Beeston

Here I am Rune

Distance 8.8 miles

Total 1116 Locks 59 Tunnels

Running total mileage 1489.9miles

As planned we have reached the mooring overlooking (or more correctly looking up to) Beeston Castle. The day was fairly easy going although the wind was a bit of an issue both in its strength and how cold it was. There were also a few boats moving around today, the first lock found us in a queue of 5 to get through (we were number 3) although at Barbridge Junction they all went off towards the Llangollen Canal so it got a bit quieter for us as we went off up the Shropshire Union. Bunbury Locks was the fun that it usually is, the top gate leaks at such a rate that with only one paddle open the lock would never fill, and the lines of hire boats at the bottom always makes it interesting to get through. It surprises me that with people in regular contact with boats, the staff at the boatyard are pretty poor at mooring the boats up as they tend to drift out into the very narrow channel as you try to pass since they often are moored just using the centre line which works for locking but not for anything other than a temporary mooring.