The construction of all canals amaze me, but, the Peak Forest Canal is one of the oldest canals, constructed on the steep slopes of the Peak District. As we cruise along we’re way above the trees growing in the River Goyte valley. This was a pathway from near where we moored in Disley. We had gone down several flights of steps before we took a photo.
It was a short journey from Marple to Disley, where we moored for a couple of weeks, as there was lots of exploring to do. It was a good job we hadn’t travelled far. Once moored, John went down into the engine bay to grease the stern glan. A few choice words ensued, as the engine room was full of water. Thankfully, it was the blue antifreeze from the engine coolant and not dirty brown, which would have been a tragedy and possibly need an urgent call to Canal River Rescue, our breakdown people. It took a good while for John to find the cause of the leak, which was a crack down a nut. The following day we strolled to Furnace Vale Marina to pick up a new one and a spare too.
The two demijohns of dandelion wine were clearing nicely, so John popped some finings in. It was all ready to drink the next day.
There were lots of elderflowers along the towpath, so I got first dibs of the pan to make cordial. I can only make a small batch as I can’t keep it cool for storage. Once bottled the next day, the pan was free for John to get three demijohns of wine going.
We are absolutely loving all the hills to walk up, the first few really made us puff, after 18 months on the flat Lancashire moss. We took a picnic to walk up to the ‘Cage’, a hunting folly at Lyme Hall. The views were tremendous.
On another steep walk, the footpath went through this lovely little chap’s field.
There are lots of pubs in Disley, our favourite was Disley Malt, who have all the good beer guides. I always love looking at the 1999 one, starring John & his late boss.
The offside of the canal was quite shallow, and the heron came daily and caught lots of fish.
Disley was a good spot, as it was near the station as we had a few away days.
We went to Ainscough Cranes 50th anniversary event in Leyland. Our daughter Ada was starting a new job with them the following week. It was SUCH fun being able to go in the cranes.
We met up with family at Chester Zoo for Astrid’s 3rd birthday.
Astrid came to stay, but it was during one of those heat waves, so we couldn’t go out. A bedsheet worked really well as a sunshade for the bow deck.
We made scones very early before it got really hot.
As it was so hot we were only able to take her out in the evening once the sun had gone behind the trees. We had fun doing a bit of Himalayan balsam bashing. It’s shocking to see how this invasive species is taking over woodland, river & canal banks, drowning out the ferns, nettles & brambles, just to name a few.
Everyone came to meet us at Whaley Bridge for John’s birthday.
I
was pretty excited to find an indi dyer, ‘Mamie and Florie’ who
held a knit & natter. It was almost opposite where we were
moored. It was such a beautiful showroom and workspace.
New Mills is an old mill town, with lots of ruins along the bank of the River Goyte. We watched rock climbers and puffed up a very steep hill.
Just as the weather gets hotter I finished knitting a shawl with my handspun yarn.
