Thursday 11th August, 2016 in Rode Heath.
Rain! It had rained quite a bit overnight and continued to drizzle until mid-day. M left her early morning tea to run up to the stern, in the rain and in her nightie, to photograph this beautiful old working boat as it chugged past.
It was so cold that we donned three layers of clothing, including body warmers and rain gear, as we prepared to set off. By sheer bad luck, just as we were about to move off, two boats appeared round the corner behind us. Good manners dictated that we waited for them to pass but unfortunately this meant that, at the lock just round the corner in front of us, we were now fourth in the queue of boats waiting to go through the lock!
Progress was slow because one of the two top paddles (that let water in to fill the lock) had broken that morning so the lock was very slow to fill. This meant that it took us an hour just to get through this first lock. Queues are rare and this is probably the longest we have had to wait in five years of boating.
However, good humour prevailed as ever. M helped other boats through the lock and chatted to John, the C&RT volunteer on duty.
On one boat there was a delightful collie, who was clearly in charge. As the boat was going down in the lock, the collie stared fixedly at the gates in front of him, willing them to open!
R immediately recognised the name of this boat as being from the last chapter of "The House at Pooh Corner", when Christopher Robin goes off to say good-bye to Pooh in the enchanted place at the top of the forest, known as Galleon's Lap. The lady owner was delighted - she said that in eighteen years of owning the boat, R was only the second person ever to recognise the origin of the name.
At this point, the Macclesfield Canal crosses over the Trent & Mersey Canal on an aqueduct. M walked up to photograph where they cross each other and was amused by the name of the boat passing underneath.
This stretch of canal is well known for its paired locks (two narrow locks side by side). Originally, James Brindley built the canal with single locks but, to ease congestion, Thomas Telford later installed a second lock alongside the first.
Many of these paired locks survive, but unfortunately, if there is a problem with one lock, the former British Waterways didn't bother to fix it and some of them have been left for nature to take its course.
It is amazing how quickly nature reclaims the lock and the old lock gates are left to disintegrate.
It would be nice to think that one day these derelict paired locks might be restored, but given the shortage of funds, it seems highly unlikely.
As MM emerges from the left hand lock, the face of the filled-in right hand lock can clearly be seen.
In the far distance, one could still see Mow Cop, the hill above Congleton. It is a well known local landmark and the summit is the location of the first open-air meeting of the Primitive Methodists in 1807. Hopefully, it was drier for them than it was for us today!
The three "paired" locks at Lawton (two of which survive as "pairs" but the second lock of the middle one is disused) were built by Thomas Telford to replace a very inefficient "staircase" of locks built by Brindley. The large lumps of grass in the background are all that is left of Brindley's staircase
We moored up at Rode Heath and were delighted to see a "real" working boat come by selling diesel, coal, ropes and fenders. Unfortunately, we had recently filled with fuel and so could not avail ourselves of their services.
Rode Heath has a small Post Office and General Store where we bought milk and posted a letter. Then, a quiet afternoon followed, among other things, writing up this diary.
Today: 2 miles, 11 locks and 4.8 hours.
Trip: 231 miles, 171 locks and 175.3 hours.
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