Macclesfield to Kent Green

Macclesfield to Kent Green

14th April 2010

Macclesfield Canal

17 miles - 12 locks - 7 hours

A strangely interrupted night, with a torch illuminating the boat at 5.00am, closely followed by some brawling ducks which seemed intent on throwing themselves at the side of the boat just for the sheer hell of it.

Macclesfiled is OK, but I can't raise a lot of enthusiasm for the visitor moorings. We got the best of the bunch but even that was on a convex bend which made fendering difficult. We moored directly opposite the old Hovis Mill, which was rather more impressive by night than by day.

The canal continued to be both narrow and shallow but unusually, dredging was in full swing by BW's contractors at Bosley, and again in Congleton itself. Canal Boat is this month  running an article on dredging which I found strangely absorbing, and was paricularly struck by the fact that each cubic metre of silt cost £50 to shift. Where there is muck there is money.

The 12 locks at Bosley were well behaved and fast, most being set for us. Aqueducts were also there a plenty, causing us to stop regularly and fill out boots with photos of rivers in the air large and small. Adam (nb Debdale) said I would have a field day in this area.

For all its shortcomings in terms of width and depth, the Macclesfield grew on me. It's high (518ft) summit pound offering great views to the north, flanked by an impressive line of hills to the south. One of these days I will take a slow trip along this canal with Belle and spend several days exploring on foot.

Due to it's late construction the canal shares many characteristics with the Shopshire Union, deep cuttings followed by soaring embankments using the cut and fill technique later used on the railways. I particularly like the 2 mile reach leading into Congleton, which is perfectly straight and each bridge frames the next, on and on into the distance like looking down the wrong end of a telescope.

Dane Aqueduct

We took a long pause at the Dane Aqueduct, scrambling down the the waters edge and observing the fine single arch which crosses the fast flowing river. As is often the case, trees obscure the view but we still got some good shots as a reward for our efforts.

Mooring at Ramsdell Hall

With an early passage through Harecastle planned for tomorrow we moored opposite Ramsdell Hall on the short stretch of armco piling. This is a particularly fine mooring, virtually in the hall's gardens and much better than the official ones provided by bridge 86. A quiet night of swooping owls, distant dogs and the occasional rumble of a Pendelino sighing past the back of the hall.

Whaley Bridge to Macclesfield

Whaley Bridge to Macclesfield 

13th April 2010

Peak Forest and Macclesfield Canals  15 miles - 0 locks - 6 hours

A full boat last night, with all four Ahab's on board. The birthday celebrations continued with a great cooked breakfast which really set us up for the day.

Belle and Tilly departed at 11.00am leaving Jeff and I to our own devices once more. I know that Manchester marked the northern most point of the trip, but this felt more like the turn back home, downhill all the way to Great Haywood.

Bugsworth basin

Before setting off we had to atttend to a recurring mechanical fault on WB which has been niggling for a while but had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. The flexible exhaust coupling to the skin fitting keeps rattling loose, that and the bolt securing it to the exhaust pipe out of the manifold. The nuts are far too large for my mole grip so we had to resort to a rag and some twisted string. Not a perfect or lasting solution, but one which seems to hold for about three days before a repeat treatment is needed.  At least I now know what the trouble is, and that it isn't the exhaust baffles breaking off which was my earlier diagnosis.

Emergency DIY bay

Whilst laying on my back on the swim sorting out the exhaust I noticed that the wide coolant pipes were chaffing on bits of the engine in two places and took the opportunity to protect them - another replacement job for the winter.

After the warmth of Monday,  Tuesday cooled throught the day with extra layers being added as fast as they were discarded the day before. The temperature dropped with each passing mile and in the end we were all muffled up in fleeces, windproofs and gloves - at least there was no rain.

 Helicopter at Wood Lanes

Whilst the day was devoid of locks, the area abounds with aqueducts which resultred a a great many off boat forrays to secure images for the Aqueducts blog. I must get round to posting the rest of them. As well as all the aqueducts, we also passed the back of Dr D's first home in High Lane - I hope I got the right one.

Dr D's olld house - I think

I had forgotten how shallow the Macclesfield is, as shallow as the Peak Forest in parts with the bridge holes being the worst. Each passage caused great gouts of rubbish and sediment to roil in our wake with twigs chattering through the blades of the prop.

Hovis mill in Macclesfield

We had plans to moor after Bollington but BW and their contractors had other ideas. The hopefull MP marked on the map turned out to be a sea of freshly dredged mud so we had no option but press on. Mooring in this area is problematic so in the end we moored in Macclesfield itself, right opposite the old Hovis Mill. The old structure looked particularly good after dark, stretching the camera to its focussing limits.

Marple to Whaley Bridge

Marple to Whaley Bridge

Monday 12th April 2010

Peak Forest Canal 6 Miles - 18 locks - 5 hours

After my adventures under the Marple Aqueduct we made a start on the Marple  Locks at 10.30, and what a pleasure it was. The sun cast it's rays through the still leaflesss branches getting warmer and warmer as the morning progressed. Whereas we started out in fleece jackets with the chill nipping our fingers we seemed to discard a layer every couple of locks and ending up in just tee shirts as we approached the summit.

 Mooring below Marple bottom lock

This is one on my favourite flights, with its deep stone chambers and small duck filled pounds. Some of these pounds are a trifle too small and  run low on water leaving boaters grounded on the mud. This isn't surprising when the water level can fall by up to 2ft when filling a single lock.

 Marple Bottom Lock

After the soliture of the Lower Peak Forest, the upper reaches were a veritable hive of activity with boats bustling to and fro - more than we had seen since leaving Preston Brook all those days ago.

Rather than progress to Whaley Bridge itself we opted for a tour of Bugsworth Basin, exploring the various quays and deciding where to moor for the night. For all its attractive looks this location does have the drawback of the busy A6 which runs along it's southern perimeter and can be rather noisy. We opted for the lower basin which is furthest from the road and tied up in the lee of the stone bridge which deflected a good amount of the noise away from us.

Warehouse on the Marple Flight

Belle and Tilly joined us for the night to celebrate ny 49th birthday. This event was marked by a family meal at the Navigation Inn within the basin complex. It is no gastro pub but it does offer a decent range of menu options and some good real ales in an atmosphere of a traditional boatmans boozer - all within walking distance of the boat. At the time of our visit the chef had walked out contaminating some of the food on the way. This limited the menu a bit but the landlords wife stepped into the breech and produced a good meal far more promptly than we expected, all washed down with a couple of pints of Stockport Strong.

Marple horse tunnel

We also used the event to hold a present opening ceremony which was rather overshadowed by Jeffs loss of his phone into the canal - again. The did the same thing last year on the Rochdale! I returned to the boat to find him dragging the bottom with a landing net, covering the boat and himself with slimy mud. Had I not felt so sorry for him I would have taken a photo of this creature from the black lagoon - but I didnt.

Nearing Marple summit

All in all a lovely evening rounded off with St Trinians on the DVD in front of a cosy file. No a bad way to celebrate the last birthday of my 40's.

Boats at Blakeney

Boats at Blakeney

14th May 2010

I recently visited Blakeney on the North Norfolk coast and in spite of it raining as we set off and raining as we returned, we were blessed with an amazingly clear and sunny 60 minutes as we wandered round the creek and watched the high tide creep up to its maximum, and then gently slip back out again. I am not sure that I have ever seen the Blakeney Creek full to the brim before.

I was out snapping photos for my Open University course but couldn't resist capturing the images of the various boats moored up.

Blakeney is very near Holt, where I started my career all thise years ago, and I did lots of canoeing in the area in the early 1980's. A magical place if ever get the chance to visit.

Burgh Mill reworked

Reworking the image of Burgh Mill

13th May 2010

This digital photography course of mine has the hidden benefit of causing me to revisit my old files of photos and having a go at re-working some of them in Photo Shop Elements (PSE).

I don't know if any of you have experience of PSE, but it's functionality is far superior to the proprietory sofware which came with the camera. You have to start with a decent RAW image but then there is so much that can be done to enhance it in the digital darkroom.

Burgh MIll, Nr Aylsham

I used this image of Burgh Mill as a test for a number of features, a photo which cost me a very wet foot when I waded over a flooded meadow last November.

I like the fact that the mill is still in is raw state, ie it hasn't been converted and it's woodwork is all original, if somewhat rotten. It is attached to a beatifully restored mill house, but this is hidden in the trees. The one element which didn't fit was the TV ariel  as this poked out above the apex of the roof. I made my first forray into picture manipulation are "lost" the ariel completely. I am sure my effort was clumsy in the extreme but I am pleased with the end result.