Anyone Smell A Rat?

First up, we begin the blog with a big thank you to Stoke TA centre for putting us up at such short notice. And so we began Saturday with great optomism raring to get on the canal and paddle into the Festival which was taking place at Middlewich, like four seasoned pros. We set off at great speed all the while keeping a close eye on Sid's ever growing evolution into a member of the rat family. Our first stop was at the Lock Inn where we were met by dubious looks and a rather obvious unwillingness of the locals conversing with men in drag. As we got back in the water and made our way towards the festival Sid suddenly started to speed up to the extent where none of us could catch him. It wasn't until we eventually reached the Kings Lock Inn that we realised the reason for the sudden burst of speed. There standing next to the pub was a tall man wearing a pointy hat and playing a pipe, yes you guessed it, it was the pied piper of Hamlyn calling to all the rats to follow him. Luckily, Phil spotted Sid in the crowd and managed to quickly slap a big pair of ear defenders on him. Once Sid had stopped pining for the piper we managed to get him back on the water en route to Kidsgrove. The journey went remarkably quick and unhindered and before we knew it we were at the entrance to Harecastle Tunnel which was our exit point for the day. Then it was back to the Newcastle Under Lyme TA centre for a quick shower and a pub dinner to discuss our worries over Sid.