time ago but did become quite a centre for peat extraction. This became gradually depleted and trenches in the ground meant that the whole area became unnaturally waterlogged. In the late 1990s the last full time peat collector retired and not long after the area was protected so that the bog could eventually return to its more natural state. It does, nevertheless, require active conservation.
A number of walks are signposted and we took one that was just about two miles. A can be seen, blue sky started to re-appear and it was a very pleasant walk. Quiet soon we could see the formation of peat and the special kinds of plant growth.
We also met a keen wildlife photographer with a very expensive camera and long lens. He was more than happy to talk about what he had spotted and captured. Some amazing close up pictures of a stonechat and mate. From what he told us,. today would have been a poor day for many similar birds that live on insects as they are only really in sufficient supply on sunny days. Two days without food and the chicks can easily perish. At least they then provide a meal for the carnivorous birds!
The reeds look like cotton plants.
Just before our walk brought us back to the towpath it passed the remains of a peat mill, driven by a small petrol engine. The rotating drum sieved out the coarse bits so that the finer part could be bagged and sold to gardeners.
Walking along the towpath there was an abundance of wild flowers and many different types of grass. We took out time and saw so much more than when passing by quickly. Look at the markings on the clover leaves.
Mike spent some time tracking this bee as it flitted from one flower to another - it only visited just the one type - as it gathered nectar.
This house seemed to have a one hole golf course in the garden (just the hole, no tee!)
We continued a little further with time for Alice to get in some more steering practice. Only one lift bridge this time. The couple in the car were not waiting to cross, they seemed to sitting and watching passing boats, enjoying the crew exhausting themselves with up 80 turns of the windlass to raise the deck.
When we came to pull in for the night it took rather longer than usual as we picked a place where the bank was shallow in places and we strugghled a while to find enough depth to get the boat close to the bank.
11.4 Miles - 0 Locks
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