Stanier bridge to Locketts bridge, Macclesfield Canal

12 September - 12 Locks in 1 day

Those who know us and or follow our blog will know that we have one GOLDEN RULE, We Do Not Do Locks in The RAIN!!!!!

So this morning there were showers that started at 1am, we got up at our usual time and they looked to be gone and a check of the forecast said all over by 9am, but rain in the late afternoon.
So we decided that the 12 Bosley locks ahead would be okay to do.  http://www.macclesfieldcanal.org.uk/bosley.htm 

As soon as we started down came the rain like a Monsoon. Pete is getting very clever, he can now multi task.

 Scenery is very interesting, obviously this is a dairy farm - maybe they use preservatives or is it just cold

 The valley's are getting deeper as we follow the contours of the land and it gives you the illusion that you are climbing up hill

We were dressed for weather and thought we could stop between locks if need be, wrong, short pounds between locks and very low water in them meant that was off the planner so on we went, the rain eased a bit and 2 hrs saw us with 1 lock to go and the longest pound to go across, we almost didn't get across the water was that low, and the last 30 m were with the boat rubbing along the bottom.A close call, we exited the top lock and moored up at the 1st mooring we saw.

With the rain easing we thought okay lets just do it and we are off

No one knows why these pounds are so low as there are not that many boats up here to use that water going up and down, we are now over 500ft above sea level, the level at Limehouse on the Thames,
the 12 locks today climbed 118ft of that.

 It is about here that I get tired so after opening the lock in front walked back and took over driving for awhile to have a rest

And we are at the top. The weather decides to give us a cheer by another downpour

Ten minutes later we are mooring in beautiful weather

The bridges and the locks on this canal are made from sandstone blocks, all cut to shape and size by stone masons, who must have had a good supply of stone close by and if you look carefully you can see the masons marks still on some stones after all this time.

These masons cut every stone on these locks and bridges, to fit in one particular spot, as close inspection shows on the lock entries they are cut for slope, angle, curve and tilt and fit exactly. It would be hard to find these skills today.

TOTAL - 2 miles, 12 locks and some bloody rain