Called in at Anglo Welsh as they are usually good for letting me have parcels delivered there. Still enamoured with D'fer and still OK for parcels. Used the facilities.

Moored up at Tixall Wide for a while. Looking across the water I can see a rather interesting building. Called Tixall Gatehouse, it has been featured on TV as a property that has been recovered from dereliction by the Landmark Trust.

Not to be mistaken for Weston-on-Trent which is some 48 miles away but also on the Trent and Mersey canal. The locks on this part of the canal are comparatively shallow so are easy to negotiate single handed. The climb up or down the ladder is not too onerous.

Actually as you come out of the tunnel the official designation is Hardings Wood Junction rather than Kidsgrove but the town is Kidsgrove.
1 tunnel sounds quite innocuous but this one is over a mile long and as you enter from the south portal the doors are closed to assist in clearing the diesel fumes from the tunnel which is quite unnerving.
Kidsgrove is the home of the Red Bull pub.

We are kind of rushing a bit at the moment as the Middlewich FAB festival is on in a day or so and we are aiming to get there in time to get a mooring in town.
Managed to do a little shopping at the local supermarket to keep us going for a day or two.
The rushing is helped by the fact that the locks along this stretch are paired, that means that there are two locks at a time, so if I am really quick I can get Olive going up (or down) in one of the pair and then rush to the other and get Forty Two started on the second, rush back to Olive, get her on the way, back to Forty Two, to finish up there, close Olives lock gates, rush up to the next pair and start all over again.
I should be quite fit after all this activity.

There is a good animal food stuff store at Wheelock, so got a couple of bags of dog food. Nice place to look around and visit the not-so-derelict water mill.

We have grabbed a spot just outside Big Lock on the opposite side to the tow path, I think it used to be long term moorings but there are no signs to that effect now, so I'm giving it a try.
As we were working through Rumps Lock (9ft 2in deep) just before Middlewich D'fer was ambling around the lock as usual and he just fell over quite close to the edge. I noticed a few weeks ago when Richard was visiting that when Richard got up to go D'fer fell off the sofa and had difficulty standing up so this was quite worrying, especially if he falls into a lock. Determined he would see a vet at the first opportunity and until then an extra special eye would be kept on him if he was around a lock. It would not be easy to keep him in or on the boat around locks without him creating merry hell with his barking.

First day of the 25th Middlewich FAB (Folk and Boat) Festival with music, juggling and parades throughout the town and Morris dancing in several locations.

Second day of Middlewich FAB Festival
We managed to catch Polly and the Billets Doux and the Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band, while catching a pint or two at each venue. Well there's no charge to get in, might as well support the sponsors.

Third day of Middlewich FAB Festival when we got to see My Sweet Patootie, a Canadian duo who used to sing as Tanglefoot and Edward Alice and Molly On The Run. It was quite difficult to get to each venue in time to see the players.
At Middlewich Narrowboats I spent several hours drinking in the atmosphere and the local ale while my No. 2 spent several hours entertaining the spectators with her dancing. She even managed to get several other women dancing as well.

Recovering and deciding where to go next. On one of my walks along the tow path I noticed a boat called The Honey Bee that had a sign in the window advertising gas fitting. I had a chat with the guy on board about the new instantaneous water heaters available as I wanted to fit one to Forty Two, I don't like having to run the engine to get hot water.

Found a good spot for my No. 2 to do some painting, about a mile out of town. There is a winding hole another couple of hundred yards further on but it's not signed and not many people know about it. There's another about half a mile and one lock back into town, shopping should be fairly easy.

A hire boater came along today going much too fast, he was throwing up a wash and rocking all the boats. I tried to signal to him that the canal gets narrow ahead, in fact the canal is only as wide as his boat. The canal narrows to an aqueduct over a stream but unless you know it is just around the bend you will miss it. Well, he did. Miss it I mean, he plowed into the bank going so fast he nearly ended up aground. All his passengers were thrown about the boat and everything came to a complete standstill. I don't think he will go that fast again and I would lay money on him losing his damage deposit to pay for all the broken crockery.

In the course of painting the bilges my No. 2 has found that her calorifier is leaking. I have emptied it and tried a repair but it was not successful.

Watched a couple of guys absailing down the church today, I think they had been cleaning it.

I couldn't help taking a picture of this as I spent a couple of years towing a boat around and this setup makes perfect sense. The towed boat cannot get too close, neither can it get lost and it can ride the waves without disturbing the towing boat.
Made enquiries at two of the boat yards and decided to go to Kings Lock Boatyard to get a new calorifier fitted to Olive. He had done a couple of jobs for me on Almyne in the past and I have confidence in him. I got Forty Two booked in with Middlewich Narrowboats for blacking in a couple of days.

Eventually got arond to taking D'fer to the vets. I am surprised he is so good at the vets because every time in the past that he has gone to the vets they have given him a jab, mind you he doesn't seem to mind that.
Anyway it seems he has some kind of "old dog vestibular syndrome" or dog vertigo, proper name Vestibular Disease. Easily controlled with tablets, which he takes once a day with a small treat. Will still keep an eye on him in case it re-occurs, especially around locks.

Got Forty Two in for blacking at Middlewich NarrowBoats. They have a dry dock just above the short flight of locks and I get to stay on the boat while the work is being done. It's a bit difficult for D'fer to climb up and down the steps but he's a plucky dog and manages well enough. He gets practice climbing up the ladder out of the canal when swimming.
I have a 4 amp battery charger which just about keeps pace with my meagre requirements and I can plug it into the boatyard electricity supply.