Wednesday 31st July

Wedding Anniversary Day but not the weather to go with it! Rain, rain and more rain. We did a bit of shopping this morning and filled up with water before leaving Whaley Bridge. Planned to sail back to Marple ( site of lock excitement last Saturday) before turning down the Macclesfield Canal. 

By 12 noon the rain had stopped so off we went. Whilst passing New Mills we were treated (?) to the sweet aroma of Love Hearts and Swizzlers as we passed the Matlow factory where these are made. The smell was much stronger than on the way up the canal on Sunday. Don't think they were in production then. The factory certainly doesn't look much from the outside. Shame they don't do tours.

We passed through one swing bridge and were just about to open the second when the rain started again. We pulled in for lunch and after 3 hours were still there as it was still raining. A brief respite lulled us into a false sense of security and Graham sorted the boat out for leaving again when the rain came on just as heavily as before. We called it a night and will hope for some sunshine tomorrow.

This is the swing bridge where we are parked and it will be our first task in the morning. (Photo taken just before the rain started for the second time!)

Tuesday 30th 2013

A very different day. We took the train to Buxton and had a lovely time. The only rain was when we were indoors. Again the showers came on very suddenly but the sun was soon out again. We first had a tour in this converted milk float! A very knowledgeable driver told us about the history of the various buildings and we were able to plan where we wanted to revisit later.

Buxton is famous for its mineral water and luckily it doesn't taste of the sulphur which is the case in some of the spa towns. It is warm but tasted fine. There is a free fountain for the good townsfolk of Buxton.

There are too many photos to post on this blog so I'll save them for the book at the end but we were impressed With the indoor gardens and the Victorian postbox.

We loved an old second hand book shop and could have spent hours there and we also visited Poole's Cavern to see the limestone formations.

Afternoon tea in the hotel where Mary Queen of Scot's stayed was a good conclusion to the day and we are off to a quiz night in the local pub tonight.

Monday 29th July 2013

A quiet day with Fiona at the boat. A walk around town again and a visit to a very expensive antique shop. As Fiona left late afternoon another storm was brewing as can be seen by the colour of the sky. We had showers on and off all day with hailstones at one point. The reservoir man will be pleased!

Sunday 28th July 2013

We all slept well and I managed to find dry shoes for Fiona and Jess. After a late breakfast we set off with Nigel and Jess having helming lessons and Fiona was on the revision course having passed Level one last year.

We managed to eat lunch outside before the rain started again. The ladies sensibly retreated to the inside while Nigel and Graham got wet! The rain came on so suddenly. As we entered a short bridge there was no rain but by the time we exited it was torrential.

After mooring in Whaley Bridge Nigel and Jess caught their train back to London and Fiona, Graham and I looked around the town before walking to Bugsworth Basin about 15 mins. away where lots of boats were moored. Another downpour started so we retreated to the 'Navigation Inn' to ride out the storm before walking back.

Saturday 27th July 2013

We left Aston-under-Lyne at 9am and headed down the Peak Forest Canal towards Marple. Just before reaching the town you cross an aqueduct with the railway viaduct alongside. We were expecting to meet Fiona, Nigel and Jess in Marple and their train passed over as we were on the aqueduct but unfortunately they didn't know that we were looking up at them.

They walked down the flight of locks to meet us as we were in the second of the flight of 16.

ll went well for another 2 locks and then we were told that one of the pounds was dry so the boat ahead of us and all those following were stuck until the decision was made to open the paddles of the lock above and fill the pound. The photos show the empty and later the full pound. A chap who is in charge of 1 reservoir which feeds 4 canals in the area also appeared and he said that there has been no fresh rain since the snow melt.

We could now get moving quite quickly as the lock crew- Graham, Nigel, Fiona and Jess could set the locks for me to move into. There was another slight hold up when another pound seemed to empty but all was well until the final lock.

A log became stuck behind one of the lock gates and the boat became jammed in the entrance! More discussions on how to free it ensued and finally Nigel (sensibly taking off his white T shirt) and Graham ended up on their backs pushing with their feet against the gates, Fiona and Jess were instructed to wobble the gate, two strangers on the bank were pulling the back rope and I was reversing the engine!

Success at last and we only had to alter the restaurant reservation by one hour!

Still there was more drama to come. The rain started. The pub was across a couple of fields and it wasn't raining too hard when we walked there. During the evening we could see thunder and lightning and the walk back was in the dark, with a torch and the rain lashing down. Fiona touched an electric wire in a field and got a shock and we were all drenched, especially our shoes!

Friday 26th July 2013

Having recovered from the Rochdale 9 we now had the Ashton 18 to contend with. We left at 8.15 and saw lots of commuters walking to work along the tow path. I was struck how they don't listen to the sounds of the city anymore. They all had earphones in and were either talking on their phones or listening to music. I thought it rather sad as many didn't respond to a "Good Morning" presumably they couldn't hear us.

The architecture continued to be very interesting. The Chips building being a prime example.

There is a great deal of new building going on but the recession has hit the regeneration of Manchester which had hoped to build on the success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Too often we still find buildings like this.

The Man City Etithad Stadium was difficult to capture. Here is the best view I could get.

You could see it for miles along the canal as we got further and further from Manchester.

Progress was slow as all the locks had anti-vandal mechanisms attached to them which necessitates time being spent unlocking with a key. We were lucky that some of the locks were empty for us although we are not sure how, as we passed only 2 boats going in the opposite direction all day. 

The dreaded masses of children didn't materialise, only a few harmless youngsters at the last 3 locks who spent all their time hinting about seeing inside a boat! We did have some interesting experiences.

1) The level was so low in one lock that we were hitting the bottom

2) The amount of rubbish was terrible. We met one family whose propeller was completely wrapped in thick plastic sheeting and he was having to slice through it with a Stanley Knife.

3) We did pass through the deepest narrow lock on the whole system.

The whole journey took much longer than we had anticipated as we had to fill some of the pounds as the level was so low. Still we are now moored for the night. A 24 hour Asda is quite close and we look forward to seeing the family tomorrow.

Thursday 25th July 2013

The day of the Rochdale Nine. These are nine locks which run through the centre of the city. Not like Amsterdam where the canals are tree lined streets, no these are below the bridges and buildings and some of the locks are in dark tunnels.

We left the mooring at 8.30am and sailed passed the Man. United ground on the way to the locks.

From the first lock you get a dramatic view of the building containing the Hilton Hotel and apartments.

 

I'm not sure if it is still used as a hotel as some of the windows looked broken. We waited for a few minutes at the first lock to see if another boat was going up as we had been advised that it was much better in pairs. For the last few days when fellow boaters have heard our route there have been sharp intakes of breath, shaking heads and comments such as "Do you know about the Rochdale Nine?"  I thought that there was a potential boat at the mooring just before the locks start but when I asked he replied " No, came down last week and once was enough" 

So I entered the first lock and at least there is a good junction sign.

Buildings encroach onto the canal all the way and there is often not enough room for full length beam arms on the lock gates, and a system of pulleys and chains exists. The locks all have anti vandal bolts which need to be undone with a special key. I knew that I would have to drive all the time and Graham would do the locks as I would not have been strong enough to move the machinery. The locks are double so we had the added problem of using the mid rope to keep her steady when the water rushes in. 

After about 3 locks we were getting the hang of it when a boat coming in the opposite direction warned us of unsavoury characters up ahead at the lock which is in a tunnel. We had all the doors locked and the curtains closed but I was very worried when Graham was ahead of me in the tunnel opening the lock and all I could see were shadowy figures. Here is one of the more open vistas!

Well, we survived and moored up in a gated community where you are allowed to stay for 24 hrs. The passing boat gave us the code to get on to street and so after a reviving cup of tea we decided to go into Manchester again as the Art Gallery was open until 9pm and we were actually only a few minutes from the city centre. 

Tomorrow we tackle the Ashton Canal where the problems are stated to be milling children. The doors will be locked again.

Wednesday 24th July 2013

A day off the water and a chance to look round Manchester. Travel into the city centre was very easy with frequent trams and there are 3 free bus routes which take you round the centre. We had hoped to do a Red Bus tour but they only run on Saturdays. Having acquired a map at the Visitor Information Centre we set off for the Town Hall and who should we immediately meet but James Prescott Joule himself. He seemed to be having trouble picking up a signal on his iphone!

Onward to the John Rylands Library with its very impressive architecture to say nothing of the collections of books.

We saw our first gold post box dedicated to Philip Hindes a track cyclist.

After visiting the People's History Museum we took the tram out to Media City and the regenerated quays area. The BBC are now located out here but we were unable to book a tour and in any case I had some travelling to do.....

And Graham had his own problems!

Our main purpose of the Quays visit was to see the paintings and drawings in The Lowry. They were very impressive in quantity and quality. We were surprised to see how many paintings and drawings he had done.

We had a lovely Thai meal in the evening in Chinatown and it was a first for us in Britain as the restaurant didn't serve alcohol but you could bring your own. After we ordered the waitress directed Graham to the Sainsbury's round the corner and we then realised that lots of the diners had Sainsbury's bags! 

Tomorrow we tackle the notorious 'Rochdale Nine'. Will we survive?.............

Tuesday 23rd July 2013

We awoke to rain! Quite a shock to the system as it was for most people in England after weeks of very hot days. After breakfast Graham donned all the rain gear and although it would have been tempting to stay put for the day, we were booked into a marina in Manchester so needed to get there. We prepared to set off at 10am and the rain stopped. We didn't have any more all day.

We called into a very pretty village called Lymm for a newspaper and then continued along the Bridgewater Canal. The Manchester Ship Canal company have a significant role in running this canal and providing water points is not one of their priorities. As there are only two of us this is not a problem but I wouldn't like to be a hire boat with 6 or 8 people on board because there are just not enough taps.

Near Altrincham we passed this rather impressive Linotype works which manufactured letterpress type. This blog would certainly have taken longer to produce in those days,

Unfortunately many of the factories on this stretch of the canal are boarded up but some regeneration is taking place with new apartments like these enhancing the run towards Manchester.

We are now securely moored in a new small marina in Stretford and feel happy leaving the boat for the day so that we can visit the centre of Manchester.

A trip to the laundrette tonight and all the ironing is done. Looking forward to being very much the tourist tomorrow.

Monday 22nd July 2013

'Today was the day when we finally reached the end of the Trent and Mersey canal as we arrived at Preston Brook. We have counted down the miles since leaving the marina and as we travelled to Shardlow at the beginning of the canal last year we have now done the whole length. There doesn't seem to be a final post saying that you are there so here is the nearest one.

One boat didn't make it to the end.

We travelled a little way along the Runcorn branch of the Bridgewater canal but decided not to go to the end as a chap we met when filling up with water was unsure about the turning space. We also wanted to visit the Manchester Ship Canal which in the end proved to be a great experience.

We had read about the Thelwell ferry in the guide book so decided to investigate. Having moored at Thelwell we walked thought the village and sure enough at 4pm our boatman Kevin turned up to scull us over the canal in a little boat.

Kevin is apparently now on YouTube and Facebook and you can find out about this unique service by googling 'Thelwell Ferry'. The cost for this trip - 11p per person!

We then walked to Latchford locks on the  ship canal 

Slightly larger than the locks we are used to. Just as we were leaving to continue the walk a man arrived, donned a hi-vis jacket and we realised that a boat was due. Never ones to miss a new experience we decided to wait, and wait and wait. The boat was over an hour late and just like buses not one boat arrived but two.

The second boat had to wait for the first to exit the lock.

So the wait was worth it and we contined the walk back to the boat along part of the Trans-Pennine Way.

Sunday 21st July 2013

What an interesting morning! Walked to buy a newspaper and some food essentials and then looked around the Anderson Boat Lift exhibitions and watched some boats going up and down. The lift was originally constructed to allow barges to pass from the Weaver river to and from the canal which is 50ft higher. These carried salt, pottery, flint and coal. Initially it worked by water hydraulic power and then electric and now works by oil hydraulics. It was practically derelict when many campaigners stepped in to save this remarkable piece of industrial archeology. It was very quiet with few boats going up or down.

From the bottom you can really appreciate the size of the lift.

I thought the contrast between the size of the lift and the two brick control cabins most interesting.

We then sailed for a couple of hours passing through 2 small tunnels - one built before they learnt how to dig in a straight line before mooring to watch the golf.

I was talking to some boaters who are moored at Middlewich. They had taken a taxi to visit the boat as they didn't want to cruise this direction. One of the ladies had woken at 4am, looked out of the window and saw canal boats drifting all across the canal. Someone had undone the ropes! 

On the weather front it has been much cooler today. Probably at least 10 degrees down on Friday.  This temperature is lovely - so let's keep it like this.

Saturday 20th July 2013

A nice lazy day today with cloud rather than burning sun but still very warm temperatures.

Enroute this morning we passed stretches of water known as the 'Flashes' These were formed when the land subsided due to the mining of salt over hundreds of years. They were used to sink many working canal boats when trade was dropping off and British Watrways wanted to get rid of them.

The bridges on this part of the canal were built with flat tops so that if more subsidence occurred they could be easily jacked up.  

Apparently lots of the houses were built with timber frames for the same reason. They could either be jacked up or moved to another site! Wonder how easy it was to get a mortgage.

We passed some chemical works where the steam pipes from the lime extraction were passing over the canal. I also noticed lots of planes flying to Manchester airport and thought that if you worked in such conditions at the Lime works you were probably longing to get away on holiday.

We continued on to the site of the Lion Salt works at Marston. It was the last company in the UK to produce salt by the old method of evaporating the water from large salt pans filled with brine which was pumped up from underground. Production ceased in 1986 but the local council tried to run it as a living museum with the salt it produced exported to Nigeria. When this ceased to be viable the site completely closed and began to decay. Luckily they have now received a grant from the Heritage Lottery fund and Cheshire County Council and work is in progress to prevent further decline and to open it as a visitors centre and possibly conference centre. At the moment it is only open on 3 days a year and today was one of them. We had a personal tour for about half an hour with an archeologist and it was very interesting.

One of the old salt pans surrounded by scaffolding.

Friday 19th July 2013

(Map on 17th July)

Slept solidly all night despite the heat and woke at 7.30am. Looked out to find that everyone in front and behind us had gone! We never heard a thing.

We got going about 9am and the first lock was number 57. Graham took this photo to display " 57 varieties of Red!" Actually I am going brown (ish)

What a contrast as we passed under the M6.

In case you are worried, Graham does wear a hat!

We made really good time and decided to press on and get through Middlewich. This is at a very busy junction on the network and on Saturdays there are many hire boat companies changing over visitors. Nothing of huge interest on the way although this chemical works makes over half the output of the nation's salt and the wasteland in front of it used to be the 'Ah Bisto! Factory. Wonder where it is made now?

Thursday 18th July 2013

Today we started off by sailing through The Harecastle Tunnel, a 2926 yds long tunnel deep beneath the hillside. We had jackets on for the cold and the drips from the roof. It wasn't  really cold, just pleasantly cool. We were the third boat of a 3 boat convoy which were allowed to enter at 2min intervals.and the doors are closed behind you so that the ventilation fans can be turned on. Difficult to take photos in the dark but this shot was as we were approaching the exit. 

The water here is an orange/brown colour due to the particles of ironstone rock.

The remainder of the day was spent doing 16 locks. They are all single chamber but quite a few have a partner next to it. No photos( I was too exhausted!) the long section of locks is known as Heartbreak Hill. I now know why!

Wednesday 17th July 2013

So here we are back on the canal. Good positive comments about the blog with the good suggestion that we include a map. Photos will all be with ipad despite trying numerous wire/ connectors at home.

I had thought about it but wasn't sure that a picture would be clear. Here is my try! 

So far we have travelled from the Marina which is just north of Burton on Trent, South West to Fradley and then north to Stoke. You can see the Caldon with its two branches to Leek and Froghall going off to the East.

Today we returned to the boat which we had left in a Marina at Etruria. What a lovely time we had in Wales and the great weather continues. We left the marina at 4pm after a pump out and just cruised for about an hour and a half buying diesel on the way. Our mooring is at Westport Lake - a lovely nature reserve. Unfortunately the visitors centre was closed but we may catch it on the return journey.

Thursday 11th July 2013

Having moored last night below Stockton Brook we had an easy sail to Etruria Marina back on the Trent and Mersey Canal. We passed through Hanley park, an oasis of green in an industrial area and the spot where we had moored on Sunday to watch THE tennis match.

We picked up a hire car and arrived home at 9pm. Now lots of washing to do and a weekend with friends in Swansea. 

Blog will recommence on Thursday.