We were working our way up 'Heartbreak Hill' in my last blog, and here we are still with some of the 26 locks left to do.
What is not to like when there is such a glorious day to progress up hill. Here we have a bridge and a lock. The split footbridge at the bottom of the lock is to allow the hauling ropes of the old horse drawn boats passage through without having to let go the rope and so save time. Having a bridge at the foot of the lock is a real boon as it makes it much easier to get round the locks to lift or drop paddles on both side, when you are on your own. Some locks just have a walk way attached to the gates for access.
Here we are with 20 locks down and 6 to go. Church Locks are two together that have both had their duplicate lock closed as you can see in the above picture. The left lock has been left out of repair. It would be interesting to see the difference having only one lock working on this section to the use of water and any delays to working. I c an't remember being held up here so much as at Cholmondeston Lock on the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union. If you are held up the views are very able to let you pass the time usefully with Mow Cop in the distance.
Once again this is not a bridge but an aqueduct, The Pool Lock Aqueduct to be exact. This carries the canal over itself. This can occur as we still have two locks and about 18'/19' up in height that gives enough clearance for the bridge. If you look closely the plaque says 'Pool Lock Aqueduct MDCCCXXVIIII' This is not actually a Roman numeral number at all as, as far as I know, there is no such thing as IIII it should read perhaps IX. Therefore the date is more than likely 1829.
The U Turn at Red Bull takes you over the canal you have come up. In fact it was built by the Trent and Mersey Canal as far as the Hall Green Stop Locks that was installed to protect the water supplies of The Macclesfield Canal Co. and the Trent and Mersey, each of the company's installing their own. Only one is in use today though and the canal is generally known as the Macclesfield from the Junction. 'The Macc', as the waterway is often referred to, is well known for its beautiful turn over or snake bridges and the beautiful shape of the arches. These bridges were designed to allow the horse pulling the boat to cross from the tow path on one side to the other with out having to unhitch. It is our great good fortune that they designed these graceful bridges to do such a mundane task.
After the canal passes the outskirts of Congleton, which is well worth the walk down to the centre, the railway passes over to the north of the canal. As often is the case the railway followed the route of the canal and soon they both had to cross the valley of the River Dane. On the canal the moorings are very peaceful with good views and a good spot to gird the loins before the assent of the twelve locks that take you up 110ft to the summit pound of the canal. The canal aqueduct over the River Dane is by necessity much more sturdy, but no the less imposing, than the railway viaduct not too far away. The viaduct is 130ft high and was built for the North Staffordshire Railway in about 1849.
The northern end of the Macclesfield Canal is at Marple and its junction with the Peak Forest canal. The junction is very photogenic with a toll house, stone bridges and old houses. However I always feel like a working boatman just at this point as the first first four of the sixteen locks seem to be just part of the street furniture as you descend the Peak Forest canal. The locals have seen it all, and never bat an eye as they walk past up the hill with their bags of shopping
After crossing the Stockport Road it becomes more open and passes a park and then out into the countryside. Then you get the visitors who are walking up and down and you get the many questions about life on the canals and in 'small' narrowboats. Depending on the time of year a frequent question is about how cold it gets, and how hard work it might be etc etc. I must make a list of questions next year. I love this horse tunnel that takes the tow path under the road. It also goes to show that as well as humans being much shorter in times gone by, horses must have been shorter too. In this case it is not that 'many hands make light work', (get it, hands, measure of the height of a horse! $"?), as they didn't use great big cart horses or dray horses but much smaller ones or mules were also popular. I suppose that once the boat was moving not too much muscle was needed to keep it moving so bigger horses would have eaten more than the speed they may increase the operation by.
At Portand Basin, the junction of the Ashton and Peak Forest canal, there are some beautiful bridges, chimneys and buildings that make a very appealing canalscape. Often the roving bridge that crosses the end of the Peak Forest canal just after the aqueduct over the River Tame is ignored as there is too much else that attracts the eye. It was built in 1835 and is graceful in it's low arch and lack of scantling and bulk. I often think that this place appears all dark and gloomy but if all the trees were removed it would take on a different atmosphere. Maybe it should retain it's northern grit as here we descend in to the manufacturing/industrial Manchester or ascend the stair way to Heaven on the Huddersfield Canal that rewards the hard work by the views and Standedge Tunnel.
This time we turn left and take the Ashton Canal into Liverpool. It has to be said that this is not the most beautiful of canals and not one of my favourite, but there is plenty to see, from a Moravian Village to the Etihad Stadium of Manchester City and then close by the velodrome that is the home of British cycling that had delighted us all with so many medals as Olympic and World Championships etc
As the descent is almost over, at least until the junction with the Rochdale Canal at Dulcie Street, and you reach the Ancoats Locks. Urban Splash designed the buildings behind the lock that has become known as the 'Chip'.It was completed in 2009 and certainly is eye catching. You can see where we are heading as just this side of the building is a lift bridge in to New Islington Marina, but we have to descend two locks on the Ashton and then ascend two on the Rochdale to get there. We are off back home for some more Culture in Hull.
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