BW have been busy cutting back overhanging trees in Macclesfield so there is plenty of wood lining the towpath. One particularly tempting pile of branches lay outside a collapsed garden wall, so I fired up the wheelbarrow (oh pride and joy) and taking a little saw, set off to collect it. I was cutting the branches into smaller sections to fit in the barrow when I noticed a quick but stealthy movement in the garden beside the towpath. A man was coming towards me, quite fast. At the same time, I saw a woman heading down the towpath itself, with the same sense of purpose. I froze, mid-saw, feeling guilty as hell. It was the perfect pincer movement! The woman saw the wood and slowed down, a smile appearing; the man however did not and emerged from the gap in the broken wall in an unnerving way!
'We thought you were stealing our stones' explained the woman. They were going to have the wall repaired and needed all the old stonework lying around (which I'd barely even noticed). They turned out to be perfectly nice people, even passing a couple of cut branches over to me from their garden. They were even glad I was tidying up after BW ;-) They left me cutting up branches but I couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched after that and didn't hang around.
It was funny and daft, I know, though I did wonder what might have happened if they hadn't been nice people and if the Tories were in power with their promise to review the law to prevent householders being prosecuted when defending their property!
4 comments:
Carrie,
I am sure if the Conservatives were in government the two 'rather nice' old people would have shot you, made a fire from the brushwood, cooked you and eaten you. Then they would have gone back to reading the daily mail and generally doing other dastardly things that reactionary old folks do.
Happy cruising
Geoff
Nothing to do with this post,but an update on the Rochdale canal. The chimney is now fully scaffolded and BW say it will reopen on the 26th Feb so no problem coming this way - though you appear to be heading in the other direction.
Colin
Hello Geoff - good to hear from you again. Haven't sunk her yet!
No, these weren't oldies - just a bit older than me so definitely spring chickens ;-D
Wonder if you get any time afloat? Hope so, it's hard to get boating out the system entirely isn't it.
- Carrie x
Colin - what can I say! There I was at Marple junction, poised to head north. Then it started sleeting, the wind was blowing, there was ice in the pounds and I'd have had to do all 16 locks in one go (no mooring in between them, I believe). Didn't fancy being iced-in in city suburbs for an unknown time either. That's all it took for me to decide to head south! Probably going to see Nottingham next. Hope we meet somewhere along the way maybe.
- Carrie x
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