We set off a little earlier than normal to get to the top of Bosley Locks about 0930. It was raining when we set off, but we were banking on the forecast saying ti would soon stop. And by the time we got to the locks it had!
The lock keepers were just coming on duty, but they were walking down to the bottom as a hire boat had requested assistance to come up. Helen normally works the windlass on the way up locks and I do them down hill. Here is Helen with her usual pose of watching the cill like it was going to bite her!
I wonder if this Macclesfield Canal boundary stone is in its original place at the off side of the lock, by the lower gates.
Here is Helen on her way to the next lock and looks like a Tuareg nomad dressed up with scarf etc. It was a little cooler than the last few days but there was no wind again.
We passed six boats coming up and some of the pounds were a little low, and Helen grounded in one of the pounds for a short time.
About half way down there was a few red painted sheep in a a field of 'normal' sheep. I wonder what that was about?
Here is Helen at the bottom about to make a turn into the last lock, No.12. There were a few delays on the way down as we waited for up bound boats. The hirers were first timers and they didn't want to upset anybody so had asked the volunteers to help. It comes to something when people new to the canals are so worried about getting aggro from other users. On their way down the keeps had opened the top gates on the full locks which sped us on a little. In the end it was 1hr 45mins top to bottom.
Crossley Hall Farm House has been upgraded and the farm buildings have been changed into rental properties. The Hall is Grade II listed and was built in the late 16th or early 17th Century. It certainly looks pretty flash now. The cow that graced the wharf by the farm buildings seems to have found a home in the garden of the hall itself now.
The gloomy day was enhanced by the trees enclosing the cut. Things were enlivened by a few patches of colour in their leaves.
Just before the Shaw Brook Aqueduct is Vaudrey's Wharf. Charles Vaudrey built the wharf at the time the canal opened in 1831 to service his silk mill in Bath Vale. Soon afterwards the railway came to the valley and it became a useful transhipment and merchants wharf. Cheese, timber, coal, sugar cotton and pottery etc was handled here. It had been leaking and there were worries that it could breech and would need blocking off. I'm not sure if this has been resolved or not.
At the aqueduct there are several of the sandstone two hole fencing posts that are very similar to those listed at the Styperson Aquaduct. They even have oil and grease marks where the old redundant wires from pit winding gear has been used. In the distance is the River Dane railway viaduct from 1841, well at least some of its 23 arches.
We moored up in a quiet spot near to Bridge 81 as we had a mission to undertake. We were going siteseeing.
We were going to climb up to the ridge line to visit Mow Cop. We chose a route that didn't go straight up but angled up the steepish side. The west side of the hill has been extensively quarried and the evidence is there to see. As we cleared the tree ine we trained to follow this curving path, that very much looks like a plateway that would have been used to move the stone about. This was built about 1807 but didn't seem to last very long at all. Due to the dip of the rocks the coal seams were more easily worked on the west side of the hill. A 'railway' was built with a tunnel to take coal down to the Macclesfield Canal near Kent Green. I will have to explore that the next time.
Just near the ridge line is Corda Well. There were several wells along here, but this one was never known to go dry and was used by folk from all over when the others did. In the early 1900's the land owner, Lord Egerton, leased the the well to the Congleton Water Authority and it was piped down following the route of the plateway to a tank near Lime Kiln Farm. From there it was fed to a water tower to feed the town.
Once on the top we were back on the Gritstone Way long distance footpath, and it soon had us at the Old Man of Mow ad stands 65' high. It is most likely just a bit of poor quality gritstone that was left when the better stuff was quarried from around it. Some say that is was left on purpose as a nod to the ancient cairn that stood at the high point before it was removed by the quarrying. Who knows. By the way it seems that non locals call the place Mow Cop as in mow a lawn, where as locals can is Mow as in cow. However both are also correct as the name refers to a local name for a mole or mo.
Mow Cop Castle was built by the Wilbraham's of Rode Hall in 1754, as a summer house type folly that could be seen from the hall. It had a room with in it too where they would boil a kettle for tea! It has been a place of great dispute as it went to court as another local landowner took the Wilbraham's to court as part of it was built on his land. The court decided that he had a claim and they should share ownership and costs of repair. Later in 1923 the land and the castle were sold for quarrying and the public were up in arms. Solicitors grew rich on the dispute as it dragged on until 1937, when, despite quarrying all around the site, the rest was given to the National Trust and it was saved. Mow Cop is also the place where Primitive Methodism was founded. Hugh Bourne was a Methodist but when the church was full he decided to hold a Camp Meeting at the Castle. It was poorly organised but many came for the 14 hour service. Subsequent meetings were held with larger numbers. The official Methodist Church frowned on the camp meetings and when William Clowes, who also held camp meetings was band from the Methodist Church, they clubbed together and formed the Primitive Methodist Church.
The walk back down to the canal was following the South Cheshire Way, and was through an old wood that was a bit muddy underfoot. It was quite dark when we got back to the boat, not as we were so late but as it was so overcast and dull. It was another 6 mile walk under the belt.
The stove was lit and Strickly results put on and a bottle of beer broached as a reward!
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