Congleton.

We had a great lie in this morning as we decided to stay put today and explore the town a little. It has been very windy ans showery day but we seem to have largely managed to avoid getting wet. We walked in to town via a country path that came out near the church of St. Peters. It has a very unusual side porch on to the street. It seemed to be closed so we couldn't look inside this Georgian Grade 1 listed church. It was built in 1742 and the porch added sometime between 1829 and 1840.

St. Peter's Church, Congleton.

We walked down to the river and could see several buildings that were obviously old mills. It seems that originally it was a silk mill places but by 1860 silk could be made much cheaper abroad. However the mills were turned over to fustian (which is a heavy woven cloth) and velvet. They are largely altered to offices and apartments. The Victorian ornamental park was very nicely laid out and was colourful. The nick name is Bear Town and this dates back to the 1660's when the bear kept for baiting died. The town folk were worried that they would not get to see their bear baiting so it is said that they sold the town bible to buy another bear! It is more likely that the Town Council lent the Bearward (Keeper) the 16 shillings from the fund that was being built up to buy a new bible.

Congleton Town Hall is the most imposing building in the town. It was built in 1864. Unfortunately the Town museum was closed on Monday.

The site of an old picture house has been re-landscaped for the Queens Diamond Jubilee in 2012. I haven't seen many projects for the Diamond Jubilee yet. It is a lovely garden tended by volunteers.

The aqueduct just near our moorings.

Our moorings opposite Congleton Wharf.

We have managed to book 'Holderness' into dry dock at Portland Basin to have the propeller sorted out. We were to be moored at their Droylsden Marina so it works out quite well that they had a slot available for us at the right time.