Day Two:- Dunham to Dover

A brilliant signal on the mobile broadband today, much faster than yesterday. The trouble is that my laptop keeps crashing. I used XP for years without once seeing the dreaded blue screen. This laptop has vista on it and I've had the blue error screen about ten times over the last three days. I probably won't be able to solve it until we get home.

Anyway, back to cruising. We got up early this morning and the sun was already out. Blue sky, with hardly any clouds. We set off just before 8.00. it was already warm enough for shorts. As we passed through Altrincham to Sale, we met loads of rowers. There is a rowing club at Walton Park in Sale and they are always out early on a Sunday morning practising.

There were also lots of fishermen about, including some fishing matches. Almost all of them were friendly. We have found this along the Bridgewater Canal. They often chat to us as we pass. not like some other waterways where they make every effort to avoid looking at you.

We turned onto the Leigh branch at 10.00. The stretch through Trafford park always amazes me. You can see the warehouses and factories at first, but there are many stretches where you would not believe you were surrounded by industry.

When we got to Barton Swing Aqueduct, it was closed off! There was a ferry coming down from Manchester, but they were having trouble with the wedges - they were stuck. They finally got them sorted and swung the aqueduct for the ferry. We had to wait nearly an hour before we could cross. It was worth it though as it's the first time we have seen the aqueduct swung for a boat - we once arrived too late to cross and found it already swung for the night and had to wait until morning.

We stopped at Worsley for lunch. We had read that the canal was being filtered to take out the iron ore that makes it red. It didn't look any different to us - it still looked like tomato soup. Through Astley, the water is very clear and you can see all the fishes swimming about in the weed. You can also see all the carrier bags and beer cans on the bottom! There were lots of damsel flies along this stretch.

We moored at Dover for the night. A total of just over 21 miles today. Maccs managed to knock Carl's glasses into the canal. Although we tried fishing for them, we didn't find them. A trip to the opticians when we get home.