Better Late than Never

We are now cruising we should have been cruising 9 weeks ago when the culvert collapsed and stopped navigation.  Better late than never.  The change of scenery above and below Macclesfield is quite dramatic, We’re no longer in the Peak District, and we do miss the hills, but the view is made a lot better with the promise of 4 days of sunshine on the forecast.

Looking back towards Sutton, south Macclesfield

Although looking forward, those clouds ahead seemed a bit heavy

just above the Bosely flight

And sure enough 2 minutes after we’d moored up, the heavens opened

And we woke to the warning red sky in the morning and a heavy frost.

So much for 4 days of good weather

But the sunshine quickly warmed us up and we were ready to go down the Bosley Flight.

A promising start

12 locks over the next mile, not the longest flight but one of the prettiest, and all was going well until we got halfway down. The pound was sadly lacking in an essential element – water. We don’t know if a paddle hadnt been dropped, or it could simply have been a very leaky lock,

We reckoned it would take 3 or 4 locks worth to refill the pound. It took about 20 minutes

We managed to run through enough water to float our boat and I’d gone back to  check all the paddles were down, when I heard an almighty bank on the bridge above me. Two cars had collided, thankfully there weren’t any serious injuries to the drivers, although I’m fairly sure both cars were written off.

Almost there, Lock 11


The rest of our journey down was uneventful, until lock 12 when we got chatting to a family out for a walk, of course we roped them in to work the lock for us and as a reward, we treated our young gongozeler to a ride. (If you’re reading this, thankyou for your help)

Emerging from lock 12 at the bottom.

All done in 2 hours and 5 minutes, roughly 10 minutes a lock

And Eric had his reward, better late than never, boaters breakfast for lunch.

The Many Mills of the Macc

Even though we are now heading south at a vast rate of knots, okay roughly 2 miles an hour, we still look up at the Mills with a sense of wonder. Goyt Mill in Hawk Green, Marple is the youngest of the three that stand out for me. Built originally in 1905 by the Goyt Spinning company to produce cotton fabric was a major source of employment in Marple until 1960. Nowadays it predominantly houses antique warehouses, fun to wander around reminiscing about all the junk you threw away when clearing great aunt maud’s house. There is a fascinating memoire in the Marple website worth browsing if you scroll down.

Approaching Goyt Mill
Can you imagine loading and unloading your wares here?

Once through Marple we were back to enjoying some rural tranquility

We wondered if that sunny day we had last week was summer and we’re already experiencing Autumn.

Before stopping for fuel at Baileys

Where we picked up a hitchhiker again, -remember the cat that came to say hello last month, we also popped in to say hello to James and Donna and the team at Braidbar.

Not sure this little newt was quite ready to emerge from hibernation, we pulled him up on our tyre fender, so I carefully returned him back into the bank.

Then on to the oldest surviving Mill on this route at Bollington,

Approaching Bollington and Clarence mill


Clarence Mill was built in 1834 and specialised in spinning sea island cotton, which, for those unfamiliar with the intricacies of cotton, is an extremely fine long stapled cotton variety used for making lace and muslin. It is infact supposed to be the rarest form of cotton and can make a luxurious (expensive) silk like fabric.


I missed the photo of the next Mill on our route south, the Adelphi Mill on the southern side of Bollington because I was in the galley cooking bacon butties. Aldelphi Mill began spinning cotton, it progressed to throwing silk, and finally spun man made fibres for Courtaulds until 1970s. Nowadays it houses offices for the nearby pharmaceutical company, Astrazennica

Which leads us nicely onto my third Mill, the Hovis Mill in Macclesfield itself.

The Old Hovis Mill

This is where grain was ground to make flour. The technique used produced a distinctive flavour and any baker using this flour is able to call the bread a Hovis loaf. Milling only took place here from 1898 to 1904 because demand grew and the company moved to bigger premises at Trafford Park, Manchester. They did however keep the building. It was renamed the Publicity Works, where they made the paper wrappers to wrap the bread in. Nowadays it’s a rather nice place to live. One interesting feature is the iron ballustrade along the eaves that survived being removed and smelted down during the second world war efforts. I don’t think I’d have liked climbing up there to remove it.

There were of course other mills, and industries along the canal and rivers that dominate this area, Macclesfield was known particularly for silk production, Bollington had a thriving hand made button industry, there was coal mining and sheep farming, to name but a few which helped make it a prosperous place to live.
The Macclesfield canal society website if you want something to talk about.

South by NorthWest

With the culvert fully repaired we finally got the go ahead to travel south, and we’re facing the right direction

Leaving the middle arm at Bugsworth

But of course to get off the Peak Forest Canal back onto the Macc, we had to travel north. Confused? Yes, perhaps this is what happens when  you hang around too long.

And this canal really gets its grip on you

Is this art? Or does someone just have too much time on their hands?

There’s definitely some odd characters on this canal

But we were happy to finally be cruising with a purpose, and it was mild enough not to need our thick coats on. No more sitting around, watching the world go by

Just enjoying the views

Looking back towards High Peak

And at last turning south back onto the Macc

Mooching the Macc and Peak


The past 2 months have been somewhat frustrating. Having the culvert collapse somewhere around Scholar’s Green just a few days before we about to cruise past, somewhat put a halt to our plans. Instead of spending the New Year in Stone, we were stuck on the Macc and our first cruise of 2024 was made heading north not south as planned.

Heading out of Bollington, past Clarence Mill,

New Year’s day 2024, going north past Clarence Mill


Stopping for fuel at Baileys trading post,

And we got more than we’d bargained for

And whilst Eric tried to stiffle his cat allergy sneezes, our new friend tried to work out how to get off Firecrest to return to their own ship

think you should get off port side

Not knowing how long the breach was going to take to repair we settled down to await the delivery of more updates from CRT


Hearing that the next update wouldn’t be until end of January, we packed up and went home to see the family for a belated Christmas

family time

We had to cut short our visit home because the forecast changed drastically and temperatures plummeted, 

And the next day the snow arrived

One of the good things about a big freeze, is that Ice makes for some fascinating patterns

And the ground is solid so going for walks is a treat, not a muddy quagmire.

Heading up to Lyme Park

We thawed out eventually and made it up to Marple

Looking towards the junction onto the Peak Forest

We were getting quite annoyed now, updates from CRT telling us what they were doing to fix the breach, but nothing about how long they  expected the work to take. Should we turn around here or go onto the Peak forest Canal. We emailed CRT and got quite an apologetic reply acknowledging their oversight in not giving a predicted completion – it should be done by END of March… oh my goodness, that would be over 3 months to fill the hole. At least we could pace our meanderings, Whaley Bridge, here we come.

Looking back towards New Mills from Furness Vale

Through the lifts bridges

Wood End lift bridge

Past the swizzles factory,

mmmmm parma violets and love hearts

We walked from Furness Vale back into New Mills, admiring the amazing skill of the people who built the bridges

and finally we cruised into Bugsworth Basin

One of our favourite destinations, Bugsworth Basin.

Christmas on the Macc

With all our commitments complete, it was time to consider our cruising plans. We’d like to explore East Anglia next summer, which means moving south.  CRT”s planned winter maintenance on the locks around Etruria meant we needed to off the Macc and beyond that point by New Year. Or we’d get caught by the stoppage till end of January. Fate had other plans. Making good progress, we stopped off in Macclesfield on 13th December to pick up provisions, only to recieve the notification that same day that there was a leaking culvert at Kents Green Bridge, (South of Congleton). Stop planks had been installed to stop the leak and navigation was closed from the Bosley locks. But was it fate? If we had been one day earlier, we would have been stranded on a rural section with no facilities nearby to keep us fed and watered. Updates were promised on the 18th December so we sort permission to overstay on the Macclesfield pontoon. A friend sent us this image from a FB post, it didnt look good.

And that was just the surface…. who knows what lies below.


With some potentially some grim cold, wet and windy weather on its way, we already knew in our hearts that the likelihood of the repair being complete was slim. Although technically possible to cruise 20 or so miles in 2 days to reach Etruria, it wasn’t going to be a fun challenge. We braced ourselves for the worst scenario. We were stuck. Instead of feeling glum, we made the most of Macclesfield and set about decorating the boat for Christmas.

I think our lights were outshone by the sunset


And I took advantage of the quick train into Manchester to meet up with Mum and Aunty for the day.

What a pair of teenagers

The promised update arrived on the 18th and alas as we feared, the repair was still ongoing. Our decision was made: we’d turn around and stay put -OK not actually stay put, but stay north of Macclesfield on the Macc and Peak Forest canals until we were able to cruise freely at our own pace. Even if that wouldn’t be until February. We considered the practicality of buying ourselves a house, this one had a certain appeal.

Alas no mooring with this property

But first, Christmas in Bollington. A place we always enjoy returning to.

We were lucky to get a mooring on the aqueduct looking towards Clarence Mill. Although the view wasn’t always quite this tranquil as storms hit us and most of our 14 day stay was wet and windy, though thankfully not cold. And whilst we didn’t see that much sun, we did enjoy another spectacular moonbow


We enjoyed some good food at the Vale Inn, washed down with beer from their own brewery – well worth returning to.

that’s a Christmas dinner burger, yes it even included gravy in the bun.

We joined the community singing carols around the tree on Christmas eve.

the singing enhanced by mulled wine and a brass band

A scrumptious turkey for Christmas day thanks to Heathcotes butchers, -definitely a place we’ll return to

We decided to spend New Year’s Eve on the boat and thanks to the aqueducts elevation, thought we’d enjoy the towns fireworks at midnight. The weather got the better of us and it was just too wet to be outside although as the celebrations continued for over an our not everyone was bothered. Personally I prefer early mornings to late nights.

looking towards the White Nancy

New Year’s Day 2024 didn’t disappoint.

What better way to start a new year than a cruise.

The latest CRT update came through yesterday. The canal is still closed at Bridge 85 and the next update is on 10th January.

Happy New Year,

Goodbye Autumn Hello Winter

Autumn seemed to arrive late and disappear early this year, or at least we think so. But what we did see of it was worth it.

High Lane

With several more commitments off the boat we needed good access to public transport.  Half way between Middlewood and High Lane provided us with good options, and a lovely walking route.

We couldn’t resist a cruise down memory lane either as we decided to go onto the Peak Forest canal for a week or two.

Turned right onto the Peak Forest


And we managed to get a perfect view of the Halo Moon

The Halo Moon



But of course clear skies make for a frosty morning

Disley

Our neice has just moved to the area so she came to see us and enjoyed the cruise into Bugsworth Basin

Aunty Cheryl, Laura and Uncle Eric

We took the opportunity to catch up with several friends that we made in 2017 when we’d moved onto Firecrest but weren’t able to leave the Braidbar

We said our goodbyes to Buggy and the Sunny,

And before we knew it winter had arrived

The canal was frozen for a week and the only boat daft enough to break the ice was a CRT work boat travelling at speed. We were livid, and wish we’d thought to take a number down to complain. The snow didn’t last long, unlike the snow that fell at mum’s up in the Lake District, they got 12 inches most of it falling in just an hour or two. No wonder it took them by surprise. I caught the train up a few days after and although most had gone, the views remained spectacular

The River Kent (in cumbria)

and going back to wake up to my favourite view from my teenage bedroom

Time to turn the heating on

We turned onto the Macclesfield Canal during the last week of October.  Apart from a few chilly mornings, the sunshine  had provided enough heat to keep the boat warm, and an extra hour under the duvet had kept us warm up until now.

Autumn at Stanier Bridge 62, on a warm day

Although the boiler drinks more diesel than Eric drinks beer, it’s not economy that fuels our reluctance to enjoy a hot radiator, but a stubborn streak of perverseness that eggs us on to hold off for as long as possible. Not to mention the  wardrobe full of handknits to wear. Mooring up at Ramsdell Hall, we thought we were going to make it to the beginning of November

Rowndes Bridge 86 (ramsdell VM) Tuesday evening


But the following morning, enough was enough, we both agreed the time had come.

Rowndes Bridge 86 Wednesday morning

I’d been invited to attend a concert in Liverpool so we needed to reach the train station at Macclesfield. So despite the fog, we pushed on to do the Bosley flight before the rain started.  No volunteers to help at this time of year, but we still managed all 12 locks in under 2 hours

The Bosley Flight (and boat wash)

We were unlucky with the mooring in Macclesfield, as most had been taken, and the visitor pontoon has a 2 day restriction all year round. We would have liked to have stayed longer but we had just enough time for us to visit the monthly treacle market – which in my opinion is one of the best street markets in the country with a combination of nearly 200 artisan foods, art and handicraft stalls. And then I caught the train to Liverpool.

Our “plan A” had been to overwinter in Salthouse Dock, , so we could be close to family and all the fun and culture Liverpool has to offer.  But alas it wasn’t to be, we’ll enjoy the greater freedom of cruising more – and I can spend our mooring fees on train fares. Aunty lives near the Formby coast which is great for sunsets

Formby Beach

Even better when you have a cousin to share it with

Me and Diana

We all went to the Phil to hear Vikingur Ólafsson to play the Bach Goldberg Variations.

If only I were allowed to post an audio of the concert, it was magical

After my frivolities it was time to settle down to some hard work Our son was having to move house, don’t get me started on the relationship between landlords and tenants, we’ve experienced good and bad from both sides.  Nowadays young people don’t have that magic box automatically ticked on their drivers licence that allows them to drive a van, which meant we were called upon to hire the van … and put in the man power to help with the heavy lifting. It’s a bit ironic that for “Plan B” we’d chosen to cruise up the Macclesfield canal so we could spend some time with him, but hopefully he’s settling in to his new abode now even if it’s nowhere near a canal now.

Lucky we’d hired a big van

At least for us living on a boat means we’re well used to moving our home. We found ourselves mooring back where Firecrest was built, near Braidbar Boats, nice to pop in and say hello to some good friends. As well as enjoying the expanse of the wides.

Braidbar wides, (probably not the official name)

We seem to be spending more time off the boat than on it this month, and we topped it off by celebrating a 90th birthday in the Lake District but the old dog likes his privacy so here’s the young one enjoying the festivities.

Boris the dog


And we got to spend a week at “home” (where the central heating is on all year round and we get too hot)

Thats one for next years calendar

Hampered or Enhanced

In the true spirit of Britishness, the weather continues to dominate our cruising plans, yet no matter how carefully we study various forecasts nothing beats looking out the portholes for accuracy. The bad days have been so awful we’ve battoned down the hatches and stayed snug inside. With no photos to prove it, yet the good days have seen blue skies and dramatic  clouds that have done nothing but enhance our love of this out door lifestyle.

We were to spend the next week travelling down the 10 miles of the Middlewich branch,

Minshall Lock

Autumn hadn’t quite arrived when we were here mid October, and the garden at Minshall Lock still held some jewels.

Stanthorne Visitor Moorings were a nice place to stay for a few days

Stanthorne Visitor Moorings



And our local family came to say hello

Kevin Jane and Bob the dog

5 minutes after they’d left the view changed dramatically  and the heavens opened

it looks like autumn now

Whilst we were moored at Stanthorne we were puzzled by what looked like a stationary boat approaching the bridge. Curiosity got the better of us, two boats had had their mooring pins torn out and were floating free in the middle of the channel. We were able to do our good deed for the day by asking a passing boater to nudge them close enough to the bank for us to get on, and rescue the ropes which thankfully still had the pins attached. The ground is so soft with all the rain it’s hardly surprising the pins didn’t hold.

that’s not a good place to drop anchor.

The moral of this has to be. If you can’t moor on rings or armco, use a cross pin to brace the rope holding pin, use a springing line to help hold the boat still, and always thread your rope through the pin ring and most importantly SLOW DOWN past moored boats, infact throttle down before you reach the moored boat so that you are actually going slowly when you pass them. Apologies for getting on my high horse there, but it really does matter.

Swan Patrol reporting back

And back onto the Trent and Mersy at King’s Lock Middlewich

Middlewich junction

Sweet and Salty

Aren’t they sweet,

Our journey from Middlewich took us through Cheshire’s salt heritage, a merry mix of beautiful countryside and gentle cruising, 

Meandering through the bluebell woods

I think this swan wanted to see us off his aqueduct over the river Dane

Perhaps we should have paid the toll

Although when we saw those black clouds rising we made straight for the next available mooring

The calm before the storm

We still got drenched in the minutes it took us to stop and tie up.

Oh boy that was some downpour

It didn’t last long but we didn’t trust the clearing sky

It didn’t look that much clearer when we reached the Tata Chemical factory at Northwich, although some of that is steam not cloud

It feels a bit alien travelling through a site like this

The site now includes the UKs largest carbon capture plant recycling 40,000 tonnes of CO2 opened in 2022, I wonder if they will need a new bridge symbol

It’s not that much further on to the Anderton nature park, one of our favourite moorings

Two day mooring at the Anderton nature park, time to take down the coronation bunting

We didn’t decend the Anderton Boat lift this time

But descended on foot and walked into Northwich along the River Weaver,

Wilton Brook and the River Weaver

Last time we were here Firecrest’s generator had suffered a catastrophic malfunction and due to a number of reasons we  ended up stranded in Northwich Marina for 8 weeks, (lovely marina though) and missed out on exploring the river. But Northwich has several millenia of providing salt for the country so we thought it only right to enjoy a bowl of salty popcorn

Film night treat

And a little more sweetness

Heading for the Kings Lock

Just as the coronation takes place a while after the accession, likewise this blog rarely gets written the day it happens.  first we said goodbye to Reginald

Good Luck at Crick Reginald

And picked up some sound advice about our planned route up past Braidar on the Macclesfield- don’t bother it’s already desperately short of water and closures are expected. Mind made up, it was through the tomato soup tunnel, aka Harecastle tunnel.

Strong tea, tomato soup, or just plain old Iron deposits

And instead of turning left onto the Macc, we would carry straight on, staying on the Trent and Mersey.

Sadly the Macclesfield canal will have to wait until there’s a bit more water

The added advantage would be knocking 20 locks from our route, but we would have to descend “heartbreak hill” the 31 locks between Harecastle and Middlewich.

One of many

We’re never quite sure what this stretch has done to deserve this title, because it really is a very pretty section

approaching Halls Lock 49

and there’s plenty of of opportunity to moor up over the 12 miles. Which is what we did at Lawton, just below the Red Bull bottom lock.

opposite Bridge Farm

Firecrest was suitably adorned in its finery, complete with a knitted golden crown

Very en trend

And we settled down to watch the coronation

TRH King Charles III and Queen Camilla

Before taking another few days enjoying the cheshire countryside

And moving on to Middlewich for King’s lock fish and chips, deceptively good.

King’s Lock chippy

And finally through Kings lock

The Kings Lock, a good pub.