Na, just a new outlook on things. Sorry for the Star Wars reference.

When I decided to change my long-term goals and head toward Liverpool/Chester/Wales directly instead of taking the long way around through Leeds, my outlook on things became somewhat brighter. Without the looming trek northward through innumerable locks and industrial areas, I now feel more like I did last summer. Carefree and relaxed.

The weather has had a bit of a turn as well, finally. The last couple of days were bluebird sunny (although not particularly warm) so I decided to take advantage and do a couple long ones. As I had friends wanting to meet up for dinner, I spent Thursday and Friday high-tailing it from Marple to Rode Heath.

Those two days were long, difficult, and tiring. The weather was perfect, but 35 miles and 25 locks in two days is a lot. It might not sound it but it meant a couple of 9 hour days, back to back. The locks are the toughest part, especially single-handed and with other boats waiting behind. Most people are very generous, patient, and helpful however. I had tons of help from Rob in the Bosley flight, he came ahead from his friend’s boat to speed me through (he’s on the left, more about his friends later).

Upon finally reaching the bottom of that flight, friends from the northward trek moved their boat to make room for me on the Dane Aquaduct moorings (see previous blog), where we had a very pleasant evening together. Thanks again Alan and Helen on Thomasina! On my way down the flight, and while we were relaxing canal-side, we were joined by two unusual guests.

These two goats had been hanging around the locks all day, just following random people on the towpath. They were extremely clean, very calm and friendly, and didn’t seem distressed at all. I’m sure they were someone’s pets. We called the RSPCA and the CRT, as well as sending various tweets, so there’s lots of awareness and I’m sure they’ll get home soon. Aussie-boater (a youtuber) was spending a couple of days there so he’s keeping an eye on them as well, thanks for that!

I left early the next day, but not without a morning hello! Yes, they were waiting for me right outside my window.

Friday saw me arrive onto the Trent & Mersey and turn northward. This stretch of canal is a bit different that any other I’ve seen, as many of the locks are ‘doubled’. I’m not clear on the history of it but there are very few examples on the system, most are on this stretch north of the Harecastle Tunnel. At each lock location, there are actually two locks side-by-side. This allows boats to travel in opposite directions simultaneously, or two at once in the same direction. Quite efficient actually.

I went through a lot of these with Neil and Sue on their boat Chrissie and they were ever so helpful! It’s quite common for crew to help other boaters through locks, especially when one is single-handed (as I am), but they went a step beyond and I’m very grateful.

Having reached the bottom of this flight (knows as “Heartbreak Hill”), I found a nice, quiet mooring. This where I met Cate and Bob at the Broughton Arms pub, and where they treated me to dinner and drinks and we had a good ‘ol catch-up. I hadn’t seen them since the Kennet and Avon last year where we did the Caen Hill Flight together (downhill). They were on Guy and Rose’s boat (see post 25 – Caen Hill). Lovely people who became good friends in a very short order, and we stayed in touch all winter. It was wonderful to see them again, hopefully we’ll do some cruising together in a couple of weeks.

So, I’m continuing on the Trent & Mersey Canal, heading toward the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal where I’m planning on putting into a marina for a bit and getting solar panels installed. I survived well last year without them since I was running the boat almost every day and the batteries stayed well charged but in the rain this year, that’s not the case. So I’ve decided to go for it and spend Robbie’s inheritance. Sorry buddy.

More soon, I’m getting back in the groove now and loving every minute. Please don’t hesitate to comment or send me a note, I love to hear from everyone back home…

Lovely countryside everywhere I look.

Nice and quiet, good neighbours.

Kind of a shock at first.

A Victorian mobile phone tower. They built them big back then.

Front….

Back…

Forget what I said before. No, seriously. There’s now been a major change of plans. I’ve decided to not go further north, not do the Huddersfield Narrow Canal or the Leeds and Liverpool, at least not this year. For various reasons, not the least of which is the weather, I’m going to head toward Wales now instead of later in the summer. There are a huge number of locks between here and Leeds, and I’m rather enjoying sitting inside the boat when it’s pouring, rather than struggling up and down flight after flight in the rain. Call it lazy, call it wimpy, but I call it retired.

Further to this calculation, much of the next stretch of canals (in the original plan) goes through parts of cities that I’m continually warned against stopping in, for security reasons. Too many ‘yutes’ with too much time on their hands and they cause trouble for boaters as a hobby. Without being able to cruise every day (or do long days) due to the rain, I’d just rather not stress about stuff like that.

So, here I sit at the end of the Peak Forest canal, at a very cool place called the Bugsworth Canal Basin. It’s an amazing spot, formerly a major location for transshipping lime from trains to the boats and on to Manchester. Much of it is derelict of course, but the boat channels have been restored, there’s a little visitor centre, lots of mooring space, and a pub!

It’s been a very pleasant trip up the Macclesfield Canal, and I’m looking forward to going back the way I came. I can stop at some nice mooring spots that I bypassed, and perhaps try an additional pub or two. I’ve talked to a few boaters but not really stayed with anyone; it’s difficult when we’re all hiding inside our boats, staying dry. However, it might be that we’re going to get a bit of hot weather soon! The weather service is notoriously ‘wrong’ but I’m hoping this time will be different (I can hear your laughter).

This is kind of funny…as I was passing through a small industrial area, I was hit by a very sweet smell. Very sweet. I thought I would get a toothache, just from the fumes! Turns out it’s where they make “Swizzels”, a range of sweets that include Love Hearts (remember them?).

The majority of this area has been mainly quite rural, with many lovely homes along the canalside. Some with a sense of humour…

Of more general interest (or not) here’s an tidbit that I need to research more deeply: Canada Geese are very common and successful here (much to everyone’s chagrin), and a couple of the reasons seem to be behavioural. First, they tend to aggregate into mult-family groups, presumably for security. A group of several large, adult geese is pretty intimidating to a fox or dog. In addition, I’ve noticed that there is always a ‘lookout’ goose. The group will often be head down in the grass or water, eating. But no matter what there’s always at least one with his/her head held high, on guard constantly. Always.

I’ve even noticed that if a different one picks up their head, the original lookout may then proceed to feed. But there’s always one looking out. The swans and ducks don’t seem to do this. End of biology geekiness…

I’m well on my way now up the Macclesfield Canal toward the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, which I have decided is my choice to reach Leeds. It’s been a fairly uneventful passage, even the weather isn’t worth much note. I’ve had rain (while on the Bosley Flight, of course), sun, and wind. I’ve not had, however, the predicted thunderstorms. Seems the UK weather forecasts are much like Canada’s…not to be trusted. I have had some nice moorings, including this pretty place on top of an aquaduct, right over a pub!

And in that pub I met a boatload of Aussies (and a couple of Kiwis) that were touring around. We had a great evening together comparing national traits and systems, and generally trashing everyone that wasn’t from Canada, New, Zealand, Australia, or the UK.

I have to mention Alan (on the left in the photo), he gave me the coolest hat! I’m going to be sending him some Canadiana when I get home!

The Macclesfield seems to have more ‘roving bridges’ than any other canal. For some reason the towpath occasionally changes sides, and back in the day they built these bridges so the horses that were towing the barges could also change sides but not have to be unhitched. They are simple but very elegant, and I was quite taken with them…

Speaking of aquaducts, here’s the Dane Aquaduct (over the River Dane, obviously). It was pretty impressive from below, even if I had to jump some fences and dodge some sheep to get there!

And, some more random photos…

As you may have noticed (or not), I haven’t written much on this blog lately. Since Crick, I’ve had an amazing few weeks travelling with new and old friends. I met Ian and Jane shortly after leaving and we had a great time moving along together. Fans of Roald Dahl will appreciate their boat name!

While they stayed behind near Leicester, I continued north and met up with friends from last year on the Kennet & Avon. Like last year, we had far too much fun! Jane even went for a swim…at least I assume that’s what she was doing… We enjoyed some great pubs, pleasant (if chilly) towpath evenings, and good cruising. Rich is always ready with a story and a laugh, and his sister Jo gives it right back to him whenever necessary.

Once they turned around to deliver their hire boat, I continued on through Stone toward the Caldon Canal. This is a spur canal that goes through some beautiful countryside. Before reaching it I met Mark and Sarah at a lock. They were considering heading up that way so we decided to travel together. Again, wonderful people and a wonderful time. So glad to have met them. We very nearly won Quiz Night at the pub too!

They had to return their boat so they headed back out of the Caldon before me. While in Cheddleton I had a visit from Guy, another friend from last year on the K&A! We had a huge pub dinner and spent the night shooting the breeze, mostly about narrowboats, of course.

Okay, the visiting is over for the moment I think. I’m now heading north again, toward Leeds where I’ll cross westward to Liverpool. In the meantime, I’ve had to go through the Harecastle Tunnel (or the Scarecastle as some know it). Not that bad of a tunnel actually considering the hoops you need to jump to go through. Sign in, a safety briefing, equipment checks, etc. I found it actually easier than others, primarily since it was one-way, no having to negotiate oncoming boats. It was very low in places however, and some people actually wear hard hats.

The south entrance. That curved plank hanging under the sign is the outline of the tunnel ahead, if you can’t get under that, you don’t go.

Very low headroom in places. This was not even the worst spot!

Strangely enough, the water at the north end is full of iron oxide, a totally different colour!

I’m going to go off on a bit of a rant now. I have loved nearly everything about the canals and the life on them. Something that keeps cropping up however, are swing and lift bridges. They have been in place for literally hundreds of years, yet they often STILL have the controls on the opposite side of the canal to the landing. To clarify, when approaching a lock or movable bridge, you have to temporarily moor up and walk ahead to operate it. The ‘landing’ has bollards to tie to, and is on the towpath side. Usually the ‘offside’ (non-towpath) is inaccessible, being overgrown, shallow, or otherwise blocked off. So, if the controls to move the bridge are on the non-towpath side, a single-handed boater has no obvious or easy way to lift the bridge and get back to move their boat through! Why, oh why has this continued for so long?

Controls on the left, landing on the right.

There is an awkward but possible way to do it of course. Nosing the boat up to the control side and climbing off the bow, then (after moving through) doing the same from the stern to lower the bridge again will work. But it’s dangerous and tedious. If there’s any current or wind, the boat is basically out of control and often ends up jammed across the canal. Not a pretty sight. Rant over…

I hope it’s been a good summer for everyone so far. I hear the weather in BC is much better than over here, although that doesn’t bode well for the fire situation. Certainly no danger of that over here. With the flooding on most of the rivers, at least the canal water supply situation is looking better. In fact, there have been a couple of breaches where the canal has over-topped it’s banks and started washing it away. This is about the most serious problem a canal can have. A breach last year on the Middlewich Branch took months and many millions of pounds to repair.  It’s quite unusual since the canals are designed to stay at the same level (not like rivers, obviously). I’m presently on the Macclesfield Canal, and will have to make a decision up ahead about my next canal. Unfortunately, both options are at present closed to me! One has a broken lock, the other a small breach. Good thing I’m not in a hurry.

As expected, and like last year, there have been some amazing sights along the way. Here are some photos to peruse…