Over the Pennines

We reached the Ashton Canal before lunch to discover that the flight of locks was closed due to a lock paddle issue similar to the problem on the Marple flight; the difference here being that the broken paddle needed to be taken to a local workshop for repair and no one would commit to a completion time.  There was already two boats in front of us waiting so we decided to spend the night in a local marina and continue the journey the next day.

Straight down the flight next day, into Manchester and the beginning of the Rochdale Canal.  The Rochdale Canal was not an enjoyable trip. It’s short of water, extremely dirty and full of rubbish  and to complete the journey to the summit, on top of the Pennines to Yorkshire, is the matter of thirty two miles and ninety two locks.

The rubbish in the canal caused us considerable delays as the prop became fouled 6 times and one of the prop blades was damaged resulting in a slight bend to its tip.

This was the sixth fouling, Ken was beginning to feel p***ed off.

It took us 3 days to reach the summit pound.  The bank of our first choice of mooring was covered in bird droppings which clogged up our shoes and was a good foot above the bow, Ken stepped down to secure the rope, lost his footing and fell between the boat and the bank.  Fortunately there was no one else around as he needed to stand on the stern to undress before jumping into the shower.

Bugger!!
 

Guess what? We decided to move to a new mooring by passing through the highest double lock in England and mooring at 601ft above sea level on the summit pound.

Summit Pound Mooring

Highest Double Lock in England

The journey down the Rochdale canal to its junction with the Calder & Hebble River provided stunning views and interesting towns as we passed by Gauxholme, Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Halifax and Sowerby Bridge. Much more enjoyable than the trip up.

Gauxholme Mooring

Gauxholme Mooring

Todmorden

 

 

Great Wall of Tod



Situated in the town of Todmorden this massive blue brick retaining wall which rises directly from the canal to support the adjoining railway line.  An estimated 4 million bricks were used to create this plain unbuttressed feature.

 

 

Hebden Bridge showing one of the many old mill  chimneys

Hebden Bridge

 

Hebden Bridge another chimney

 

Hebden Bridge on a sunny Saturday

 

Our mooring at Hebden Bridge

 

Basket maker next to our mooring at Hebden Bridge

  Next came the town of Sowerby Bridge with England's deepest canal lock with a rise of 19ft 6ins. Fortunately this lock is manned and all the work is done for us.  Out onto the river Calder and Hebble.

 

Tuel Deep Lock at Sowerby Bridge.
 

 

Onto the Calder and Hebble River
 

 Next Halifax, Dewsbury, Wakefield and then onto Leeds, it's river all the way - see you in Leeds.

 

 

 

 



Week 3. Macclesfield Canal & Peak Forest Canal.

Left our mooring early as we hoped to stop at Marple, restock the larder and complete the Marple flight of 16 locks. This would give us time to reach the Ashton Canal early in the afternoon.  That was the plan, but as our previous blogs have demonstrated plans don’t always works out.

Approaching Marple we passed Goyt Mill, one of the most impressive on the canal system, Built over 100 years ago it spun cotton imported through Manchester Docks and brought to the mill by canal. Spinning ceased in the 1960s.

Goyt Mill

Travelling north, the Macclesfield Canal terminates at the junction with Peak Forest Canal, we turned left at the junction and immediately started down the locks.  These locks proved to be extremely hard work as the paddle mechanism was not as easy to operate as one would wish. We were making good time until we reach the pound (the section of canal between two locks) between locks 9 and 10.  A work team from the Canal and River Trust were discussing a problem with the top gate of lock 9, and we were unable to enter the lock. The mechanism that allowed water into the lock had been dislodged and was obstructing the gate operation.  This was not good news as we were instructed to reverse back into the lock we had just exited and wait there until the pound had been drained and the mechanism repaired. The pound would then be refilled before we could proceed.

Full Pound

Empty Pound

The Repair

Bacchus waiting in lock 10.

The repair lost us 2 hours but we eventually passed through the bottom lock and immediately reached the Marple Aqueduct that carries the waterway almost a hundred feet across a steeply wooded ravine and the River Goyt. Running by the side of the aqueduct and even higher is a railway viaduct.

Marple Aqueduct.

Only managed a further 5 miles before calling it a day and still short of the Ashton canal.

Manchester and the Rochdale Canal next.

Week 2. Trent & Mersey Canal and the Macclesfield Canal

Josiah Wedgwood was the most famous innovator of pottery; he started in 1759 and by 1766 was to build a large factory in Stoke which was in use until the 1930s when an alternative site in open country close to the canal near Barlaston became the new location.

We left Stoke early, 6 miles and 8 locks aiming to reach Barlaston before lunch and visit the centre. Guess what? Moored up, walked to the visitor’s centre, only to discover it was closed for a major refurbishment. Bugger. 

Rainbow at Barlaston

The trip is slower than it would normally be due to the weather, we seem to have had more wet days than dry and as we don’t travel well in the rain time moored up reading, watching the TV and an occasional glass of wine seems to be the norm.  

Eventually we passed through Stoke-on-Trent, then the Harecastle Tunnel (1.75 miles, long it takes 30 minutes to travel through and you need to duck in places to save being scraped along the ceiling).  Exiting the tunnel we left the Trent & Mersey canal and turn north onto the Macclesfield Canal. We planned to chug for a further 3 miles and visit the 15th century Little Moreton Hall, one of England’s greatest half-timbered buildings. It’s about 1mile across farm land to reach the Hall from the canal and guess what it was raining. It was so bad that the cows had turned the track into a quagmire, which on top of the rain meant that was another planned visit that failed. Another bugger.

Half way up the Bosley Locks north of Congleton

We are presently moored about 3 miles south of Marples and intend to stay the day as it’s raining again. The last two days saw us stop for at short visit to Congleton before moving onto Macclesfield and then to Bollington. Best fish & chips for miles in Bollington.

Clarence Mill Bollington

We've not commented on Macclesfield as we had visited the town previously.  Please see our earlier blog for details.

Marples tomorrow and the 16 lock Marple’s flight into the Goyt valley.

 

Summer Trip 2015

We did not do a blog for our trip last year, basically just couldn’t be bothered, but our journey took us into London, then we travelled up the Rivers Lee and Stort.  Both rivers were new to us and proved a very good trip.  To extend our outing we then travelled the Coventry Canal and the Ashby. The weather was kind which also helps to the enjoyment and we returned home at the end of July after being out for about three months.

The plan for this year’s trip is straight forward.  Seven hundred miles and around 500 locks, visiting Macclesfield, Leeds, Halifax, Doncaster and Sheffield, then over the Pennines and down to Wigan, possibly Lancaster, followed by Birmingham and then home.

We’ve now been out on the cut for one week having left Crick marina on the 26^th April.  We chugged northwards along the Oxford and Coventry canals before joining the Trent & Mersey canal at Fradley Junction. Though we passed through Rugby, Nuneaton and Tamworth we didn’t stop as we have passed this way many times before.

The forecast is for rain all day so plan to stay moored just outside of Stone and move off tomorrow and visit the Wedgewood pottery museum close to Stoke.

Hawkesbury Junction. Passed the Greyhound, without stopping.

Working boat Australia