Month: June 2024

Narrowboating on the road to nowhere

This milestone is next to Marple locks on the Peak Forest Canal. I like it because it represents much of our life on a narrowboat. We travel. We see places. We plan our routes. But ultimately we have no destination. It is the journey we enjoy. That is so different to travelling in a car, where the destination is everything, and the journey is just about getting there.

And by enjoying the journey, we discover more. This week we have found wonderful moorings, just avoided big delays from closures, and been on adventures.

Starting with the adventures, I walked along a long old tramway that used to carry limestone from the Peak District down to the canal. I had a day out in Buxton, the highest town in England with history back to the Romans. And I walked to the foot of the Marple Aqueduct, the highest stone aqueduct in the UK.

The canal stoppages included a whole stretch of the Macclesfield canal which is currently closed due to the canal leaking. This is extremely serious because not only could it cause flooding of nearby land, but it could also lead to the whole of the canal draining and leaving us boaters marooned. We also found ourselves stopped halfway up the Marple lock flight, when a “pound” between two locks had drained due to a paddle being left up. And when the lock keepers let more water down to help us, the water flooded a brand new house that has been built next to the flight while it has been closed for the past ten months. Someone will need a word with that surveyor!

And we stayed at two of my most favourite moorings on the whole canal network. Bugsworth basin is like a dock at the end of the Peak Forest Canal, near Whaley Bridge, with space for up to forty narrowboats. Originally it would have been used to transship the limestone from the tramway onto boats to carry around the country. These days it is full of wild flowers and geese. So it has a dramatic mixture of old ruins and nature. Also a very good pub.

My other favourite mooring is further up that canal on an isolated stretch, with an incredible view down into the valley at a village called Strines. Apart from the occasional hiker or cyclist we have the place to ourselves, and it is just so very chilled. A beautiful midpoint on our journey to nowhere.

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Ten reasons to love and hate the Rochdale and Ashton Canals

We completed the Rochdale and Ashton canals this week. Both have pretty terrible reputations as they go through some of the most deprived areas of Manchester. But what is the truth? Let’s consider some of the stories you hear.

1. They are really hard work. True. The Ashton out of Manchester is just lock after lock. The Rochdale has very heavy lock gates and some of the paddles require super human strength. Some of the pounds between the locks drain all too easily, leaving the boat grounded. Everything is doable but it is hard work.

2. They are very beautiful. True. I was not expecting quite how beautiful considering the canals travel through areas that once were heavy industry. Calderdale between Sowerby Bridge and the summit is particularly lovely, as is the top end of the Ashton as it joins the Peak Forest.

3. They are full of junk. Sadly true. We lots count of shopping trolleys, items of clothing, plastic bottles in the canals. The trick is to keep the boat in the middle of the canal, but even then we found ourselves stuck on silt banks and with a coat wrapped around our propellor.

4. There are lots of dodgy characters. Partly true. As with all city centre canals there are occasional drug users and inquisitive kids, but we found that if we engaged with them as human beings there was no trouble,

5. The canals are hard to navigate. Mostly false. So long as you don’t try to go too fast, stay away from the junk, and fill up empty pounds, it is not so difficult.

6. They keep getting blocked. True. Failing locks and falling trees caused five or six blockages while we were on these canals. One or two of them looked as if they might delay us for weeks. The fact is that the Canal and River Trust no longer do preventative maintenance. They just fix things when they break. I understand they have no money but I think that is a mistake.

7. You can’t find somewhere to moor. True. The canals are very silted so it is not possible to moor by most towpaths. There are numerous locks with no mooring between them. The good news however is that we found some fantastic moorings. Hats off to the Hopwood Arms for fantastic fresh pizza and allowing me to use their water tap to fill my boat.

8. They are low on water. False right now. By reputation these canals can run out of water because the locks leak so badly, and we did experience this a little but in general it has been a very wet year. Bad for our moods but good for keeping the canals filled.

9. No one uses these canals. True for the Rochdale. The Ashton Canal forms part of the “Cheshire Ring” and so gets a fair few boats, but the Rochdale was very very quiet. We saw a few hire boats between Sowerby Bridge and Hebden Bridge, but between Todmorden and Central Manchester no more than six or seven boats travelling like us.

10. They are good to do once but that’s all. False. I must admit when we had finished the long final day into Manchester on the Rochdale I did say “never again”. But I think the pluses make it worth it. Lovely dramatic canals with a great mix of countryside and old industry. We will be back…. one day.

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Going over the top

This week we have been travelling on the Rochdale Canal, from Sowerby Bridge over the Pennines to Littleborough and then next week to Manchester. I have avoided doing “the Rochdale” on our travels because it has a negative reputation of being very very hard work. But the plus side is the very dramatic countryside, especially when you go over the top to an aptly named village called “Summit”.

The reputation for being hard work has been borne out, with low water levels, heavy lock gates and sticky paddles, as well as a tree across the canal. And we have not done the hardest bit yet, the run down to Manchester Piccadilly. But we have had a good week, visiting an area where we used to live – Calderdale, home to the “Happy Valley” TV series – in real life with fewer murders.

We have had an evening and a day with Mandy’s brother Stephen, helping manage the locks, and our son Tin has popped by to bring us various post from home. So it has been a week of scenery, family and aching muscles. A good week.

Next week through Manchester. Wish me luck!

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Why is the Calder and Hebble unique?

We have cruised most of the canals and rivers in the UK in recent years. There are over 2000 miles of navigation and every one is different. But this week we have been along the Calder and Hebble and that really is unique.

From Fall Ing lock near Wakefield, to Sowerby Bridge, the canal and river navigation is just 23 miles long, built in around 1770 to connect the mill towns of Yorkshire to the rest of the country.

Let me tell you about three things you will not find anywhere else. The first is the short length of the locks. They can just about fit our narrowboat at 57.5 ft, but any longer and you really are in danger of getting stuck or flooded. There are other canals known for short locks, including the Leeds and Liverpool that we have recently left, but none as consistently short as the Calder and Hebble.

The second uniqueness is the Guillotine lock at Salterhebble. Most locks have pairs of wooden or steel gates that close together to hold the water back. Sometimes these are electrically operated but this one also operates as a guillotine, a single metal gate that goes up and down. It was installed after a road widening meant there was no room to keep normal gates. I have read that there are a few other guillotines around the country but as far as I am concerned this is unique.

The third unique thing is the “Hebble spike”, a piece of 3” x 2” shaped hardwood that is used to open and close lock sluices. I have no idea why these were used when this canal was built, rather than the windlasses we use on almost every other canal, but it has certainly been a unique experience to use this week. It is hard work!

I have enjoyed the week of uniqueness. Next week we travel the Rochdale canal. Maybe not so unique but even more of a challenge. I’ll let you know how we get on.

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