Back from cruising

Bruising cruising, especially in the tunnels under Manchester. Rain, wind, double locks and a threat from low life which didn't materialise.
  Highlights were Lymm and Droylsden marina. One for its breakfast and the other for its night life; an impromptu 4th July celebration.
  The Bridgewater is perfect (wide, deep and no locks) but boring.

 

But two weeks, moving every day, is tiring. And memorable.

  It can feel like going back a couple of hundred years when you see snake bridges and rope cuts on masonry. It is also a great tribute to those who have voluntarily restored the cut over the last fifty years or so. Bugsworth Basin, near Whaley Bridge, is a fantastic example. 

  Whilst governments and entrepreneurs have always been involved, the people you most recognise are the designers, builders and the boatmen and women from every generation, whether plying their trade or opting out of the rat race or simply enjoying short excerpts from canal life.