On to Higher Poynton

I had booked a Tesco delivery for Tuesday morning.  At 8.55am I was standing at the corner of the road waiting for the van.  I had to use the address of a local house to tie in with the postcode and although I had added the ' YOU ARE DELIVERING TO A BOAT ON THE CANAL ADJACENT TO THE CAR PARK' I was not convinced that the delivery driver would read my instructions before he/she had parked on someones drive and started to unload.  
The dogs and I waited patiently for 40 minutes and then a van came trundling up the lane ...
Mr. Tesco arrives.
I waved and indicated he should pull into a small car park and then identified myself. 
I was right to be there for he had not read the additional information that the website allows you to make - I could just see an embarrassed Lesley explaining to a householder why I had used their address - but all was well and my cheery delivery man loaded the crates on his trolley and pushed it along the towpath to the boat where we quickly decanted the goods on to Yarwood's deck, thanked and tipped the driver and set about getting things stored away so we could be off. 

 

Food stored we move off towards Higher Poynton

 

A team of grass cutters had just been through..

This footbridge has  replaced a former swing bridge the remains of which are clear to seen to the right

 

The swing bridge pivot base

As we approach Higher Poynton, and next to the camp site that Paul and Elaine of Nb Caxton are going to use for a few weeks before they head off to the continent in their mobile shed, is a section of collapsed sheet piling...

 

Arriving at Poynton we find Nb. Festina Lente on the water point - the tap is so slow you drip feed your water tank - so we gave topping up a miss and pulled back on to the last, or first, of the moorings.  We wandered down to chat to Andy and Sue and then waved them off as they headed out to try an alternative winding hole to the one they were in to fill with water - Andy said on his blog post that he hadn't noticed he was sitting in a winding hole..

Off goes Andy and Sue aboard Nb. Festina Lente

 

I then prepared a 'fast day' lunch before heading off with Fletcher and Floyd to explore Lyme Park which is accessible from both the Macclesfield and the Peak Forest canals. 

Five years ago when we were here with Jill and Graham on Nb. Matilda Rose, Jill and I spent many an hour tramping around this estate and it was a real treat to be revisiting this bit of Cheshire - actually it is a real treat to be in lovely Cheshire anyway. 

 

Photo of the stately pile, Lyme Park

And another from the deer park

 

A white fallow deer - Houghton Hall in Norfolk have a herd of these white deer

 

 

We then encounter a problem, to you and I a stile, to Floyd an insurmountable and puzzling obstacle!

 Fletcher has jumped over, I have  climbed over followed in turn by not one, but two families with children and dogs and still Floyd stays the other side.

Help, don't leave me?

 

Five stone plus dog is picked up by five foot tall woman and carried over ...GB weight lifting team shows interest!

 

Heading back towards the boat after spending over an hour exploring we come across a dry stone wall under repair. 

 

Using formers to get the profile of the wall right and consistent

 

Lovely job