Thursday 30th August

We could get used to this lazy way of cruising with no locks – but its great when you want to get somewhere fast!  We chugged northwards stopping in Garstang to have a wander round.  It was market day but the stalls were right on the edge of the road with only the pavement to stand on and buy things as well as to walk on so it was all rather crowded - as I had Richard with me I didn’t buy anything!!  We went into Booths to have a look round – we had been told that their shops are like an “eccentric Waitrose”!  For those of you in the south Booths are a grocery chain that was established in 1847.  When we lived near Preston I seem to remember there being one in the town (please note that wasn’t in 1847!).  Edwin Henry Booth had one simple aim, "To sell the best goods he could buy in shops staffed with first class assistants".  As my son, Robert, works for Waitrose I would say that both Booths and Waitrose have the same philosophy.

We cruised on in lovely warm sunshine, passed the entrance to the Glasson Branch which we will visit after our trip home.  We are using a book called The Complete Guide to the Lancaster Canal which is published by the Lancaster Canal Trust.  It was recommended to us and is a very interesting publication.  They give official mooring places as well as good places to moor which are very helpful with the shape of the canal sides.  We arrived at one good spot but couldn’t get into the side – a little further down was a picnic table so we moved down there and lo and behold we could get into the side.  When we looked back down the canal we noticed that there were two other boats moored by a picnic table too – so we are assuming that these have been put there by the Lancaster Canal Trust close to where one can moor easily.

After mooring up we got out the deckchairs and sat on the towpath with a cup of tea – I think that has only been the third time this summer that we have been able to do that!!