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.