We are back on Narrowboat Thuis for the next six weeks. Earlier this year we took a couple of months to go south to Oxford and back. So for our next trip it will be north. Despite the heat this week, the canals still have plenty of water so all options are open.

We could visit the Caldon Canal from Stoke. We had one of my best canal days there a few years ago, when we moored up near the end of the navigation in the countryside but within a walk from a steam railway holding a beer festival. The Caldon also has a lovely branch heading towards Leek.

The Macclesfield and Peak Forest are two of our favourite canals. The Macc has loads of history and a good mixture of town and country, while the Peak Forest has two of the best mooring spots in the UK. One overlooking a beautiful valley in the Peak District. The other, Bugsworth Basin, at the end of the canal with a lovely walk on an old limestone tramway.

Or we could head up to Middlewich, with Heartbreak Hill stretching my lock muscles, and the best fish and chips on the network,

Our preference is the Macclesfield and Peak Forest, but the Macc is currently closed at Bosley Locks, after a Narrowboat sank in a lock, getting stuck on the cill. The boat has been recovered but it damaged the lock gates. Fixing them has already taken a week and could be quite a while longer.

So what shall we do? Any thoughts?