From terry@talwaldron.freeserve.co.uk Sat Aug 28 19:58:32 1999 Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 21:42:23 +0100 From: Terry Waldron Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Subject: Trip Report - Cheshire Ring & Caldon - Part 1(long) [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Boat: nb Stella Crew: Sue and Terry Waldron Dates: 23 July to 6 August We arrived at Acton Bridge an hour earlier than we had expected, the traffic on the M5/M6 was a lot less than it had been on previous visits to Acton Bridge. As we were early Stella was still being cleaned inside and the engine room bilge had to be cleaned after maintenance had been carried out on the engine. The sky was cloudy but it was fairly hot, we were told that the sun would be out by the end of the afternoon. When all was ready for us the car was emptied into the boat and I changed into shorts in anticipation of the good weather to come. Sue unpacked on our way to Preston Brook and Clyde our King Charles Spaniel made himself aquainted with the boat again. The canal sides are pretty this time of year, pink and yellow flowers everywhere (pink campion I think but the yellow flowers I have yet to identify). Many herons between Acton Bridge and Preston Brook, obviously very good fishing. We were helped through the stop lock by 4 young lads who were amazed that people enjoyed travelling at 3 mph. We had a 5 minute wait at the tunnel before we could go through, we now come to one of my favourite stretches, the railway viaducts of the railway to our left and the research establishment ahead, so peaceful after the drive up the motorway. Many fishermen about, mainly catching very small roach. The forecasters were right the sun is now shining brightly and it is hotter than for many weeks. We saw few other boats which were inhabited, except the small cruiser that passed us doing about 8 knots ( a fisherman said he had his number and would report him) until we reached Lymm where our first sight was Su and Mike waving frantically from CuŁturalConfu$ion - we had arranged to meet them as they were on their way to the Llangollen. A pleasant evening was spent over a few bottles of wine chatting, we were intending to have fish and chips but as Sue found the chippie now does chinese then chinese it was - very good as well, when it got dark we both got out the oil lamps, a few more bottles and a very late night. We stayed breasted up all night, the trip boat still had plenty of room to pass. After breakfast on the stern and a chat shopping in the town for essential provisions. A final chat to Mike and Su before we set off aiming to stop at Dunham Massey Hall, we moored no-towpath side after the aqueduct and there is a path that tales you straight into the grounds. We enjoyed both the gardens and the house, the first time we had visited there. The deer in the park are used to people but will not let you get too close. Sun out and very strong, no clouds and very hot and sticky, but not unbearable. Set off again aiming to moor at Castlefields. Although the Bridgewater is fairly deep I still passed moored boats at just over tickover. On passing the Sale Cruising Club other boaters sat on the canalside told me to speed up - I was on about 1000 revs, about 1.5 to 2 knots - this is the first time I have been told to speed up (there were no boats behind me). We moored just after Waters Meeting on non-towpath side beside the gate that allows access into the Manchester United ground, Sue bought some items from the shop for our son. Since our trip at Christmas we could see how much progress had been made on the new station at Salford Quays. On reaching Castlefields we could hear loud music and see many people, there was a live band concert in the arena so that precluded us mooring where we normally do on the arm close to the Industrial Museum, we went round into the other arm to the right of the bottom lock, a few boats moored but a lot more people, this looked too noisy for us. We winded and finally moored under the railway arches to the side of Egerton Boats, we had thought this area belonged to Egerton but were advised it was visitor moorings with rings, although we were under the arches we had a relatively quiet night and were far enough away from the music for it not to bother us. Early start away at 0750 and into the first of the Rochdale locks, we did see a notice that the locks were open from 0900 but as we were in the lock we decided to carry on as the bottom lock was not locked to stop entry. We had hoped there would be another boat to travel with, but no such luck, despite this we reached the lockies cottage just before 1000 and paid him the 32 pounds, he informed us if you pay in advance it is only 28 pounds and if you buy 10 tickets then it is about 25 pounds. Although it was Sunday work was being carried out on the arches using a crane on two pontoons, as the water level was low they wanted me to drop a couple of locks of water, this was impossible as the next pound up was low as well. The water around the lockies cottage is so clear and clean there are fresh water sponges growing both in the lock and just outside the lock. We had a very good passage through the Ashton locks, meeting 3 boats in one pound going in the opposite direction to us. At the lock beside the Strawberry Duck there was a group of about 6 very small children and a group of 8 teenagers. One of the very young boys decided he would jump onto the boat roof whilst it was in the lock, he did it again before I could stop him, two very small girls also decided they wanted to sit on the lockside and put their feet into the lock alongside the boat, I had to 'politely' tell them to move, one of their parents was drinking his pint outside the pub and shouted at the children after I had warned them of the danger of putting their feet in alongside the boat. The teen agers saw a couple of lads that had upset them so they all gave chase 'to beat them up'. Although we have heard of problems in this area these teenagers did not seem to be interested in us or our boat. We took water at Fairfield junction and then carried on to Portland Basin, I had hoped we could moor beside the museum, but no such luck. We did moor just up the Huddersfield opposite the residential boats. This mooring has rings, is quiet and is very close to the supermarket. Shopping after breakfast and onto the Peak Forest, we were now in territory we had not travelled. A new Marina is about to be built just after the aqueduct at Dukinfield junction, no indication when it will be completed. The Peak Forest is fairly wooded and rural, and is as pretty as we had anticipated. This is the first time we have seen Rose Hill cutting after we had seen the landslide a couple of years ago, it is narrower than I had expected but the walls look very good. We moored just after marple Aqueduct to have lunch before going through Marple Locks. The view through the arches of the railway viaduct makes a good picture. On entering the first lock a crowd gathered from nowhere, many walkers out for a stroll and never having seen a boat before. Many wanted to know how locks operate and why, we obliged with the information. About halfway through the flight we came across a complete class of children with their teachers, all were interested in lock operation and wanted to help us. I gave them a talk on locks and their operation by talking them through everything I was doing and why I was doing it. Lock 8 top gate ground paddle was not engaged in the rack and I could not get the rack engaged so had to use the gate paddle with extreme care. We reported this at the marple office who said they would attend to it immediately (after telling this to another boater later in the day he said that the ground paddle at No8 has been like that for a while and needs a jemmy to get it back onto the rack, it only stays that way for a day or so and then comes off again). I hope they have attended to it as an inexperienced crew could use the gate paddle and flood their boat. Onwards to our intended destination of Bugsworth Basin where we moored about 2000 so it was time to clean up and go for a meal. The Chapel-en-le-Frith Morris Men were dancing outside the navigation, as much as I would have liked to watch them my stomach told me it needed food. The menu is varied and caters for all tastes, our meal was with us very quickly and was very enjoyable - we will eat there again. We did manage to catch the last of the Morris Dancing. The lower arm of the basin was full but the upper arm only had a couple of boats in. The basin looks very different to when we walked it a couple of years ago, the ducks were noticed by their absence, obviously frightened out either by the boats or by the dewatering and rewatering. More in Part 2 --- The UK Waterways Network - http://www.ukwaterways.net/ * bringing the inland waterways community together * You are currently subscribed to canals as: george@adiva.com To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-canals-407N@ukwaterways.net