We're down

As I start writing we are sitting below the Bosely flight of 12 locks in pouring rain,eating our lunch over 110 ft lower than when we started our journey but only a mile onwards.

We preferred the weather at the higher altitude, but I'm not complaining, honest. The locks were busy with a steady stream of boats heading up and down, which is good news as it halves the workload and doubles the available crew size. Having said that, it is still exhausting work, but completing the job gives a tremendous sense of achievement.

We have moored in the dry near watery Lane aqueduct, one of five encountered today.

The above new-build "old warehouse" in Congleton would give Stoke decision makers pause for thought with regard to their real historic warehouses currently crumbling into extinction.

We are about 1 hr away from leaving the Macclesfield and rejoining the Trent and Mersey canal.