to Worsley

Monday 7th July 2008

it rained

On the way to Lymm we encountered some VERY heavy showers. Our daughter and her boyfriend dodged the showers and met us at Agden Bridge 26 for a cruise of all of half a mile to the water point and the "Home" restaurant at Little Bollington for lunch. We ate very well, taking advantage of their meal deal: three courses for £12.95 with a free half-bottle of wine, or two courses for £9.50. We had originally intended to patronise the Swan with Two Nicks but found "Home" first.


I cycled up the lane after the meal to have a look at the Swan - and found evidence of a metal thief's work: nearly all the cast iron drain gratiings had gone. All the resultant holes had a cone on (or in).



Daughter and boyfriend drove back to Southport after lunch, leaving a spare quilt for us to sleep on, to mitigate the uncomfortableness of the bed. At 2000 we moored at Worsley, and walked up to the Delph to see where the Duke of Bridgewater's canal started.


Coming here is one of my earliest memories (and is, perhaps, the source of my passion for canals). My aunt and uncle lived not far away in Swinton: one outing was to Worsley to see the orange water. We probably walked in the woods and marvelled at the black and white houses on the Green as well, but it's the orange water that has stayed with me over the years. I'm sure the entrances to the mines were much more visible nearly half a century ago: they're mostly covered by vegetation now. Walking in the woods above the Duke's coal mines we came across a place where a stream (Worsley Brook?) spectacularly flows out of a tunnel in the hillside.


It was quite a warm evening - and the rain had stopped - so after tea we got chatting to three chaps who were sitting outside their boat "Moonstone". It was midnight when we turned in - and we slept MUCH more comfortably than on the first couple of nights.