Caldon Canal

Yesterday's blog had to be uploaded this morning as there was not sufficient reception for the mobile phone to operate the packet data service from our overnight mooring location. The same will happen with this blog as there is no reception at all this evening! In addition, the day was almost photo-less as a result of flat batteries in the main camera - tried to use the spare camera but found it a bit unfamiliar! Still there were enough for the blog.

We continued along the Caldon Canal which, soon after we set off, became very pretty in rural countryside. On the other hand, it also beacme narrow and shallow which meant that progress was often slow and quite challenging around tight bends and when passing boats coming the other way.

At Endon we were promised - both by the Nicholsons and Canal Mate guides - an interesting and well-stocked farm shop. Alas, it is no longer very successful and had barely any stock at all, certainly not the promised bakery products. On the other hand, it was only a short walk into the village where there was a good Spar shop - we also needed to go there to buy cards for the British Waterways facility block at the next bridge.

Christine was rather keen to make use of the launderette and processed two loads through both washer and dryer. This meant we had quite a break - rather longer than just a lunch stop. We were eventually on our way again by 4 o'clock.



We reached the junction where the Leek branch goes off, running parallel for a short distance before passing over on an aqueduct. Since leaving Stoke the canal had followed a disused railway track although, at Endon, we could see that the rails still existed. At Cheddleton, the line has been taken over by the Churnet Valley Railway which runs various steam trains at weekends.



We were aiming to stop for the night at Consall Forge where the guidebooks recommended - as did a passing boater earlier in the day - the pub for its food. On the other had, we were apprehensive as we approached the lock before the stop where the canal joins the River Churnet at this stage for about a mile. We were hoping to avoid rivers for a while! With relief we saw that the flood gauge showed plenty of 'green' so we were able to continue!



At Consall Forge, the river leaves, passing over a weir, and our plan had been to look for a mooring just after the junction where the pub is located. Official moorings were placed just above the junction but we looked further. This was a mistake: not only was there no suitable mooring but the place we thought was wide enough to 'wind' (turn around) proved just a few inches less than needed and we ended up stuck for a while across the channel! Helped by a very kindly passing dog walker, we eventually pushed and pulled ourselves around in order to return to the proper moorings for the night!

The pub - one of the most isolated as the nearest track is across the river and all deliveries have to be brought across a footbridge on a trolley - was very welcoming and the food, whilst not especially exotic, was very tasty and was served as huge portions. Mike had never seen a cod fillet of such a size and Christine's shank (we never did decide whether it was the lamb or pork!) was simply mighty!

Harecastle and Stoke

Not a drop of rain! What is the weather coming to? Can we rely on nothing?

As this was the day that Andrew was to leave us, we needed to make an early start in order to reach Stoke where he could catch a train back to Worcester. We re-traced our route back to Bosley Flight where there seemed to be a continuous stream of boats in both directions. In 10 out of the twelve lcoks we passed a boat coming up. As a result, progress was a little slower but we still managed to complete the flight in two hours.

There was still another couple of hours back to Halls Green stop lock, a short distance before Hardings Wood where we re-joined the Trent and Mersey.



Our next task was to negotiate the famous Harecastle Tunnel. Keepers control access at either end and we felt fortunate that he estimated about five minutes wait for a boat in transit to emerge - actually it was a little longer but the traffic today was very light and the delay was nothing like the hour we had anticipated!

With all cabin lights blazing we set off: as the southern end has doors closed to help fans extract air from the tunnel, it was a long time before we could see even a glimmer of light. The headroom is much reduced in places but the towpath has now been removed and this made it much easier, albeit still requiring quite a bit of concentration.



South of the tunnel we started to pass through the Five (or Six) Towns of the Stoke-on-Trent conurbation. Much of the industrial past is gradually disappearing and extensive reclamation was in progress on the Shelton site which was once an immense steelworks. (When we came this way 40 years ago we could see the hot molten metal being processed.)

There are still some potteries, however, including a new Steelite factory. A number of the old bottle kilns have been preserve as a reminder of the time when most of this area was devoted to making china, earthenware and porcelain - after all, this was what gave birth to the Trent and Mersey and hence the whole canal network.



At Etruria we turned up the Caldon Canal and immediately tackled the two lock staircase and one more lock before stopping in Hanley Park to allow Andrew to disembark with his baggage mounted on the trolley which he came with - but minus the boxes of wine and beer!

Left now to ourselves, we continued for another hour until we were into a more rural setting for a night mooring.

Busgworth

A day marked with some very heavy showers or short (or short-ish) duration but otherwise pleasant sunny intervals. The temperatures rarely reached April levels, however!

We continued the Macclesfield which continued to be delightfully rural for most of its length. At Marple Junction we turned down the Peak Forest Canal towards Whalley Bridge, its terminus. Even narrower and, if possible, even prettier. In the morning we saw relatively few boats on the move but by the afternoon it seemed that a lon stream were making their way to the end basin.

The canal is quite narrow in parts, especially when there is a long line of moored boats. There were two lift bridges, each requiring 50 windlass turns to raise and lower, as well as two swing bridges.



At one swing bridge we were waved through by a boat which was itself just passing through and as we overtook it we spotted that it offered pump out and diesel so we arranged to meet a little further down the canal, beyond the marina moorings for a 'service'. As we waited, the boat came alongside - obviously unconcerned about whether any other boats might come along! One did, but he too was after a fuel top up.



At Whalley Bridge we moored at the basin to go into the small town to buy a few groceries, especially milk. The basin itself was once the transhipment yard bewteen the canal and the Cromford and High Peak Railway, which took goods further on, using a series of steep inclined planes and stationary engines.



Bugsworth (or the more delicate version: Buxworth) Basin has recently been extensively restored. This is the only surviving transhipment wharves between canal and tramway. The stone setts for the tramways were easily visible as well as the limekilns which once formed part of nthis busy industrial centre. Well-dressing season and there were two examples of this art, local to Derbyshire, one alongside the main basin.

Turn around and head back the way we came was now the only option, with the same bridges and narrow passing places as before although it did seem rather busier by now.

Mindful of our schedule for tomorrow, which involves dropping Andrew as near to Stoke-on-Trent railway station as possible, we continued cruising until 8:30 with the last part of the evening being quite pleasant.

Macclesfield

Apart from a couple of very brief showers, the day was very pleasant, often sunny and warm. We continued to climb the long series of locks along the Trent and Mersey. Progress as sometimes rather slow - originally this stretch was built with double locks so that both the motor boat and the butty (a 'pair') could work through in parallel. Unfortunately, some fell in to disrepair a while ago and one lock had been turned into a weir. In other cases, current maintenance work was in progress.

At one point we encountered a BW maintenance pan (70 foot in length) lying across the width of the canal, having lost its mooring at one end. Rather than fend off and leave it as a navigation hazard, we decided to make it safe which, with the help of the next boat following behind us, we eventually managed, even though its rope was rather tattered!



As a result, queues of up to four boats could build up at the locks where there was only a singleton, speeding up through the doubles. Frustratingly for us, two boats ahead of us, on holiday together, worked through rather slowly.

Eventually, however, we reached Red Bull where there is a motorway-style flyover bridge as the Macclesfield Canal turns off, back over on the Trent and Mersey across an aqueduct.



By now we seemed to have lost most of the crowds and when we arrived at the Bosley Flight of twelve locks, they were all set in our direction and the only thing to slow us down at all were two boats coming down the flight. As a result, we were able to work the whole flight in an hour and twenty minutes!



The Macclesfield is a very pretty canal and its original features particulartly interesting. The locks are unusual in that they have twin gates at the top as well as at the bottom - usually on a narrow canal the top of the lock only has a single gate. Also, there are five 'snake' (or turnover) bridges where the towpath transfers from one side of the canal to then other. These particular bridges were specially designed so that the horse could make the crossing without having to untie the towing rope.

Another Change of Plan

Wow! A day with almost no rain!

Alas, we were woken early by the sound of a faulty carbon monoxide detector telling us that it was no longer working! We decided not to go back to take a longer look at the Anderton Lift in favour of making progress. Just after we had started a boat cast off right in front of us (without looking, we daresay) and continued to hold up traffic for the next couple of hours or more by proceeding slowly and unwilling to let us pass! It also tried to pass another boat coming the other way under a narrrow bridge. Interesting!



Eventually we arrived at Middlewich after passing through the 'salt' country. Generations of brine pumping have caused widespread subsidence and more flash lakes beside the canal which has had to be re-built in places to cope. A number of processing factories remain alongside the route.

At Wardle Junction, where we had intended to turn onto the Middlewich Branch en route to Llangollen, there was a long queue of boats (mostly hire boats just setting out). A quick review of options led us to decide to continue down the Trent and Mersey instead with the possibility of going up the Macclesfield and/or Caldon Canals.



We made reasonable progress up the Wheelock flight despite following two boats of limited experience - we were reluctant to moor early as it was a splendid sunny - even warm - evening. Finally, the evening maintenance!

Wet Bridgewater

The day began just a little differently: no locks but still plenty of rain and quite high winds. Before leaving Castlefield we took the boat across the junction to a water point to make sure that we were filled up before going any further.

The Bridgewater Canal is very straight and has no locks - for the most part the scenery has little of interest but the rain was a deterrent to idle sight seeing!



By early afternoon we reach Stockton Heath where our information indicated that there was a Sainsbury store - it turned out only to be a 'Local' version so we went across the bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal to a Morrisons store to stock up for the next few days.

The day gradually improved although the wind meant that the exposed sections were difficult to navigate. At one point we were fourth in a closely formed line of boats - it seemed that those in front had the notion that going slowly meant that they could steer better. Of course, the only result was that they found it more difficult and tacked to and fro.



Much of the latter part of the Bridgewater seemd to be lined with moored boats - one private mooring occupied three quarters of a mile. In some popular areas, the quantity of permanent mooring canalside is fast becoming a major detriment to cruising. Owners of boats that are little more than weekend cottages are often unhappy that boats actually move on the canal!

After passing Preston Brook Junction we merged into the Trent and Mersey with a stop lock that raises the water level just a few inches (to control the flow of water). Perhaps it was the eventual emergence of sunshine and perhaps as a narrow canal, but the canal seemed much more scenic and, despite two short delays at the tunnels (which have timed phases for use in each direction), the was a general inclination to continue cruising for later than usual!



Since so much time was spent inside today, someone thought that, dear reader, you might like to see what the boat looks like!

Moored at Anderton but will take a better look in the morning!

A Day Trip to Ancoats

The overnight stay at Castle Quay - or whatever name, it seems to depend where you look - was quite uneventful and we awoke to the sound of the estates staff cleaning the canalside stonework.

Our first task was to tackle the Rochdale Nine - a flight of broad locks rising out of the basin where we moored. We immediately discovered that there was so much water coming down the flight that the bottom gates could not be opened. About an hour later we were able to make a start, having run a lot of water down from the upper pounds. Progress was only possible up the flight by continuing to do the same.



This stretch of canal is crowded in by many tall buildings developed historically and recently alongside. In fact, several roads create short tunnels and some of the locks are underneath the foundations of the buildings above! Some of the bridges have very little spare headroom.



Two hours and we were at Ducie Street Junction which we thought was not a bad performance - even though we were working through with another boat. Here we left the Rochdale and joined the Ashton Canal where the locks are narrow - semed almost claustrophobic after the broad locks almost universally on the trip so far. However, they are much easier to operate and we made good progress up the first six.



However, we were then met by the crew coming down who reported that there was a broken lock just above (it had failed as they were passing through it) and that we would have to turn around and go back! (They were not so concerned as they had by then passed the problem!)

This time we had a better idea how operate the Rochdale Nine by running water down ahead of the boat and this time we took only an hour and 45 minutes. Mooring back almost in the same place in the canal basin brought our Day Trip to Ancoats to an end. Time to head for Wetherspoons and probably a meal out!