Unplanned Holiday!

Well, what started off as a short weekend away to meet a fellow Blogger, turned into a weeks holiday!

We set off teatime Friday. I had been in work all day so John got the boat all ready so we could set off as soon as I arrived home. Dave and Alison started out with us on their cruiser, Kestrel. ( Dave and Alison are friends of ours from the moorings ). They were only going to Haskayne,and we were carrying on to Burscough for the night,

Things very rarely go to plan for boaters, as you know.... Ten minutes into our journey, Kestrel coughed and splutterd to a halt. After much humming and ahhing, and still non the wiser as to what the problem was we decided to tow Kestrel to Haskayne, where Alison and Dave would be joined by friends the next day.

We decided to spend the night with Alison and Dave, then travel on to Parbold the next day, where we would meet up with WB Takey Tezey. Alison had brought homemade Beef Strogonoff, that she kindly shared with us for tea, it was delicious and much appreciated. We spent the rest of the night on the back deck having a drink and a good old natter.

The following day we travelled on to the Rufford Branch on the Leeds Liverpool, where Takey Tezey would be coming up Lathom Locks to meet us. I have been reading Takey Tezey Tales and was really looking forward to meeting her crew, Heather and Dave

After waiting a while at the Locks we saw Takey Tezey making her way up the last two locks. It felt weird seeing her the flesh, a lovely boat she is too! Introductions over we had a drink from, the Ship Pub, known locally as, The Blood Tub, ( Don't ask! Its not as sinister as it sounds though ) As we stood around having our drink Takey Tezey rose in the lock all by herself!

The plan was that we would spend the rest of Saturday and Sunday morning with Heth and Dave, then make are way back, as I was in work Bank Holiday Monday. We were getting on so well I decided to phone my boss and ask for the Monday off, to my surprise he agreed. We went on to spend a really enjoyable couple of days.

Saturday night we spent at Parbold, by the old Windmill. We had a drink on TT and we all had a good chat, and had a meal from the chippy, a rare treat indeed, as john and I had'nt had a nice chippy meal for a while, ( healthy eating and all that )

Sunday we travelled through to Appley Bridge through the Lock and on to Deans Lock. We were going to stay at Deans Lock but decided to travel on further. We eventually moored out side The Navigation Pub, newly named The Baby Elephant, an Indian Restaurant. We all had a nice meal there, my dish was called, " Naga Naga" which John thought was quite apt for me!

Monday, we travelled back through Deans Lock to Appley Bridge, but instead of going down the Lock we moored at the top, which gave us a great view. We had a BBQ and may I say Dave is a great BBQ chef! We liked where we were, so stayed another night.

Wednesday, was to be our last night. We had really enjoyed Heather and Daves company, they are a great couple and really good fun. We decided to head back to Burscough, to a pub called, The Farmers Arms . We moored out side the pub and went in for a meal. We had a great night, a good few scoops plenty of banter and laughter. I think the Landlord thought he had gone deaf when we left the pub, the volume rose steadily with each glass of wine!

Thursday came all too soon, it was time to make our way back. We enjoyed our unplanned Holiday and will keep in touch with Takey Tezey and her crew!