Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 23:06:55 +0100 From: David Leftley Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Subject: Trip report: Cheshire Ring pt 3 Thursday 31st August/Friday 1st Sept The weather takes a turn for the worse for a couple of days, so we are glad that the remainder of the Bridgewater and the northern end of the Trent & Mersey are almost completely free of locks. We pass a couple of lazy, fairly uneventful days trying to avoid being the one who has to don waterproofs and take the helm. Saturday 2nd September Continuing down the Trent and Mersey, we now had to start working our way back uphill. At the bottom lock there was a BW notice warning of the severe flow from the top paddles, however even opening the paddles part way we were taken by surprise on one or two occasions by the way the boat surged forward. It didn't help that the throttle on nb Chirk Castle is regulated so much ( by means of welding across the slots in which the lever moves) that not only is it impossible to exceed 4mph forwards, but power in reverse is so limited that it is well-nigh impossible to stop the boat once it is moving forwards. Thank goodness we were not trying to navigate a river! In the end we decided that as we couldn't stop the boat surging forwards without filling the locks painfully slowly, we would hold it with ropes when ascending locks. Stopped for the night just onto the Macclesfield, above the Red Bull viaduct. Sunday 3rd September A late start (around lunchtime, as we spent the morning renewing old acquaintances in church at Kidsgrove) meant that we had our work cut out to get back to Macclesfield before dark. Unfortunately we reached Bosley locks just behind a couple making very leisurely progress up the flight. Even helping them with most of the locks, it still took us 2 hours to ascend the flight. We were relieved to find that these locks fill much less ferociously than those on the T&M: we were able to dispense with the ropes, and hold the boat steady with the engine in locks. And so back to Macclesfield and back home for another year. We're not quite so relaxed and refreshed as after a week on the Broads: for four days of the week we spent more time working locks than sitting and sunbathing, and I wouldn't want to attempt the ring with a crew of less than four, but all in all a thoroughly enjoyable week. It looks like next year we may have to hire a boat for two weeks, as we can't agree on whether to head for the Llangollen or the reopened Huddersfield canal. ---