A barrel of laughs

What a wet day! And now the wind has picked up, too. But I'll start at the beginning.

We walked down the towpath in the rain to St. Peter's Church, just a few minutes down the towpath from our mooring in Walsden, for the 0930 service.

This was led by a retired priest who gave an excellent sermon, appropriately enough, on Jesus walking on the water and quelling the storm.

The church was built in the mid 19th century; as preparations were under way for the centenary in the 1950s it was gutted by fire. Insurance money paid for rebuilding - and the result is a marvellous 1960s interior in the Victorian shell.

On our way back to the boat we said hello to Irene and Ian on Free Spirit, whom we joined for drinks last night. We were about to make the return invitation, along with Lindsay and Paul on Happy Daze.

After lunch on Jubilee we walked into the hills, from where I took this view of Walsden.

On the way I spotted a blue plaque on a house tucked away up the hillside. It turned out that famous atom-splitter Sir John Cockcroft lived here for 26 years. It's amazing what you discover when out walking!

His name has particular resonance for me as I remember a building at Salford Uni was named after him.

And now to the title of this post. Ian and Irene from Free Spirit and Paul and Lindsay from Happy Daze joined us for drinks on Jubilee this evening. We had a great time sharing boaty stories - I don't think we ever stopped laughing!

(l-r: Jan, Halfie, Lindsay, Paul, Ian, Irene)

As you may deduce, the boat stayed tied up all day. The forecast for tomorrow isn't promising anything much better, so we may yet get to sample Grandma Pollard's famous fish and chips.