rural – Narrowboat Firecrest

Moving down to Middlewich

After our traumatic wake up sliding ungracefully out of bed on Monday morning, we were relishing a few days of a rural idyll. It’s funny how coming through the Harecastle Tunnel is a bit like teleporting us into a completely different world. The rundown redbrick industrial revolution makes way for green growth and rural beauty. It’s the contrasts that keep this living adventure alive and so exciting for us. Even the same stretch of canal can look very different as the seasons change. Today we woke up in Cheshire not Staffordshire- where Firecrest had been since the 3rd May 2025. The actual county border is where the Macclesfield canal aqueduct crosses over the Trent and Mersey Canal at Hardings Wood Junction although we weren’t in the right frame of mind to celebrate at the time. Today we were setting off down the hill, aiming to get back to the Paintshed where Nick was going to reseal our leaking portholes. But we weren’t rushing. It might only be 13 miles to Middlewich but there are a lot of locks to work through. At least they are pretty.

church lawton locks

We broke our journey at Rode Heath, where there’s a good length of visitor mooring, and it wasnt busy

The sunshine is making everything look so pretty

Even the obligatory photo of us passing under the M6

We moored up quite close to the motorway, its just a gentle hum in the background rather than being invasively noisy.

Eric decided it was time to screw the new pole support onto the roof – only a year after our repaint.

Always an anxious time drilling holes in your roof

Some early morning wake ups are worth waking up for

We stayed here a few days before completing the last of the Wheelock locks.

And another quiet mooring at Wheelock.

Where is everybody?

Eric’s cousin lives quite close by so we arranged to meet up for a meal at the canalside Italian restaurant Barchetta, and I must admit it was a very enjoyable meal. Not only was the company good, portions were generous and service was friendly and attentive. And they do an early bird menu till 6:30 for £15. We’ll definitely go there again.
Final days cruise in this little trip found us a mooring in Middlewich above Kings Lock.

Booth Lane moorings, nice and close to King’s Lock fish and chips shop.

From Stoke to Stone

Whilst we were living it up in Alnwick, Firecrest was enjoying a peaceful weekend in Stoke’s Festival Park Marina.
It’s not somewhere we’d choose to moor permanently, the power hook up trip is only 6 amp and the H&S fairies shouldn’t be allowed to look at the state of the pontoons. But for a few nights, it’s ideal. It gave us peace of mind, the staff are friendly and helpful, it’s got facilities, and a big Morrisons close by. And the Iris were in bloom so it was pretty as well.

I’d collected the replacement solar panels from home, so our plan was to cruise towards Stone, looking out for a suitable mooring for some serious DIY. Cause those panels were too big to be stored in the boat for long. We’d also treated ourselves to a new boat pole that was still being oiled ready for its life under the elements.

not an ideal storage place for the panels…. or for my temperament

We’ve cruised through Stoke a few times, and love the heritage buildings along the canal

I’d love to know more about what goes on at a Bone and Flint mill

Some have been preserved and are still in use, Whist sadly, some are ready to fall down if they don’t recieve any care and attention.

The conical kilns of the potteries might not be unique but they are a special part of our heritage and should be valued.

But mooring in central Stoke isn’t the most appealing so we cruised on to Barlaston for a rural view.

And some ducky company

No, you can never have too many photos of ducklings

We thought we’d be able to do the panels here, but the spring pollen, blossom and seeds were swirling through the air fast and furious, which meant that by the time we’d got to washing one end of the roof, the first end was already covered in bits that would pollute the glue. So pretty though it was, we moved down through the equally pretty Meaford lock flight.

And onto the Whitebridge Lane moorings at Stone,

Looks like Eric can wash the roof here to his hearts content

With a Heron for company and trees that wanted to keep hold of their spring leaves.

Never a dull moment

It’s all go on board the little ship Firecrest, as we cruised on to Burscough. I was just putting the kettle on after we’d moored up, when I saw our first visitor arriving

Turns out this fella, who lives locally, has a liking for passing narrowboats,

Ey’up what’s for tea.

Burscough has some interesting wildlife,

But not all is what it seems, this duck had made her nest in Tesco carpark, right in centre of town.

Burscough is great place to be, cause its got excellent public transport, and i was able to hop on a train to Ormskirk to see Martina and the Ormskirk spinning group. We’re taking every opportunity to spin right now because as every good spinner knows, July is the TdF month, no not Tour de France, but Tour de Fleece, an epic 23 day Spinathon, where we tune in the TV coverage of that little european bike ride, and we take part in daily challenges, endurance spinning, speed spinning, fine spinning or challenging spinning, and if we’re not part of a local spinning community, encouraged on social media by spinners all around the world

I managed to spin 500g of fibre and made approximately 1.5km of yarn.

it’ll be hand-knits for Christmas again folks

I missed a trick and should have entered my spinning into one of the creative categories at the Parbold Village show, our friends Paul and Sharon who are local boaters suggested we all go together, and as village shows go, it was a good one, the funniest competition was for the ugliest house plant.

that would be a lovely photo of Paul and Sharon, if it weren’t for that monstrosity behind them

Although there were some others that made us smile as well

I think I’d fit in quite well in Parbold

After all that excitement, we pushed on for some rural tranquility, there’s a nice stretch just beyond Appley Bridge

Where the sunsets are usually pretty good

And the field next to the towpath is full of blue linseed.

Almost there

Getting through Wigan was proving to be a game of chance, will there or won’t there be water in the locks, or inbetween the locks for that matter. So we formed a queue at Scotsmans Flash with several others to await the go-ahead.

At the time the Wigan Flight was just about still open, with daily updates and horror stories about boaters reaching the top few locks only to have to reverse all the way back down. As I write this, I fear the maintenance of the system is just so overwhelming that the powers that be will just give up and close sections like the Wigan flight permanently. But it’s not a black and white issue and I’m glad I’m not the one making the big decisions. And to get back to our journey, we made it through at the second attempt. Past the iconic Wigan Pier

I have to say, I’ve seen bigger and better, but this one always makes me smile

We do like the section between Wigan and Burscough, there’s some nice peaceful moorings.

And if I’m lucky I’ll see my favourite trade boat – the wool boat

For most of the way there’s also the railway within walking distance of the canal, so I took the opportunity to hop on a train and head up to the Lakes to see Mum,, actually it’s where my dentist is, but don’t tell him about the icecream

Whilst I was there, the Westmorland County Fest show was on, I was expecting to see sheep

But we got giant Madagascar tortoises as well, who live on a farm in westmorland

From Burscough through to the Stanley Flight is a bit more tedious, the canal ploughs through the cottage garden of the North, but instead of bridges, the fields are crossed by swing bridges. It’s not too bad working through these with a crew, but I feel for the single handed boaters, negotiating overgrown landings and inconsiderate boaters who tie up on the bollards is hard work.

But we made it through to Litherland, staging post for the Liverpool link

Heading into the Cloud

One of the many nice things about the Macclesfield Canal is that all 12 locks are contained over a mile, known as the Bosley flight. Tim didn’t take much persuading to stay on board to help us up, but that did mean we couldn’t hang around Ramsdell. Once we had returned triumphant from our Mow Cop ascent, we cruised on to base camp, to moored overnight at the Dane Aqueduct. Expecting our next exertions to be wielding the windlass, was forgetting that Tim is 30 years younger than us, and when he saw the rocky outcrop across the fields there was no stopping him, “come on Dad, we can be there and back before Mum’s cooked tea….”

And they were, admittedly a late tea, but I was able to stand on the Towpath and with the help of the binoculars, saw them wave to me. The Cloud, as it is known, is the gritstone quarry which provided the stone to build the locks. There was some debate the next morning whether we should join the caravan heading north. A faulty swing bridge beyond top lock, implied that there would be a backlog of boats unable to move on. But word came down the locks that we should proceed. Some people rely upon pigeon post, here we have goose gossip.

Due to the on going need for water management, passage on this flight is only permitted between 8 and 1. We assume this is to consolidate the two-way traffic thus reducing the need to set the locks. It suits me just fine, although I imagine it’s frustrating for the boaters with deadlines.

We made it up in good time and found a pleasant mooring.

After lunch said our farewells to Tim as he set off on his 20 mile bike ride back home.

Backtracking

The geese came to see us off as we left Leek to retrace the route back to Etruria. We went back through the tall tunnel

I had a bit of scary moment at the Endon Services, when the door of the Elsan drain slammed shut on me and I couldn’t get out. Of course my phone was inside the boat so the only thing to do was to shout for help. And if Eric was inside Firecrest, I couldn’t guarantee he’d hear me. So I was extremely grateful that not only did he come to my rescue but 2 other boaters also came running. If either of you are reading this, please know how much your willingness to come to my assistance means to me. Having been rescued myself, it was time to become the rescuers ourselves. We came across z duck tangled up in fishing line. We were able to cut home free and bring him into the boat whilst we unwrapped him.

He swam away back to his friends, one of whom was showing him which way to swim

We’re getting used to seeing unusual things on the canal, roundabouts and even penguins

Giant dragonflies

And Middleport pottery upside down

We settled down on the Trent and Mersey at Westport Lake to await our next adventure

Westport Lake A perfect place to spend the evening

A little bit about Leek

The Caldon canal has an arm that used to go into Leek but sadly before restoration occurred the last mile or so was filled in and reclaimed to build an industrial estate. When I tried to find out a bit of Leeks history online neither its wiki page or the “visit Leek” page mention the close proximity of canal. However as a boater Leek is a destination not to be overlooked. Admittedly it’s a bit of an uphill slog when the sun’s shining, but after 25 minutes you are rewarded with a fascinating market town. Full of interesting architecture.

Perhaps not quite as well maintained as it should be.

Thanks to the precautions we’re all having to take we didn’t get to visit the Brindley Museum. In the late 18th century local man James Brindley set up his millwright business here, before he went on to engineer canals. But fellow boaters have told me it’s well worth it, and of course we have to leave something to do next time….Eric took the opportunity to do some work on the boat whilst I continued exploring the town.

And Leek has not one but two LYS. (That’s a Local Yarn Shop to the uninitiated) the first Bibelot, doesn’t carry a huge selection, but has a lovely haberdashery, if only I had a sewing machine on board.

The fancy black and white, is now a Wetherspoons, Bibelot is next door

And the second is called Love my socks which yes as you’ve guessed specialises in all things socky, which is ok by me as I love knitting socks.

I dutifully supported both businesses and came away happy. Leek is a lovely town, full of curiosities character and independent shops and cafes.

And the mooring was pretty too.

We’re going to Leek

We left Froghall basin just after 6 am. Up through the narrow lock.

Athough this time it took a while to fill the water tank, going through the tunnel early reduced the risk of needing to pass oncoming boats in the narrows. It paid dividends, the journey felt surreal, it was just us and the birds.

Mind you those birds seemed glad of the company. I’d got off the boat to work one of the locks and before we knew it they were hitching a ride. Ducks are usually quite skittish and don’t hang around us humans, unless we have a loaf of bread with us, so it was quite amusing that they stayed on board for a good 5 minutes.

Our journey took us back under the aqueduct.

And once we had climbed the 3 locks with the lovely cottage

And turned the sharp U Turn junction

We began our trip along the Leek branch, back over the aqueduct looking down on the Froghall branch

It was a pleasant journey, quite different to the Froghall branch, lots of very desirable houses with garden mooring. We had been warned that the Leek tunnel was also difficult, but we’re not sure why. Enough room to swing the proverbial cat.

Sadly when the canals were abandoned , someone had the bright idea to reclaim the land and built an industrial unit over the last half mile that would have taken boats right into this lovely historic town. So the canal peeters out Leaving just a shallow 40′ winding hole.

Luckily though, there is good mooring for about 6 boats after the last full size winding hole, even though you have to reverse into it.

Moor here, it’s about 20 minutes walk into town.

So here we stayed for a few days to enjoy the town , and Morrisons.

The Froghall tunnel, Did we make it…..

Well of course we did. I was convinced we wouldn’t until we exited Flint Mill lock, under the profile guide, giving Eric even more ammunition to tease me about my cautious approach to cruising.

The last 100m or so before the tunnel, opens into a small non discript mooring area with winding for a 65′ boat. However the tunnel entrance itself is hidden around a 90 degree angle to the channel which only adds to the anxiety. (Similar to the north portal of the Harecastle tunnel, only smaller) We opted to bow haul the boat around the final bend to give Eric the best chance of threading this particular needle.

I positioned myself on the bow ready to fend off either side as necessary as Eric somehow managed to steer and take photos at the same time.

Once inside he had to crouch down to steer and we could see that the biggest risk to Firecrest was to the paintwork on our hand rails.

Is that an inch or a centimetre to spare

A lot of anecdotes we heard suggested that switching off the power and legging it through was a favoured method of transit. However one big advantage of our electric motor is that we can turn our revs right down which allowed us to creep through yet still retain power and the ability to steer. Fortunately unlike a lot of the Caldon, the tunnel is nice and straight on the inside. And it’s only 70m long.

Once out the other side, I hopped off onto the Towpath because again the tunnel exit was angled against the channel.

This isn’t a tunnel for the faint hearted. Take heed of the profile, and the water levels, maximise your ballast, and take it extremely slowly.

I hauled us around the bend and we looked back with a huge sigh of relief and an even bigger sense of achievement.

It’s only a few minutes cruise to the final hurdle. The lock (again at a right angle to the canal) that descends into a small piece of heaven. The Froghall basin.

We found ourselves in a secluded little basin, with 8 pontoons but only one other boat for company, surrounded by trees and wild flowers, the water being clear enough to watch the fishes. And there were some bigguns as well.

Shhhh, don’t tell anyone about this place

But perhaps best of all was Hetty’s tea room right next door. And they serve Icecream and Staffordshire Oat Cakes not on the same plate though.

Cheddleton Flint Mill

We stummbled upon this gem on our way down the Froghall branch. The Cheddleton Flint Mill is a restored mill that has been on this site for 800 years, although the current buildings are from the industrial revolution when the canal was used for bringing the flint and lime. There are 2 water wheels that are powered by the water race from the river Churnet.

The opening times are a bit sketchy right now, but the wheels are turning when there are volunteers on site

One thing that I appreciated about the work that had been done in creating this heritage site, was the lack of physical barriers between me and the working machinery. I didn’t feel restrained by the Health and Safety elves, but free to exercise my own common sense, knowing not to stick my fingers underneath the grinding wheel .

Over the centuries the mill has ground flour, flint, glass and other things, although mainly products relating to the potteries. The Trust has been gifted various other pieces of machinery over time. So not everything is “original”

This engine was gifted to the site, but it can’t be given back, without demolishing the walls around it

Or housed in it’s original place

The site includes several buildings, including the Miller’s cottage. His daughter lived here until she died in her 90’s

Hard to imagine some homes have less space than we do.

Whilst we were poking around the mill we could hear that familiar toot of a steam train, and sure enough the cheddleton heritage station is just a further 10 minutes along the canal. It hadn’t yet reopened to the public but we were able to walk along the platform, they had been working on the engines preparing them for the coming season. We didnt see any of the classic engines, but I imagine the scenery makes for a stunning journey regardless of the train.

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