Castlefields to Dunham

Last night there was a very inconsiderate boater, who ran a noisy generator from mid afternoon until about 10.15pm. When we passed the boat this morning we found that it wasn't even displaying a licence!

Had a lie in this morning. Didn't get up until 7.30! We had breakfast and sat around watching life in Castlefields. There are two Bull Mastiffs living on a top floor balcony opposite our mooring. We watched last night as the woman took them for a ten minute walk and then locked them back out on the balcony. The man arrived home later and took them out again for about twenty minutes. They were then back on the balcony, before being put into what looked like a shed on the balcony for the night. They were given another ten minute walk this morning, then left on the balcony for the day. I don't know why people like that bother to have dogs. It's cruel.

We watched boats shuffling around. As one boat left the moorings, another moved from it's original mooring to take the place of the one that had just left. I don't know why one mooring was any different from another.

We set off around 10.00 towards the road bridge near TDG. Both Carl's daughters work for TDG and we always text to let them know when we are passing. If they can get out, they come and meet us. Suzy was not able to get out today, but Emma took her break and came down to the towpath to meet us. We had a chat, before carrying on towards Dunham.

Manchester Ship Canal Company must have been having a clear up of the canal. We passed a work boat full of all sorts of junk that was obviously from the canal.

We moored at Dunham at 1.40 on the non towpath side, just passed the entrance to Dunham Park. There was a lovely sunset this evening and a rainbow.

10.5 miles. 0 locks

Portland Basin to Castlefields

We knew that we had a lot of locks to do today and that the first flight has a reputation for trouble so we set of at 6:30, turned onto the Ashton Canal and got to Fairfield Junction at the top of the locks at 7.20. We filled up with water before going down the locks. The water was in a tricky place and Liz made a complete mess of mooring on the water and then getting from the waterpoint to the lock!

This is not the easiest flight of locks we have been down. With broken paddles, no walkways on the top gates, paddles that go down by themselves, badly hung gates and having to unlock then re-lock the paddles with a handcuff key, Carl had his work cut out. Liz had to contend with fierce winds and weirs/bye washes trying to stop her getting the boat into the locks. There were also some very low bridges, one of them knocked our chimney over and moved the chimney stack inside the boat where it was attached to the stove! It took four hours to get down the flight of eighteen lock. We didn't have any trouble with "bandits". A few people stopped to watch or talk, but they were all friendly and didn't pose any threat to us. One silly schoolgirl said to her boyfriend "lets jump across the boat", but he pulled her away, giggling.

There are a lot of new waterside apartments, especially around Eastlands, Manchester City Football ground. there is also a lot of building going on as you go through Ancoats on the way into Manchester.

The next set of locks was the Rochdale Nine. These are nine wide locks that take you down through Manchester. The canal goes underneath some of the buildings. There was so much water flowing down this flight that it was flowing over the lock gates with so much force that it was very hard to open the gates.

We got to the bottom of these locks and moored up at Castlefields just before 2.00. The moorings were very busy, but we found a lovely spot next to some grass, between two weeping willow trees.

7.5 miles. 27 locks.

(Photos added 12 Sept)

High Lane to Portland Basin

Another early start this morning. Pulled the pins at 6.40. For the first time in days, we could see the sky, rather than just a grey blanket up there where the sky should be. The day stayed mainly fine, with just one heavy shower around 10.30. The sun even put in an appearance during the afternoon. We don't trust the weather enough to let the fire out though!




After filling up with water at Marple, we turned left onto the Peak Forest Canal and started down the Marple Locks. There are 16 of them, all within walking distance of each other. Most of tehm were against us and had to be filled before we could go in. The ones that were already full were the ones that leaked the mst so they filled on their own. There was a lot of water on this flight. Some of the locks were so full, they were almost overflowing. It was difficult getting the lock gates open as the water was coming over the tops.


We had the flight to ourselves until we got almost to the bottom. A couple arrived at the lock with windlasses and helped us through. They had set the last lock for us and helped us through that one as well. Their boat was moored at the bottom and they started up the flight as we came out. It took us just short of two hours to do the locks.

The stretch from Marple to Ashton-under-Lyne is quite pretty in most parts. The second half of the canal follows the river Tame, although for most of the way, you can't see the river. Although the canal goes through Romily, Woodley and Hyde, the towns don't encroach on the canal for long. Most of the stretch is rural.




There are a few old mill buildings still standing along the canal. Some have been converted into offices. There are also walls along the side of the canal showing where other mills and wharfs must have stood.

We arrived at Portland Basin, Ashton-under-Lyne just after 12.00, just as the sun came out. There was one other boat already moored there whe we arrived. During the afternoon several more boats arrived and moored up. After shopping at Asda, we had a quiet afternoon reading, sewing, snoozing and listening to the radio. Brilliant signal here. Nearly as fast as cable at home.


9.25 miles. 16 locks. 2 tunnels.

Bosley Locks to High Lane

We got up extra early this morning to make sure that we were first up the locks. We set off at 6.40 - everyone else was asleep. When we got to the first lock, the last boat down had left the bottom gates open so we went straight in. As we went up, we found that the bottom gates of the first seven locks had all been left open. This was great as it certainly helped speed us up the flight. This flight is unusual as it has double gates top and bottom. The top gates don't have a walkway on them, so there is a lot of walking backwards and forwards. Luckily we work well as a team and both opened the top gates, which saved Carl some walking! All but two of the locks were empty. The other two must have leaked badly to fill up over night. It was very wet going up the locks as the rain was heavy again. Had to light the fire to dry ourselves out.

There are some beautiful views from this canal, looking out towards the hills. We watched the rain clouds blowing across the top of the hills and hoped they didn't blow in our direction. The wind was very strong and we were travelling into it, so it seemed like we were hardly moving. There are not many mooring places along here. The banks are all overgrown and the canal is very shallow at the edges. Most of the time you can only get in at the official mooring spots.

We passed Gurnett Aqueduct, which was where Maccs first joined the crew just over five years ago. Carl's daughters bought him for father's day and we picked him up while we were out cruising. We had to make a detour to pick him up. We told him this was where he came from, but I don't think he remembered.

We came through Macclesfield, Bollington and Higher Poynton and moored at High Lane at 2.00.
14 miles. 12 locks.

Westport Lake to Bosley Locks

It is one year today since Liz's Mum died. Still missing her very much. As she's buried in Kent, we can't visit her grave, so we bought some flowers for the boat in her memory.

We've hardly had any rain today. It must be the driest day so far, with just a few showers. There was a huge black cloud just as I put the washing out to dry, but it passed over without any rain.

We set of just after 7.30 this morning and got to Harecastle Tunnel just before 8.00. This tunnel is one way and there are tunnel keepers who control the boats going through. They count the boats in at one end and out again at the other. We were lucky as our side went through first. When all the boats are in the tunnel, the doors clang shut behind you and a massive extractor fan starts up.

This tunnel is 2926 yards long (2676 metres for the youngsters). It's profile changes regularly throughout it's length, getting very low and narrow in places. At one point it gets lower and lower and each change in height is painted white. It looks like you are travelling under the ribs of some great beast. We got through safely, without meeting the "boggart". After 35 minutes underground it is a relief to come back out into daylight.

We turned onto the Macclesfield Canal and crossed over the Trent and Mersey. Moored on the Aqueduct while Liz did a spot of shopping in Kidsgrove. Carried on to Bosley Locks and moored below the bottom lock at 2.40. The sun came out for a while, but it soon went back in again!

12.5 miles. 0 locks. 1 tunnel.

Trentham to Westport Lake

Woke up to rain yet again. How much more rain can there be? As it is Sunday, we decided to have a lie in and then dawdled over breakfast. We finally set of at 9.20 to Trentham Lock.

We got through the locks at Stoke quite quickly. The first one was in our favour, then we discovered we were following another boat up, so all the rest were against us and we had to empty them all. We had to wait at the top lock for a boat coming down. It rained on and off during the morning, but it held off while we did the locks.

We moored at Westport Lake at 12.40 and decided that we would stay for the rest of the day.

The weather was pleasant this afternoon. Liz sat outside cross stitching for a couple of hours and the sun actually came out briefly! We had a walk round the lake and treated ourselves to "99" ice cream cornets - after all, we are on holiday.

There were swans, coots and geese on the lake. It seems to be a popular place for families out for a walk.

8 miles. 6 locks.

Tixall Wide to Trentham (Saturday 6 Sept)

We didn't have an Internet signal last night so I couldn't update the blog.

We woke up to yet more rain thumping on the roof. It had rained heavily all night. The sky was a blanket of grey and the rain didn't look as if it was likely to stop any time soon. We decided we might as well move on regardless, so we set off at 7.30.

We moored at Stone at 11.45, just below Star Lock and walked into the town. There were market stalls all along the main shopping street. It looked like a farmer's market as they were selling meat, home made cakes, pies, bread, jam, real ale and wine. The rain has stopped at last!

Set off again 1.25. Through Stone locks without any problems. At Meaford locks we caught up with a boat that had passed us as we were mooring up. They had been waiting at the lock for an hour. Apparently someone had hit the lock gate so hard that it had come off it's hinge. Luckily BW had just finished fixing it when we got there, so we didn't have to wait too long. There were a lot of boats queueing to come down though. The boat that caused the problem just carried on, after telling another boater that this had happened to him before!

We moored for the night opposite Wedgwood at just after 4.00. WE had a thunder storm during the evening, but at least the afternoon stayed dry for us.

14 miles. 12 locks.

Acton Trussell to Tixall Wide

Woke up to the rain hammering on the roof this morning. Looked outside and judging by the heavy dark clouds, the rain looks set for the day. We decided to wait and see whether the rain would ease off before moving. By 9.00 it was just drizzling, so we decided to set off. We were not bothered if we didn't get very far and decided that if the weather didn't improve we would moor at Tixall. Although the rain stopped briefly, it came back heavier than ever along with a strong wind. By the time we reached Tixall, we decided to call it a draw. We thought we could always move on later if the weather improved. We couldn't actually moor on the wides as it was full, so we moored just before them in a quiet spot.

A heron followed us for a while. I tried to get a photo of it in flight, but only managed a couple of blurred ones.

As we passed Stafford Boat Club, we saw this - a lock to nowhere.

The weather didn't improve, in fact it got worse! So we stoked up the fire and settled down to a quiet afternoon, Liz reading and cross stitching, Carl listening to the radio.

Lets hope it's better tomorrow.

6.75 miles. 2 locks.

Brewood to Acton Trussell

After all the rain yesterday, the morning was lovely and fresh. There was weak sunshine, but there was a lot of cloud cover. Turned onto the Staffs and Worcester Canal, heading towards Great Haywood. This is a pretty canal. Very narrow in places, winding through the countryside following the contours of the land. Quite different from the long straight stretches of the Shropshire Union. Typically, the first boat we met on this canal was at the narrowest point. They had to reverse to let us past.

The rain didn't wait until we moored today. It started about 11.00 and rained heavily until we moored at Acton Trussell at 2.15. We were soaked and cold. Luckily the fire was still alight from yesterday, so as soon as we moored we changed into dry clothes and opened the fire up. It was soon roaring and dried us out quickly.

The rain stopped not long after we moored and the sun actually came out late afternoon so we could sit out on the towpath for a while.

We were lucky with the locks again, only waiting for one of them.

We saw about six herons in a field today. This is the first time we've seen so many together. They are normally on their own. More of the leaves are changing colour. It's not like previous years when we've cruised in September and had the end of the summer, rather than the beginning of autumn.

15 miles. 11 locks

Norbury Junction to just beyond Brewood.

It is Grandma Peta's birthday today. She would have been 86. It's over a year now since she died, but we still miss her a lot.

It was another beautiful morning. Sunshine, blue skies and hardly a cloud in sight. The sky was very red with the sunrise, so we didn't expect the good weather to last. We were right. As soon as we moored up, the rain started. We have only managed to sit out on the towpath once so far. The wind was strong and quite cool. The sun is warm when the wind drops, but that's not very often.

It was very quiet for the first half of the morning. We hardly met any boats until we reached Wheaton Aston. The diesel at the garage here is only 66.9p a litre. We reached the lock just as another boat was coming out, so we were straight in and out again very quickly.

The kingfishers are still playing hide and seek, but I've stopped trying to photograph them. We saw a heron today, only the second one so far which is unusual.

We stopped at Brewood for some shopping and then carried on to the 48 hour moorings just past bridge 8 about 12.30. Thanks to the Shropshire Union Canal Society, there are lovely moorings, with rings, all along this canal. There has been a steady stream of boats passing this afternoon. These moorings were almost empty when we got her, but by 3.30 there were not many spaces left.

We are sitting here in the pouring rain, but at least we have an excellent Three signal - it's alternating between 3G and HDSPA.

10.5 miles. 1 lock.