We were promised a better day and although there was perhaps not so much sun as we had hoped there was less rain. In fact, the only rain was whilst we were tied up for lunch.
We had planned a shortish day with an early stop at Church Lawton so that we could go to the evening service there.
It is just possible to make out on this milestone that it measures the distance from Hall Green where there is a stop lock, just over a mile from Hardings Wood Junction with the Trent and Mersey. This is a reminder that the original Macclesfield Canal did indeed start at the stop lock, with two locks end to end, reputedly because neither company trusted the other to operate them fairly, back in the days when the water in the canal was a precious asset and jealously guarded.
Last night we discovered that the Little Moreton Hall, famous in this area as a National Trust destination, is actually the smaller sibling toi Great Moreton Hall, although the latter, as it stands today, dates back only to the mid nineteenth century. It was a residential special school from 1931 - 1981 and then became a hotel and conference centre. Now it is a private residence although we discovered nothing about who lives there. It is some country retreat! Both houses are only about a mile from the canal but, try as we might, we could not catch a glimpse of either.
As we neared Heritage Boats we passed one or two of their boats including a very cheerful day boat party, at least three generations, who were clearly determined to enjoy the better weather. The full hire boats were also being allowed this way but perhaps they are only out for a short (very) break.
Here now is the stop lock, with the second one behind it. Alongside one of the lock cottages Christine snapped this bank of wild flowers. This is about the best time of year with the greatest variety of colours and shapes, still very fresh.
At Red Bull Aqueduct over the main A50 road, Mike tried to find a better vantage point to get a wider view of the structure. Although there was a sort of path down it was so steep that he passed up the opportunity to act as a mountain goat!
Immediately after is the Poole Aqueduct over the Trent and Mersey - which we would go under shortly afterwards.
As this picture of the second set of locks down from this level shows, most of the locks from Red Bull downwards were doubled to allow greater volumes of traffic.
Although Hardings Wood looks like the junction with the Trent and Mersey, as already mentioned this short section was owned by the T and M who called it the Hall Green Branch.
We are now descending the Cheshire Locks which will take us down 26 locks to Wheelock. There are then another five to Middlewich but much more spread out. We went under the aqueduct we passed over just a shirt time before.
Lock 43 is the first of those where one of the pair has been abandoned. Since we came this way three weeks ago, the offside top paddle has broken. Ax a result it takes much longer to fill and a queue can build up. There is a stoppage notice for 'paddle repairs' in the middle of this coming week but it refers to lock 45. When we reached that lock all the paddles seemed just fine so hopefully the team will be sent to the right lock!
We made the briefest of stops at the service block, long enough to drop Mike off and for Christine to carry on to the next lock. Although a boat was just coming up they did not spot us and closed the top gate.
Below this next lock is an unusual rubbing roller. Although these can occasionally be seen, this is the only one that we have spotted with the claw device at the top, perhaps to prevent ropes slipping up and snagging the gates.
We stopped at the Church Lawton visitor moorings (which are quite lengthy) and had lunch. During this time a shower arrived but fortunately quickly disappeared leaving a pleasant often sunny afternoon. Whilst we ate we pondered our schedule and sadly came to the conclusion that as the engineer at Kings Lock in Middlewich would like us to be there first thing on Tuesday morning, we had better make a little more progress.
An alarming sight for a boater as we rounded the end above the next lock but fortunately it only refers to the offside lock that has been abandoned.
We eventually opted for pleasant mooring just before Chell's Aqueduct, tying up around 4 pm. We could have gone further but it would have meant over another hour in order to be sufficiently far away from the motorway that crosses the canal at Hassell Green. At least it meant that Mike could repair one of the back door catches that has been nagging at his conscience for some time. At least both sides now match as the other catch was replaced some years back!
Later, whilst Mike was preparing the evening meal, Christine went for a walk along the towpath - to Chellshill Aqueduct in one direction and back. In the other direction the field next to the canal is being developed as a tree and shrub nursery. A selection of the photos she took along the way.
7.1 Miles - 13 Locks
No comments:
Post a Comment