Moral support

As we were entering Baddiley No 3 Lock I recognised the steerer of the boat we passed which had just come up. I couldn't place him, but Jan remembered it was the chap who had helped us down the Crow, aka Oldbury Locks on the Titford Canal last year. She even remembered his name, Phil!

As soon as we had descended the lock we tied up and I cycled back to help Phil - single handing - up the other two Baddiley Locks. It was good to be able to repay his kindness in kind, as it were.

A little further on this corvid was perched with its beak open.

We stopped in the heat about half a mile before Hurleston Locks; tomorrow we'll go round the corner to Nantwich. By the way, my 1986 OS map 118 spells Hurlestone Junction thus, i.e. with an "e".

We had a successful barbecue, using a folding BBQ I had on board but which I had forgotten about until I saw it while moving some boxes. As we were sitting outside afterwards a man came striding past heading for the lock carrying, in one hand, a new-looking Sea Searcher magnet on a new-looking blue line and, in the other, a rake. I was intrigued and followed on my bike. It turned out that he had lost his fishing rod in the pound above the bottom lock the previous day and was hoping to recover it. I joined in the search with my own Sea Searcher until, after 20 minutes or so, he found it. Martin was grateful for my support; he came back for a cup of tea and a long chat. His boat is Gypsy which he moors at Swanley Bridge Marina. I was interested in his former life as a train driver; he used to drive freight trains from Shrewsbury. We talked quite a bit about the Boaters' Christian Fellowship too.

I was moving boxes to get at the jerry can of diesel. I had dipped the tank and found it was down to about ten litres so now was my chance to try out the jiggler siphon. It worked a treat, and hardly a drop was spilled (just a tiny splash by the filler - nothing in the canal). The 30 litres now in the tank should get us down to Ellesmere Port and up to Wheaton Aston where I shall refill.