Wet ‘n’ Wild Stalyvegas

Nick reached an all time high for narrowboat showers in a day. There was the usual morning shower, another when lock work got too hot and the pre-barbecue shower. Oh yes, and the after falling in the canal shower. Right in. Head under.

It had seemed odd when he leapt off, windlass in-hand declaring ‘Let’s do Stalyvegas!’ Seconds later he’d done it in style. A spectacular fall, more in its simplicity than anything else. Used to Murk launching himself at water just lately, I looked up at what seemed a simple walk of the wall. For the tinsiest moment I smiled figuring, ‘Huh, Nick jumped in,’ before realising it was very very unlikely he’d do that. Helped out by a sweet passer-by, he was re-showered and back out on the paddles in no time. At least the dip was top side of Stalybridge, the water gets muckier as the town gathers pace.

No two ways about it, the last (or first depending how you tackle it) day of the Huddersfield Narrow is quite a tough one. Locks are stiff and take time but more than half the trip is rural and bursting with greenery. Stalybridge visitor moorings were empty despite the town being a hive of mid-summer activity. We moved on through Portland Basin, where having spoken to a Canal and River Trust area manager further up the canal, we reluctantly turned left onto the Peak Forest. The air stayed warm as the sun began to set, barbecue lit, we motored on away from the Ribble Link route – it can wait and so can we.