Engine lock, Caldon to Hall Green Lock, Macclesfield

10 September - 3 canals in one day

Up and away at 9, following QISMA and sharing the lock tasks with them.

 And we are off

Through the lift bridge which is done by Jan, it is electronic you need a British waterways key

And then down the Staircase

 

 Jan and I get two boats down staircase without problems, we just sit around waiting for locks to fill - yeah right

After this we turn back onto the Trent and Mersey and on towards the Harecastle tunnel going through industrial landscapes and redevelopment sites.

We reached the tunnel portal at 1.50 pm and sat in the queue for  safety induction, and were let in at 2.35. We came out the other end at 3.20 having had no problems with the passage through. This break gives us a chance to have lunch and say bye to Alistair & Jan as we part company on the other side of the tunnel.

 And we are off it will take 40 minutes to do tunnel  https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/directory/7/harecastle-tunnel

This is where we say goodbye to Alastair & Jan as they carried on towards the Anderton Lift and the River Weaver and we turned left and started the Macclesfield canal which will take us to the start of the Rochdale canal and over the Pennines towards Sheffield.

 As QISMA started descending locks and we didn't we are soon were on an aqueduct over them, we stopped and waved goodbye from above.

That done we turned around to be greeted by Sarah and her dog waving from the other side of the canal, we last saw her in early June at the top of the Anderton lift. She has her boat in a yard nearby and is painting it, she loves the green and purple on MUSN Grumble so much so she is doing a similar sort of colour scheme. We had a catch up and carried on up to the first lock and moored just above on 48 hr moorings, we then went to the Bleeding Wolf a pub about 5 minutes walk away and had drinks and dinner, Cumberland sausages and mash for me and Chicken for Vicki 8/10 for her and 9/10 for me, back on board at 7.30 and no TV signal so into bed with books, and so to sleep.

 TOTAL - 12 miles, 3 locks, 1 movable bridge, 4 small aqueducts, 1 big tunnel and 3 canals