September Cruise - Day 4

We woke to leaden skies and some drizzle, but it soon brightened up.  The Baddiley Locks were just around the corner from our mooring, and they were all in our favour thanks to an enthusiastic hire boat coming down.  The next notable features were two lift bridges.  The first was lifted by windlass, but the second was the electrically operated one at Wrenbury, which has flashing lights and stops traffic.

The next section of canal is long and fairly straight, through rolling countryside.  The Shropshire Union Canal Society has put in excellent moorings in several places, all of which look like great places to stop.  Four isolated locks followed, and we met boats at each one, some of which were returning from the canal weekend at Whitchurch.

Then it was on to Grindley Brook, where there are three individual locks followed by a staircase of three.  We were lucky in following a boat up, and being allowed straight into the staircase with no waiting at all.

At the top, we filled with water, then moved down to the moorings and tied up for lunch.  Afterwards, we had a visit from my sister and her husband, and their daughter Rachel, who's 18 months old.  She enjoyed feeding the ducks and waving (very seriously) at passing boats.  She got quite excited as she spotted boats approaching, and fortunately every boater waved back!

8 miles, 13 locks  (39 miles, 46 locks)