Harecastle Tunnel and Caldon Canal

Thursday 21st September

The forecast for today was appalling with heavy rain due all day.  It turned out to be heavy for an hour or two but slowly eased so we began to discuss the possibility of moving on.
We finally decided, so set off just after lunch.

The Macclesfield Aqueduct

There are two locks to negotiate before arriving at the junction of the Macclesfield Canal at Hardings Wood.
The junction is one of those marvels of the waterways, we passed under an aqueduct that carried the Mac over the T&M, this ran parallel to us as we moved through the locks and then joined our canal at the summit.
Had our original plans, to go down the Peak Forrest  and Mac canals, come to fruition, then this is the point we would have joined the T&M.
A couple of hundred yards further on brought us to the northern portal of Harecastle Tunnel.
The tunnel is notorious for a number of reasons, rumour has it that it is very low, dark and inhabited by a number of ghosts, the most famous being the Harecastle Boggart, the supposed ghost of a canal boat women murdered by her husband in the tunnel. There was a tragedy just last year as a boater was travelling through, his wife was inside the boat. The boat started banging the sides of the tunnel, she went to investigate and realised he was no longer at the helm. It took a day to recover his body from the darkness.
All of this just adds to the tension as one arrives st the portal.

Entering Harecastle the tunnel on right is
 Brindleys original tunnel now dissused

As we approached, a hire boat was just entering giving us the hope that we should be straight in behind and not have to wait.
This tunnel is manned by a keeper at each end, we were flagged down and were given the obligatory safety briefing and leaflet before we entered. This stated, amongst other things, that if we had nor emerged at the other end after an hour and a quarter then the emergency services would be alerted.
One wonders why all this is necessary for a tunnel just over a mile long but once in I guess we would find out.
The tunnel used to have a towpath through, this has now been removed so there should be plenty of room. We slowly entered the gloom and very soon the entrance became a low light behind. The  tunnel is straight but due to it having forced air ventilation, the doors are shut at the southern end so it is total darkness ahead except for the dim lights of the boat, by now, a long way in front of us.






We progressed well; aided by the new led lamp bought at the chandlers a few days before.
As we progressed we noticed that the tunnel gradually reduced in height and width, a bit like a telescope, it seemed to take forever to get to the midway point, indicated by markers on the tunnel sides.
As we finally reached midway we noticed a skeleton painted in one of the recesses. This made us jump as our heads were full off the horror stories that circulate amongst the boating fraternity.

tunnel exit

Eventually a glimmer appeared in the gloom indicating that the doors had been opened and the boat in front was reaching the other end, we finally arrived, blinking in the daylight, at the other end. The passage was fairly uneventful however, we were relieved to complete the passage. A note to other boaters; do not be put off by the stories, it was (for us) no where near as bad as expected.

We carried on for another mile or two arriving at Westport Lake moorings.

This is a lovely place to stop right alongside the lake, there are full facilities here but for any other boaters stopping here note that they are difficult to find as they are not signed. They are beneath the visitor centre on the canal side behind an anonymous grey door.

Friday 22nd September

Early morning at Westport

A lovely morning, so, following a quick walk around the lake, we set off down the short distance to Etruria Junction, this is where the Caldon Canal heads off north from the T&M, we were truly in the Potteries now with plenty of evidence of this once vast industry.

We moored at the junction for the night utilising the CRT facilities before walking up into Hanley, this seems to be the main shopping area for the region, Stoke is made up of six individual towns and the locals seem to cling onto the traditional names so it can be confusing.

The centre in Hanley is a thriving place and during our visit there was a food market underway with just about every type of street food imaginable available from colourful, vibrant stalls. On the downside if you need the loo don't go looking for the toilets in the potteries shopping mall, I hurried round following signs but ran into dead ends with no toilets to be found anywhere so we had to make a quick dash down to Tesco's. 

Saturday 23rd September

Preserved Kilns

We decided to set off up the Caldon, intending to get to the end of the Leek branch before mooring up for the night, the first obstacle to overcome was a rare narrow two lock staircase, following which we progressed steadily due to the canal being narrow and quite shallow in places, we had also removed the chimney having been warned of low bridges.
The canal, originally built by Brindley to carry lime and limestone from Froghall, passes through the outskirts of the town with plenty of Bottle Kilns in evidence, before arriving into the open countryside of the upper Trent valley. Passing through a few villages we arrived at the five locks flight at Stockton, we soon got through arriving at the summit pound taking us to the junction where the arm to Leek leaves the main line. The junction here is impressive and as is the case at Hardings Wood, the Leek arm leaves the main line at the top of a three lock flight, the arm runs parallel to the lock flight before passing over it on the impressive Hazelhurst aqueduct.

Hazelhurst  Aqueduct

The run up to Leek is really pleasant with the canal clinging to the steep and wooded side of the valley winding its way to the abrupt terminus. The canal used to go into a basin in the town but this was closed when the railway was built, so now just fizzles out a mile from the town centre.
We turned the boat round at the winding hole just after the short tunnel, then reversed onto the moorings at the end of the canal.

Leek Tunnel

Delicious........Oatcakes!

 Leek was a real surprise, with lots of traditional shops, pubs and restaurants, we also managed to find the Oatcake shop and noting the opening hours, open every day except Mondays from 5.45 am to 1 pm, Sundays they have a lie in and open at 6.45 closing at 12 noon!
We decided to have a return visit on Sunday morning, after a long walk through the local countryside, then calling in to the Oatcake shop for breakfast, we had to join a long queue for this.
Following a walk around the town we went to the bizarrely name Quite Woman pub for Sunday lunch, a fairly limited menu but otherwise ok. Dog owners take note that all the pubs and restaurants in Leek appear to be dog friendly.
Arriving back at the boat we decided to cruise back down to Hazelwood, mooring for the night by the aqueduct. We walked down to the Hollybush Inn, a charming and very busy canalside pub, wishing we had waited to have Sunday dinner here as the food looked plentiful and delicious.
Monday 25th September

Froghall Lime Kilns

We awoke to a typical autumnal morning with a mist clinging to the trees and bushes around us, we set off to explore the remaining length of the main line heading down the locks towards the terminus at Froghall. The canal just gets better and better from here on before joining the river Churnet down to Consal Forge. We carried on, now back on the canal, through the impossibly narrow final stretches, fortunately not meeting any other boats travelling in the opposite direction. Arriving at Froghall we had to turn round before again reversing onto the moorings. There is a tunnel just before Froghall but having passed through the tunnel gauge earlier we decided it would be too low for us, so we walked down the short distance to the terminus. This is very quite spot with a tearoom but very little else, there are good boater facilities here. There is some interesting industrial archaeology here with the huge lime kilns towering over the wharves.
We stayed over night here before retracing our steps back to Consal Forge.

The end of the Caldon at Froghall

Consal Forge

Debra's picture of  our mooring at Consal Forge

This is an achingly beautiful place and we were fortunate enough to find a mooring right against the Black Lion Inn. The Churnet Valley steam railway passes between the pub and the canal here, and it is an iconic waterways scene to have narrowboats and steam trains all in the same picture. We were fortunate enough to see a steam train pass by as we negotiated the very narrow channel by the station.
We had arranged to meet Bruce and Debra for lunch and they arrived just after we had moored, we went for lunch in the Black Lion, the menu includes an incredible choice of scotch eggs! The food is reasonably priced and delicious as well as a good choice of beers. It was great to catch up with them again as we didn't think it would be possible due to our change in plan from the Peak Forrest canal.

Autumn colours

This place is well worth a visit with lots of walks in the surrounding  steep valley sides, it really does feel to be as isolated a place as you could find any where. The trees are just beginning to change  Great day.colour adding to the magic.  - great day.








Wednesday 27th September
Another short trip back up to Cheddleton and its quaint Flint Mill museum. This is another charming spot and the the water powered flint mill is well worth a visit.

Consal Station and the first of the 'narrows'

Tunnel Gauge for Froghall

James Brindley at Etruria Junction

Trent and Mersey Canal

Friday 15th September 2017
A rest day today and following catching up with a bit of work we had a walk around the village, we also took the opportunity to take our washing to the laundry, about 5 mins walk from the boat.
We walked up through the village to Lymm Dam, there are lots of walks through the woods that surround the lake with lots of squirrels to keep Scruff entertained,
We walked back around the village calling in to collect the washing as we approached the boat.
We noted the large and luxurious houses as we passed through the village and I wondered, given its closeness to Manchester, which of the great and famous enjoyed the=is lovely place, a quick look on Google produced a long list including Sir Bobby Charlton, Terry Waite, John Stalker to name but few.

Saturday 16th September 2017

Fiddlers Ferry Power station

We awoke to a beautiful morning and were on our way by 8 a.m, the morning was absolutely still and the cruise down the canal was as good as it gets with the peace only being momentarily interrupted as we passed under the M6, we had a quick stop at Thorne Marine to take on water etc before heading on towards Preston Brook. The views from here are incredible on a day as clear as it was today, we passed to the south of Fiddlers Ferry power station beyond which the view extends all the way across the plain towards Wigan, indeed we could see the same power station from the bottom of Wigan locks the week before.
After passing under the M56 we arrived at Midland Chandlers, this is a boaters paradise with just about everything you could ever want (and more), we had a shopping list and managed to stick to this resisting the temptation to spend a lot more.
Just arount the corner, we came to the northern portal of Preston Brook tunnel, we had a 15 minute wait as, in this direction, the tunnel is only accessible on the half hour and the following 10 minutes.

Entering Preston Brook Tunnel

There was a boat in front of us and two behind and our min flotilla set off on our passage through. The tunnel is broad and high so it was an easy passage with a slight bend in the centre, emerging into sunlight we then came across the stop lock, originally designed to prevent Trent and Mersey water escaping into the Bridgewater. Strangely the Trent and Mersey starts a few yards into the northern end of the tunnel.
The lock is soon negotiated as the difference in water level is only a couple of inches. The canal from here winds it way along the contour of the valley sides with views across to the Weaver navigation below.

Inside Saltersford Tunnel

There are two  further tunnels to negotiate on the run onto Anderton, the first is Saltesford, this again is timed and once inside it is easy to see why, although short the other end of the tunnel cannot be seen due to the dogleg in the middle, as you pass through it really is like being in another world, the lights of the boats in front and behind lighting the tunnel walls but invisible due to the bends.
The last tunnel, Barnton, is a much more straight forward affair, with no time limits, as you can see if there boats coming the other way so we followed the leading boat in.
Anderton is reached very soon after and we had decided to moor here for the night, our mooring was right next to the impressive Anderton lift, more about this later as we went down the lift last year and intend to explore the Weaver next year.
The following morning we caught up on a few more jobs on the boat before heading down the short hop to the Lion Salt Works museum.

Anderton Lift

The Salt works are quite interesting but the process basically involves pumping out the naturally occurring brine from the aquifer below and then boiling it to evaporate the water and leaving the salt behind, so the museum consists of salt pans and the fires below, it was interesting to note that different grades of salt are formed at different temperatures with the finest table salt being produce at the hottest parts and the coarser slat for fish packing etc at the coolest.
There is a lot of interesting information relating to the other forms of salt production in the area, such as mining the solid salt, here pillars were left to support the ground above but as they flooded the salt dissolved and the mines collapsed causing a lot of damage to the surrounding area as well as forming lakes known locally as flashes.
There was a lot of information on how things have now changed, there are still deep rock salt mines but a lot of the mining is now done using the solution process, this involves dissolving out the salt whilst leaving carefully shaped cavities that are designed to be less likely to collapse.
The process for extracting the salt has also come a long way from the open pan method.

Inside the Salt Museum

These days a clever bit of basic science is used, steam is generated for the process but before being used for salt production it drives turbines for generating power, the exhaust is then used to heat the brine. The clever part here is that the process is carried out in a partial vacuum therefore the water boils at a much lower temperature, the steam having cooled a bit more is passed through a second then third process, at each stage the pressure is lowered further so in the final stage the water boils at a mere 35 deg C. - Genius. Of course the salt is extracted and dried automatically before packing and distribution.
Monday - we took a stroll down to Northwich, about a mile across the flashes, its a lovely walk through here and the peaceful scenery belies its industrial past. There are still signs of the salt industry around here, for example we came across some vary large pipes with warnings of high temperature steam and indeed it was escaping in a few places so they must still be live.
The town itself is quite pretty in parts with some old timber framed buildings, these were built to counteract the effects of the subsidence as they could be bodily jacked up or in some cases even moved when required. There is a huge new complex just off the high street with a large Asda and M&S which was still under construction when we visited here last year.
We retraced our steps back to the boat and decided to move on as the weather was quite pleasant and at least dry!
We cruised along to just out side Middlewich, the moorings we chose are known as Bramble Cuttings, an old quarry for puddling clay converted by the Broken Cross Boat Club who have installed picnic tables and bbq stands. This is a lovely spot sat quietly in the Cheshire countryside alongside the river Dane.

Bramble Cuttings

Not long after mooring the rain returned and poured steadily for most of the night, the next morning it had thankfully stopped and was replaced by an early autumn mist.
We got underway soon passing a large flash at Croxton, the fash is wide but we stayed close to the towpath side of the canal as the flash is quite shallow.
We reached the outskirts of Middlewich, marked by the Big Lock, so named due to its being double width. The climb continues through the town with a series of three very deep locks in close succession , before arriving at the junction of the branch canal connecting the Trent and Mersey to the Shropshire Union canal. This junction is notorious in summer due to boats approaching in three directions, two of which require the ascent of a lock adding to the confusion, on this occasion, however, we were the only boat around and carried on our way without incident.
We had set our sights on the village of Wheelock for an overnight stop, however it was such a nice day we decided to press on up to Rode Heath, this part of the canal is nicknamed heartbreak hill due to the necessity to pass through a further 17 locks making a total of 23 for the day!.
The locks on this stretch of the canal have all been duplicated so waiting time is minimised, the original canal and locks were built by James Brindley, the additional locks were added in 1830 by Thomas Telford.

Double locks in action

Double Locks

We arrived at our moorings tired and ready for a good nights sleep.
Wednesday brought another fine day so we continued the climb to the summit mooring at Red Bull, Kidsgrove, here there are all boater services at the CRT yard,.
A quick walk round Kidsgrove was all that was required to show that if your tastes include Fried Chicken, Vaping or tattoos then it has all you require but very little else.
We will stay here until Friday as the forecast is poor for Thursday, the next stage should prove exciting with just 3 locks left to reach the summit and the notorious Hardcastle Tunnel.

Manchester

Friday 8th September 2017
We awoke to yet more rain so I decided to work during the morning before setting off down to Leigh by which time the rain had eased.
We had been told, by the lock keepers at Wigan, that the Canal Festival was due to start today so we decided to stop and see what was going on. We had a look round the town and again the general atmosphere was of a depressed place, with lost of huge mills that are now part derelict and part converted into business units, just down the cut from here is the last remaining headgear of the Lancastrian coal field at Astley Mine - now a museum.
We called at the Waterfront Inn where the festival was based and apart from a fairground being erected in the car park.not a lot else was going on even though the festival was supposed to have started. We had a meal at the pub and this was really good valve for typical pub fayre.The staff made a huge fuss of Scruff, giving her a plate full of treats and a bowl of water.
We had a quick look over the few boats that were moored there then decided to move onto Worsley, a place we have moored many times.
Worsley can be regarded as the birthplace of the canals in this country.
The Duke of Bridgewater had coal mines close by and the were served by 40 miles of underground canals, the different levels were over come by means of inclined planes and locks.

Worsley Delph the entrance to the mines
is in the centre of the picture

Access to the mines was via the portal at Worsley Delph, this can still be seen to day but is inaccessible. The mines were served by boats called Starvationers and it is thought that the name came from the appearance of the boats due to their having the ribs on the outside making it easier to load and unload coal using shovels.
The water emerging from the old workings turns the water a bright orange colour for a mile or so either side of Worsley.
The Duke engaged the services of James Brindley to link his mines to the centre of Manchester by building a canal between the two, this is now known as the Bridgewater Canal and is owned and operated by the same company that runs the Manchester Ship Canal. Worsley embraced its new canal and many of the half timbered buildings here were built as a direct consequence of its being there.

Saturday 9th September 2017
It had rained heavily all night and continued to do so as we set off on our way to Manchester, this stretch takes you across the Manchester Ship Canal across the impressive swing aqueduct.
Before the aqueduct operates, doors are used at either end to keep the water in place on both the aqueduct and canal.
The link below shows it in operation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwO-UZpKBUo

View from Barton Swing Aqueduct

We carried on past (thankfully) the temple to shopping that is the Trafford Centre, by now the rain was torrential, heavy than I have ever seen and it stayed with us for the next few miles before finally easing as we approached Manchester. I felt water leaking in around my neck and thought that my waterproofs had given up under such a pounding, it was only after I bent down to pick something up that I realised my hood (not used because I had a hat on) had filled with water and was over flowing!
After all the rain the sun finally came out as we made our ascent up the nine locks through the city, known as the Rochdale Nine.
We have done this flight of locks a few times and rarely is it a pleasant experience, some of the locks do not have a by-wash so surplus water (of which there is plenty at the moment) flows over the gates making them difficult to operate. The eighth lock from the bottom is situated under an office block and is the haunt of all sorts of strange people, there are discarded needles every where and the lock often floods so you have to carefully tip toe around when off the boat.

Typical Rochdale 9 head gate

Reaching the top we moored up in Ducie Street Basin (again in torrential rain) and congratulated ourselves on completing the climb saying that would probably be the last time we would  go through them.
We had  a walk into a very busy Manchester Centre, this came as a bit of a shock to the system as it had been a long time since we had been anywhere so busy.

Sunday 10th September 2017
A better day today, we set off at 7.30 to get through the Ashton flight, this is a series of 18 locks but they are narrow and therefore much quicker and easier to get through, the journey takes you through the Piccadilly and New Islington district, both of which have been redeveloped and form a nice backdrop to the canal. around locks 5 and 6 we passed the Etihad Campus, this was the site of the Commonwealth Games held here in 2002, the main stadium is now the home of Manchester City Football club and the Velodrome is the base for British Cycling.

Etihad Stadium

We progressed up to the top arriving at Portland Basin, the junction of the Aston, Huddersfield and the Peak Forest canals, turning right on to the Peak Forest, finding a mooring just along the way from the junction.By this time the torrential rain had returned so it was good to get inside by the fire.

Monday 11th September 2017
Today's schedule was to make our way to the foot of the 16 locks of the Marple Flight, taking us up to the Upper Peak Forest Canal. The rain was still torrential but had become intermittent and the sun actually shone in between. This canal is quite shallow and narrow in places so our progress was slow however we reached the foot of the locks by early afternoon.
We were sat discussing where we should go for a walk as an email arrived advising us that the lock flight was now closed due to subsidence at the second from the top lock. This decided our walk for us, it was to walk to the top and see if we could find out what the prognosis was.
The locks climb very steeply up approximately one mile and they are very picturesque, arriving at the top we located two engineers from CRT who were there to asses the damage. They pointed out that not only had the ground at the side of the lock had subsided but that the lock wall had shifted, narrowing the lock to an unsafe width as well as the possibility that it could collapse totally, not a place I like to be an the boat.
We set off back to the boat discussing our alternatives, should we wait for a final decision in the hope that there may be a quick fix, or bite the bullet and return back down to Manchester and go round on the Trent and Mersey canal.
Well the news is that we have to return CRT won't have a decision for a few days so back we go!

Marple Aqueduct

Had a trip over the impressive Marple aqueduct before turning round below the locks.

View from the top

We moored at Romley for the night and and took a walk up into the village, a pleasant spot with a few good pubs.

Tuesday 12th September 2017
Woke up for an early start to a sunny morning and the birds were singing loudly as if to celebrate a dry day for a change. We set off towards Portland basin again and the canal did really look beautiful in the early morning sunshine, we soon reached the basin and the junction with the Ashton Canal, turning left to head for Manchester. We were soon caught up by a couple of hire boats, they had too set off to go up to Marple and were having to retrace their steps to Anderton, the base for their boats.

Typical Peak Forrest scene

The two boats had a crew of fifteen between them so there were plenty of them to help us down the 18 lock flight and we progressed well with their assistance.
Reaching Ducie Street basin again we decided to moor up for the night whilst the other two boats progressed down the Rochdale Nine to Castlefields.
There was a lot of water in the system due to the rain and the basin had started to flood so we opted for a days rest to allow the water to subside before moving on.
We had a walk into town and came across a great place called Pie and Ale, had a pint of Northern Monk (a Leeds Brewery) and we opted for a sharer menu, this was a similar to a Tapas with lots of different dishes, again well worth a visit if your ever here.
The forecast that night was for the first storm of the autumn (Aileen) to arrive in the early hours so we tied up securely and strapped everything down on the roof.
The night passed without any issues apart from a lot of rattling and whistling from the wind but by morning it had passed.
The following day was spent catching up with work and a bit of shopping for Lucia, we then prepared for our trip down the locks the next morning.

Thursday 14th September 2017
A quick rekie of the locks showed that the water levels had dropped so we got an early start to make our way down. At the first lock we were joined by a group of Chinese tourists whom we had met the day before and they delighted in helping us through. I had to suppress laughter when they tried to push the gates open, they made that stereotypical sound that is often used by martial arts mimics when they realised just how difficult it was to open the gates, I was grateful all the same!

Serious Window Cleaning in Manchester

The second lock down is the one under the office block, the off side lock beam was covered in blood soaked antiseptic pads, needles, syringes and all the other articles used by the addicts that frequent this place. I am not sure whose responsibility it is but somebody really needs to sort this out, this is part of one of the most used cruising rings in the country with lots of foreign visitors hiring boats to do this route, god knows what they must think of Manchester, with its beggars and drunkards.
There appears to be a massive sub-culture here and it just seems to be ignored.
Halfway down we met a Swiss tourist who was exploring the more desirable parts of the canal, we hurried on and were soon at the bottom lock, Lucia was assisted by a group of friendly Belgians here and finally we were down at the bottom.

Lymm from the canal

We got underway, now back on the Bridgewater canal again and made our way past Old Trafford and on to Waters Meeting, here we turned left and headed down towards Stretford and Sale.
Following a quick stop for (reasonably priced) fuel at Stretford Marina we were joined by a group of Canoeists who were on a team building day from work and accompanied us down to the Kings Ransom pub in Sale. They hurriedly dragged themselves out of the canal and into the pub whilst we continued on our way to Lymm.

Reflections at Lymm Dam

There were lots of boats around today, and the canal became busier the further we travelled, it was nice to be back in open countryside with views right back to the Pennines above Wigan. We arrived at Lymm and managed to moor right in the centre. This is one our favourite places and is a delightful village with all amenities and makes a refreshing change form the bustle of Manchester, we are here until Saturday, when we move on to get back on to the CRT canals on the Trent and Mersey at Preston Brook, this canal will (hopefully) takes us to our mooring at Barton Turns.

Lymm Church

Into Lancashire

Wednesday 30th August 2017
We left Kildwick after welcoming Lucia's oldest friend, Jackie, on board. We had an easy run into Skipton, negotiating 6 swing bridges, arriving early afternoon.
We were lucky enough to find a space on the 3 day moorings fitting in perfectly with our plans.
The following day we decided to visit Skipton Castle, it's been along time since we last called here, this was another Castle held under siege whilst being occupied by the royalists during the civil war. Just like Pontefract it suffered a battering at the hands of the parliamentarian forces and evidence of this can be seen in the upper floors. The original walls (up to 4 metres thick) can be seen, above these they are much thinner this is where they were rebuilt, back to the original height, after the siege. The royalist army held out for 3 years until an agreement was achieved allowing them to leave unharmed and they marched down the high street before dissipating into the countryside. Cromwell allowed Lady Anne Clifford to rebuild the castle but the walls had to be much thinner and the roof had to be incapable of supporting canons.
We had arranged to join Harriets wedding party for a pre wedding meal at the Red Lion at Burnsall,  Harriets dad Paul had kindly offered to collect us and drive us back to the boat that evening and we had a great time and an excellent meal.  The Red Lion has changed a lot since our last visit, it has been extensively extended and is well worth a visit.
Friday 1st September 2017
Today was Harriet's wedding day and we awoke to fine sunshine. Following a walk around the market we returned to ready ourselves for the wedding. We retraced or steps back to the Red Lion by means of a taxi and had a wonderful day celebrating the wedding of Harriet and Sam. Congratulations to them and a big thank you to for allowing us to be part of their special day.
Saturday 2nd September 2017
Anna and Nat brought Scruff back to the boat having kindly looked after her for the last couple of days.
We left Skipton around lunchtime and enjoyed a lovely cruise to the bottom of Bank Newton locks, this part of the canal runs along the edge of the Yorkshire Dales and follows the A65 up to the first lock at Gargrave. We have stopped here many times so decided to press on through the village and its 5 locks reaching Bank Newton at around 4pm, any other time we would have continued through but there are currently limited opening times due to a badly leaking lock, this requires a lock keeper to be in attendance as you pass through, so this will have to wait until the morning.

Late summer at Bank Newton

We awoke to another reasonable day making ourselves ready for a 9.30 start through the locks, fortunately one of Pennine Cruisers hire boats arrived to join us on our passage up the locks, its always much easier with two boats and crew and we soon arrived at the top of the 6 lock flight.
The scenery here is typical Yorkshire Dales at its best and provides a tranquil back drop for the locks as they climb up a wooded hill with short pounds in between each one.
The scenery just gets better and better  as the canal meanders through the glacial drumlins that give this area its unique atmosphere, the bends here are almost 180 degrees and its strange to see boats travelling less than 100 yards across the clefts between the hills.
It was along this stretch 10 years before that I was treated to the site of a mini electrical storm between the legs of my cycling companion, John Lockwood. We were cycling from Liverpool to Leeds and John had decided to wear some nylon shorts and had created a large static charge as he cycled along, discharging it when he stopped due to severe chafing!
This area is true walking country and the Pennine Way joins the towpath at East Marton, with its rare two arched bridge and famous old church.
The twisting continues right up to Greenberfield Locks, these have to be the locks with the finest location on the canal network, the three locks bring you up to the summit of the canal so it is down hill all the way from here. We were again joined by the boat and crew we came up the previous locks with, the crew were from Norfolk and I couldn't resist asking how many locks they had in their home county!
We progressed through and waived goodbye to Yorkshire as we crossed over the border just before our mooring at Foulridge.
Once moored we had a walk round this charming village, we followed a route through to the large summit reservoir, the largest of five built to keep the canal supplied with water. We returned to the boat, following the course of Foulridge canal tunnel.
Autumn is now beginning to feel very close and the nights are becoming much cooler and longer, so we lit a fire and settled back for the evening.
Monday 4th September 2017
Foulridge Tunnel - the eastern portal of the tunnel lies 50 yds from the wharf and entry is controlled by traffic lights, when travelling from this end the lights go to green on the hour and remain on for 10 minutes allowing a maximum of 20 minutes to get through as the green lights are on the half hour at the western end.

Inside Foulridge Tunnel

The tunnel is approximately 1 mile long and is full width so it is an easy run through. The tunnel is famous for its story of a cow falling into the canal at one end then swimming through to the other, it survived, reputedly with the help of some brandy to revive it.
We progressed onto the top of the Barrowford flight (7 locks in total) to find our friends from Norfolk waiting to go down so we again joined them and quickly passed through. At one of the locks Lucia met a chap called Bob with his Border Collie, Meg. He invited us to call in to see a restored steam engine in Burnley.
The bottom of the locks marks the start of the long pound to Blackburn so cruising here is easy with no stopping until we reached our mooring at Weavers Triangle at Burnley. As we approached Burnley embankment we over took a widebeam hire boat, they passed through Barrowford locks just in front of us, the crew were visitors from Switzerland, just what they though of our country is anybody's guess as they negotiated their way past discarded bags, settees and road works barriers all dumped in the canal.
Burnley embankment is worthy of a mention as it passes through the town sixty feet above and has an aqueduct over the main road (Yorkshire Street) in its centre. During the war stop planks were placed at each end and the channel drained to protect the town from being flooded during a bombing raid.
The embankment is now regarded as one of the wonders of the waterways.

Bobs Engine

Having moored at Weavers Triangle we wandered down to Oak Mount Mill, just off the towpath about 1/4 mile past our mooring, there was no sign of Bob so we retraced our steps to the boat, on the way back we noticed the bizarre sight of a girl sat with a sewing machine, powered by a bike just by the towpath, by an amazing coincidence she was featured on Radio 4's Front Row programme that same evening, she was part of the Fabrications Festival and was visiting several towns along the canal.
We continued past the boat to visit the Weavers Triangle museum, its only small but interesting and during our visit we were met by Bob who said he would open up the Steam Engine house for us, so off we went back to Oak Mount Mill.
We entered the engine house to be greeted by a large twin cylinder engine that used to power the mill, 850 looms at one time,and as ran until 1979. The boiler was removed and the boiler house demolished but the engine house and its engine were left to decay, thankfully the engine was rescued and restored, now driven by an electric motor, but is still an impressive sight when running.
We thanked Bob and made a donation to the restoration fund, Bob thanked us in return by presenting us with a large bag of tomatoes.
Tuesday 5th September 2017
Woke up to torrential rain this morning, however the forecast was an improving outlook so we set off on what was to be a long day to Riley Green, the other side of Blackburn. The rain continued for another hour or so but it was quite warm so travelling was not too bad. Just outside Burnley we passed the widebeam with the Swiss crew on their way back to Silsden.

Over the motorway

Gannow Tunnel

This side of Burnley the canal runs close to the M65 and a mile or so from our start we crossed over the motorway on an aqueduct, just around the corner we entered Gannow tunnel, a fairly  short and wide hole through the hill to emerge at a bridge over which the motorway crosses the canal!





The route continues hugging the edge of the valley until we reach Church, the halfway point between Leeds and Liverpool 63 3/4 miles from each end.

The Halfway Marker

The canal threads under and over the motorway, quite apt through all these weaving towns, before reaching the outskirts of Blackburn, we had not seen a boat all day until we arrived here, and as they were travelling in the opposite direction this meant that all of the six locks in Blackburn should be in our favour.
Most of them were but one or two leaky ones had to be refilled but we soon passed through and onto our mooring at Riley Green, not much to report here as it is a quite rural spot.
The following morning the chap in the boat behind us asked if they could join us through Johnsons Hillock locks, 7 in total. We gratefully accepted his offer and were soon underway, the locks are only a couple of miles away and it wasn't log before we arrived.
There were two boats in the top lock so we went to help them through, and to my amazement one of the boats was Rod Rush, and old rugby friend who we seem to bump into every time we are out on the boat, he was returning to his moorings in Skipton for the winter.

Top of Wigan flight, the lock are just around the corner

We made our way through the locks with ease and were soon on the pound heading for Wigan, The journey was fairly uneventful apart from a few altercations with some fishermen taking part in a match some of them got very upset about a boat passing, some of them shouted that we should be close to the towpath side others wanted us at the opposite side! a few just said to ignore them and stay in the middle, this we did and ignored the shouting. We came to quite a sharp bend and approached on tick over but this particular angler ignored us I had to throw the engine into reverse to avoid hitting his fishing pole so he then started screaming at us for disturbing the fish! (Tosser).
I hope some members of Wigan  Angling Club learn that the canal is not just for them.
We arrived at Wigan early evening just as the lock keeper, Joe, was packing up for the day, we made ourselves known to him and he went through the procedures for the following day.
Thursday 7th September 2107
Wigan Flight - this flight of locks is impressive, dropping the canal some 215 feet into the town.
We waited at the top in the hope that another boat may join us for the descent but we waited in vain and had to set off alone. Joe helped us through the first few having warned us about a bad leak in the 4th lock and that in the 5th lock we would have to leave the boat and rope it through as one of the gates had been damaged previously and there was a danger that they could fail. News had just come in of a disaster at Bank Newton the day before where a boat had got caught in the lock, the picture shows the result, so needless to say we heeded his advice.

Disaster at Bank Newton, thankfully no one was
 hurt and the boat was re floated

We pressed on with Lucia doing all of the 23 locks and arrived down on the Leigh branch 4 hours after starting out. We cruised down to Dover Lock to moor up for the evening. Dover lock is the site of a pair of locks that, due to mining subsidence , are no longer required so they have been converted into a mooring close by the Dover Lock Inn.

Onto Manchester this weekend and up onto the Ashton and Peak Forest Canals.