Castlefield Basin Saturday 21 April 2018

Most of the day was spent am Dunham Massey Hall and grounds, we arrived before the Hall was open so wandered round the gardens as its included in the entrance fee. As we made our way round we spotted the obelisk that we visited and photographed yesterday. Standing with your back against the house and looking straight up the avenue there it was, you couldn't see the road or canal but you could see a boat passing. It seems that the Earl of Stanford had it erected on the grave of one of his prized race horses but there is no evidence to back this up.

For some reason they were doing free guided tours of the bedrooms so we put our names down for one and found it very interesting. The timing was not quite right for the gardens as the daffs were over and the bluebells not yet out, likewise most of the tulips were still waiting to burst, but these ones were at their best.

During the war the Hall opened a couple of rooms as a military hospital and overlooking the lake is a monument to the regiments that were treated, on the back of each one is a short poem, this was probably the longest.

In the grounds of the Hall is a working water mill that still houses a working saw mill, up until recently they would saw some wood with it but it filled the building with dust and anyone in there needed to ware a dust mask so this was stopped, but the saws are still run from the overshot wheel and belt driven lay shafts.

We wandered back to the boat about half three and then set off towards Manchester, we were the last boat to leave the now deserted moorings that last night had been quite busy.

We did meet a couple of boats during the afternoon but that is about all and expected to see a lot moor people walking the tow path in such a sunny afternoon. At Stretford waters Meeting we hung to the right and headed into Manchester. I don't remember so many shipment containers on the left hand side when we came last and there seem to be even more blocks of flats.

We did pass Banksie doing a bit of art work on one of the bridges with his aerosols and a little further on another chap panting a wall with a paint roller, I assume he is setting up his canvas on top of someone else's handy work. Under the Metro there is now a tent village on the off side and the pile of rubbish has to be seen to be believed, it must be a health hazard for them.

We turned into Castlefield Basin and found a couple of spaces, we chose the second behind a boat with there engine running, the owner came out to shut it off and I checked I wasn't on someone's long term mooring. After stopping their engine they started their genny but that was not for to long and again replaced with the engine running blowing the exhaust straight back in our front doors. Thankfully when we got back to the boat from dinner at The White Lion all was quiet and the boat empty.
As to be expected on a sunny Saturday evening all the bars and restaurants anywhere near the waterways were absolutely heaving, which is why we wandered further into town and passed The White Lion, they offered English, Caribbean and Chinese food. Again they were busy but most people were drinking outside so we had no problem getting a table and I must say the curried goat was great.

Today's Journey 10½ Miles in 2¾ hours.