Trading at Floating Market and staying around Audlem - Shropshire Union Canal

Monday 10th May

We had two sunny days for the market and lots of people came down to see us and we did okay, we made a few sales and got a few orders so that was good. There was 10 trading boats selling everything from leather goods, fairy houses, glassware to cheese and pizza.  The market was cancelled on Bank Holiday Monday due to the bad weather. 

                                           

                                                      

We then decided to stay moored here for the week and went out with Jane a couple of times, had lunch at the pub and just generally chilled out and Kev got to work on his orders.  Where we are moored it overlooks a field with a couple of ponds in and there lots of geese, ducks, a couple of swans, a cormorant and even a couple of oyster catchers, I did manage to get a few photos.

                                             

                                      

       

We then needed to go in the marina and use their services so we decided we would go in there on Sunday and stay the night so we could meet the people picking up orders all in one place and also meet Jane and Malcolm at the cafe for breakfast.

                                                                      

On Friday night our fridge decided to pack up, it is 13 years old and they don’t last for ever but as we need a 12volt one, we can’t just pop to Curry’s!  The marina have always been very helpful so we walked up there to see if we could have one delivered there.  They were really friendly and we soon got the one we had chosen all ordered, it will probably take a few days so we will have to manage for a bit.

On Sunday we went into the marina and got all moored up.  We met Jane and Malcolm at the cafe and Kev met his two customers in the car park, he was a bit like Del Boy wheeling and dealing!!

                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                      We had a breakfast roll in the cafe and then Jane and Malcolm came back to the boat coming to our rescue yet again, they are stars and not sure how we would manage without them as they were going to take our old fridge to the recycling centre at Whitchurch which is nearby.  Luckily it fitted through our hatch window so Kev and Malcolm got the fridge out and off they went to the tip.  Jane and I stayed on the boat.

In the afternoon Kev met another customer in the car park again, what a wheeler dealer he is!

                                                          

Monday - we are off out the marina and back down to the moorings at the bottom of locks where we have been moored for the past week to wait for the delivery of our fridge then we will go back into the marina to pick it up and finally then head to Nantwich.

We untied and reversed out of our space, it was very windy but we got out the marina okay and headed back down to the moorings, we turned around so we would be facing the right way to go back to the marina then moored back in the lovely spot we came out of yesterday.

We will stay here now until we get a call to say our fridge is here, hopefully that will happen in the next couple of days then we can be on our way.

Tuesday 11th May

We got a phone call this morning to say our fridge had arrived so we untied and went back up the marina to get it.  It was not too heavy so I helped Kev get into the boat and it fitted into the place where the other one was.  We only ordered it on Saturday so really good service and the marina were so friendly and helpful.

We went to the office and said thanks to them, then went to the cafe for a coffee, good job they have a marquee as it started to rain quite heavily.  We shared a table socially distanced of course with a nice couple who live in a nearby village and had a nice chat with them.

We then went back to the boat, untied and headed back out the marina, turned left went under Bridge 80 and moored up in some nice moorings just past the bridge.

We will stay here for a couple of nights and tomorrow we will meet Jane in the village as she kindly let us store some of our food in her fridge and freezer so we will pick that up and then on Thursday move a mile or so up the canal to Coole Pilate where there are some nice rural moorings and have a couple of nights there before finally heading on to Nantwich.