At last, weather has improved.
We left Congleton at 8.00am this morning, wishing to get a good start.
We climbed the 12 Boseley locks in around 3 hours. We are now moored approx 1-1/2 miles from Macclesfield.
The scenery is breathtaking see below

This is the train viaduct just outside Congleton

Going through one of the 96 bridges on a canal that is 27 miles long

Current mooring. Note satelite dish tuned in for F1

We are still at Congleton today. The weather has been terrible, rain,rain,rain.
It is now 17.15 and the rain has stopped. We have heard that the weather will improve tomorrow, but more rain forecast for Mon/Tues.
We are going to try and make it to Macclesfield tomorrow.
Approx 4 miles away a flight of 12 locks await us. So we are going to set off early and see how it goes.
In the meantime, it is Saturday night and the Queens Head hotel is only 200 yards away.

We have moved on today. We were moored near a hire boat company. By 11.00am you could see a lot of activity and hire boats returning. At one point there was 2 boats tied together taking up half the canal, and then us on the other side. A recipe for disaster.
The weather brightened up a little so we thought, lets go for it.
An epic journey of 3 miles.
We are now in Congleton. Had a meal in the Queens Hotel, which was basic but good. The people were very friendly, and it got us off the boat away from the rain.
It is now 21.50, wood burner is burning well, radio reception good, no television because we are in valley so no signal. Single light on to save batteries, Wendy has glass of wine and I have a beer. Very relaxing. Now you wouldn't do that at home would you?

Yesterday we went through the Harecastle Tunnel, which took around 40 minutes to complete.
The canal has changed to an orangery colour due to the minerals in the water.
Shortly after the tunnel we joined the Macclesfield Canal. This was a very unusual junction. The Trent and Mersey continued straight ahead with two locks taking it downhill. We turned left onto the Macclesfield, went around two right hand bends, and then crossed an aqueduct over the Trent and Mersey. After 2 miles we stopped at a small village called Scholar Green.
Shortly after mooring up, we had two visitors. Peter & Hazel Brook, Wendy's aunt & uncle. After coffee, they took Wendy up the Mow Cop. This is a hill 1100ft above sea level. On top is Mow Cop Castle. On this hill in 1807 Hugh Bourne a wheelwright created the Primitive Methodists.  In 1962 70,000 disciples climbed the hill, which is considered to them a Holy Mountain.
Peter & Hazel, then joined us for a very enjoyable evening at The Rising Sun. Can we thank them for a very enjoyable day.
Today the weather is horrible, with continuous rain. We will be having a clean up today and a visit to the village store.

Bit of a setback today. Pete has been having troubles with sinuses. He walked to the local Health Centre in Barlastone, only to be told he can get emergency treatment at Stone. So A quick Taxi trip to Stone and back, ensured he received a weeks supply of antibiotics. Hopefully that should cure the problem.
Back to our trip.
The weather has been very good, with only a few showers, which were very light.
We travelled from Barlastone through Stoke on Trent, a total of 8.19 miles including 6 very deep locks.
We are now moored 1 mile from Harecastle tunnel. Britains second longest tunnel at 2926 yards long.
A couple we met from Glastonbury(moored in front of us) recommended our current mooring which is by Westpoint Lakes.
(pictured below)

Yesterday we travelled from Weston Upon Trent to Stone.
Stone is a very picteresque town approx 12 miles from Stoke on Trent. It is a typical canal town, with bars and restaurants along the waterfront. It has four locks which are very deep, and because of the time they take to empty and refill, queues soon appear.
We had one of the best meals of our journey last night at the Dolce Vita Italian restaurant on the waterfront by the first lock (see below)
Today we passed through the four locks, with 4 other boats waiting behind.
Because of the weather we decided to stop at a village called Barlaston today. Travelling 4 hours 10 minutes covering 4 miles and 8 locks.
We are still enjoying the Trent and Mersey canal. The scenery is outstanding and everything is very clean.
Tomorrow (weather permitting, and the forecast looks bleak) we hope to travel through Stoke on Trent to a village the other side called Longport.

Yesterday we travelled from Fradeley Junction to Rugeley in Staffs. Stayed overnight and did our shopping in the local Morrisons
Today we travelled on the Trent and Mersey up to Weston upon Trent, which is about 3 miles up from Great Haywood
The Trent and Mersey is a very picturesque canal, passing Cannock Chase and Shugborough Hall.
There appears to be a lot more activity on the waterways today.
A couple of incidents to mention. At Rugeley because the water was shallow we had to moor about 3 foot from the bank and put down our gang-plank. Wallace was on the bank when a Scotty dog decided to have a go at him. Wallace jumped back not realising we were away from the bank, and susequently landed in the canal. luckily it was shallow enough for him to climb out, but I am afraid his battery powered light up collar was not waterproof.
Today moored up near a bridge, a boat coming through the bridge towards us, failed to spot a 58 foot piece of metal (namely our boat) and hit us. Luckily for him we were both inside at the time, otherwise some verbal exchanges would have occured. Luckily no damage was done to the boat. (Well it is a contact sport)

Below is a picture of us crossing the River Trent via an aqueduct near Rugeley