Bryn has been travelling with us for most of the year so far.  We’ve been keeping an eye on his options for returning to Marple.  Stone is the point where the locks and the railway stations thin out.  Since we don’t want to turn round, he decided to get off. We will miss him, but it won’t be because we are short handed at locks.

We accompanied him to the station this morning.  When he left us in Wolverhampton, the best route was to walk back along the recently descended locks.  It was the same this time – though only four locks.  We were intrigued by a boat we saw yesterday.  It looks very much like a narrowboat in almost all respects, but it is on a slightly smaller scale.  

Clare topped up the larder after lunch and we set off to top up the batteries and find a rural mooring.  We were very soon out of town, in the still cold air.  The dull day gradually brightened as we travelled, though the sun only managed to come out when it was just above the horizon.  At the only lock of the day, I handed the steering to Clare while I did the work.  That warmed me up the little bit I needed and Clare didn’t get cold despite not being fully happed up for outdoors.

We’d been travelling for around an hour when I spotted an easy to moor up spot with an open aspect.  The batteries were happy, so we stopped for the night.

It was hard to resist a stroll in the last light of the day.  The only available options were along the towpath, which was unfortunately very muddy.  We didn’t go very far as the light was fading.  At the furthest point of our walk we could see mist forming above the water – the forecast is for a cold night.