Two Johns

Getting up the Grindley Brook staircase locks is potentially scary. The key is to get enough water into the middle / bottom pair. We didn't realise we were a few inches short of the right level, and I couldn't get across the boundary. My best beloved went to look for the lock-keeper John, but he was having his lunch! However, a man on the towpath, whose name we did not discover, knew all about it. John came back as we were sorting it out, and told us a horrendous story of someone who got caught last summer. Very reassuring!

John and unknown friend

After the staircase there were no more locks today, but four lift bridges instead, which are much harder work!

Tonight tied up overlooking a valley, peaceful in the evening sun, we were getting settled in, when down the cut came a second John, in the craziest craft I've seen all week. He's doing a canal tour, raising money for Macmillan cancer, a charity from which he himself has benefited.

So he stopped and chatted for a while. It's a beautiful evening.