The Great Escape!

By Heather Bell, Posted on August 22, 2025

It might have been a great idea, but it was probably the slowest escape on record! Our original plan was to stay moored up in the vicinity of Congleton until Heather had completed the rehab for her new knee. Then, hopefully by the end of September, start heading south for the winter. A list of jobs had been compiled to keep Ian happy, one of which was to sort out why the engine had become so noisy. Ian arranged for an engineer to come out and assess the engine mounts, rubber blocks which support and cushion the engine against the keel. It turns out they were the original mounts; one had completely failed and the other three were on their way out which explained why the engine was so noisy. With new ones fitted the engine is so quiet, we keep thinking there’s something wrong with it!

Lowering water levels on Macclesfield Canal

Unfortunately, (or as usual!) the rest of our original plan fell through. With the continuing dry weather and lack of water, we received the inevitable text alert and email from CRT advising us to stock up on supplies, use any nearby facilities and move the boat off this lower end of the Macclesfield Canal before the end of the week. After that they were going to allow the water level to drop until it equalised to the height of the Trent and Mersey which it joins on to at Hardingswood Junction.

This was not good news. The previous day we’d taken a short cruise to refill the water tank and had already discovered that the current drop in the water level, of about 10 inches, was making it tricky to get through some of the bridge holes, (the canal is narrower and shallower under bridges) the loss of another 6 inches would have the boat stuck, sitting on the canal bed and probably tilted at some ridiculous angle making it impossible to either move or live on. We’d be stuck until sufficient rain had fallen to refill the canal and feeder reservoirs, probably around October or November time.

We needed to move the boat ASAP but we waited a couple of days for Heather to attend her first physio appointment. Then we were off, it was slow going and it took us 3 hours to crawl the 5 miles down to Hall Green Stop Lock. Ian had to put the boat into neutral as we passed under the bridges to stop the stern dragging on the bottom. We came past one boater who was well and truly aground and asked us to put some revs on as we went past in the hope that the drag of our wake would free his boat. Sadly, it didn’t work, and we left him scratching his head. If we’d tried to tow him free we’d probably have damaged his propeller and that’s not an expense you want.

Mooring up just before the junction we were now on the summit level of the T&M and, without many water reserves, this section could also, eventually become too shallow to navigate. The next morning, we made an early start and were the only boat heading south through the Harecastle Tunnel. Needing some respite from the stress of the last week, we pulled over for a couple of nights at Westport Lake.

With various rumours of the whole system being shut down, we decided to keep going and made our way through the Stoke Locks and were happily moored up near to Barlaston village. We’re now hearing news of marinas, such as Lyme View on the Peak Forest Canal, blocking up their entrances with stop planks in an attempt to preserve their water and keep their moored boats floating. As I type this, notifications are coming in of more closures, so the buzz on the towpath telegraph might not be wrong and the whole system could end up grinding to a halt. I wonder how far we’ll get!

Online map from CRT of stoppages and advisories 22/08/2025

Running out of time and water!

By Heather Bell, Posted on July 28, 2025

July has been a bit of a battle. Having made the decision to head back up to the Macclesfield Canal, we had 21 days to tackle 189 miles and 132 locks. There were also planned stoppages and time restrictions on some of those locks, so we had to “get a wiggle on!”. But we did have some fun along the way too.

Even at full speed (3mph) there’s always time to enjoy the surroundings and watch the water, occasionally seeing long, streams of large clear bubbles rising up from the bottom of the canal. So we pondered this phenomena, we each proposed a theory of it’s origin.

H: (Boring sciencey idea) There are oxygenating plants with long tendrils growing on the canal bed, the bubbles of oxygen produced are trapped by the fronds of the plant, as the boat passes by, it disturbs the plants and the bubbles are released, rising to the surface.

I: (Bonkers idea) There are shoals of fearful farting fish (Please don’t choke on your coffee). The fish are swimming gently in the water and are scared by the passing boat and fart (jet propulsion?)

So do fish fart?-According to Do Fish Fart? (And More Must-Know Fish Facts) – Scuba.com, herring and sand sharks do. There have also been sightings of air escaping from the nether region of a fish after they’ve gulped air at the surface, but this isn’t really a product of digestion, so can’t it be termed as a fart and may have more to do with their swim bladders (now you’re just taking the p***)

One day, the boat decided to go for a little ride on its own. We’d pulled in at the bottom of a lock. Ian jumped off to go and sort the lock out and Heather hopped off, assuming that Ian had taken the midline (long rope tied to the middle of the roof and used as a quick temporary mooring rope) with him and was tying it to a bollard to secure the boat. As often happens with Heather, she was distracted by a nice long branch hiding in the hedgerow, that would be a great addition to our store of firewood. On turning around with the branch in hand, Heather discovered that Ian had already disappeared up to the lock and the boat was now halfway across the canal with a rather bemused Sammy dog staring from the stern. Dog’s aren’t the best at steering boats or throwing ropes. Luckily, that lovely branch happened to have a nice little hook on the end of it; so as the boat slowly drifted across the canal and the bow twisted lazily towards us, we hooked up the bow line and pulled the boat back. Amazingly nobody had to get wet (makes a change – says Heather!!!), the dog hadn’t panicked, and the boat didn’t come to any grief. Lesson learnt – never assume!

Blocked towpath Bolbeck Park, Milton Keynes

Whilst we did our best not to flag in the heatwave, the same cannot be said for the canalside trees. With their roots weakened by the dry soil, it became a daily occurrence to discover a tree toppled across the canal leaving it “passible with care” or evidence of where a bigger tree had recently been cleared. On passing one of these, we were told by a local that it had only been cleared the previous night with a crew turning up at 5pm and working solidly for 5 hours. There’s going to be plenty of firewood this winter.

Almost at the same lock that we’d met them on our way down to London, we pulled in alongside the fuel boat, “Bordesley” Jules Fuels Southern, which was looking particularly gorgeous having just won first prize at the Braunston Historic Boat show.

Bridge over original line of Oxford Canal, Rugby

Another obstacle was discovering the pounds (short stretches of canal between locks) being empty. This happened on several of the flights of locks and despite Ian’s best efforts to refill these sections, the boat still got stuck and we just had to wait until we were floating again. We actually think that our boat has a draft of about two foot, so that kind of shows how low these water levels have got. The worst flight by far was the eleven locks at Atherstone which took us twice as long to get through. Mainly because the bywash at the top lock was out of use and feeder from the reservoir was stopped, so there was no extra water to maintain the levels.

We shared a few locks with a young couple whose boat was positively festooned with raspberries and loganberries overhanging the sides. It was so tempting to reach across and nab one but having complimented them on the display, they gave us a tub of fruit. As exchange is no robbery, I returned the favour with a slice of my rich fruit cake and some Cheshire cheese to nibble with it (originally it would have been Wensleydale as it’s one of Ian’s family’s Yorkshire’isms)

We even shared a lock with the current owner of a boat we’d previously seen in a bit of a state on the Leeds & Liverpool. In July 2023 it was a brand new boat that had sunk in a lock and been refloated. It was lovely to see it on the move again, but sadly, this owner had no idea that it had previously been an insurance write off. He had found watermarks and damp smells inside the boat, which had made him wonder as to the cause, but he knew nothing of the unfortunate event and it seems that there is no legal obligation to inform a purchaser of any previous incidents, which I find quite concerning.

You tend to be extra careful in locks when you see and hear about such situations. I don’t know what it is about this trip, but we saw least one wreck near every town we passed through.

We did have to keep moving at quite a pace and we thought our mission to get on to the Macclesfield Canal was going to fail when we heard that Aston Lock (near Stone in Staffordshire), which already had a planned stoppage on it in a few days time, had been closed early due to low water levels. Well we honestly felt like that was it. But then, thankfully, the levels recovered enough and the lock reopened and the boat got through …just! But not so lucky at the Meaford flight, when Ian was actually solo boating for a few days and got stuck.

As I type this, we have had a few rain showers but unfortunately it’s not enough and a lot of the northern end of the canal system has got planned closures within a few weeks. It does mean that they will lift some mooring restrictions, so at least we won’t have to keep trying to move around. Just to be on the safe side, we have asked for a mooring overstay, as we need to stay put for at least a few weeks while Heather recovers from yet another surgery – yep, she’s finally getting that right knee replaced.

We still have plenty of plans for this year both with the boat (water levels permitting), the van and a very, very big ship!

Winter on the Maccy

By Heather Bell, Posted on December 2, 2024

Mooring beside the decorative railings of Ramsdell Hall

It’s a stunning time of year with low beams of sunlight cutting through the trees and periods of snow and frost carpeting the countryside like a quilt. The Maccy (Macclesfield Canal) is an easy stretch to find moorings on for the winter season, it doesn’t flood and we’re always within a couple of miles of shops. But it’s not without its hazards!

As winter approaches we close the bow of the boat with the cratch covers, turning it into a fuel storage area. We start with 10 bags of coal and then look for places to moor where we can go scavenging for wood along the tow path. In fact, this year there seems to be a lot of tree trimming going on, so we have lots to choose from and Ian has completely burnt out the motor on his rechargeable chainsaw! And having spotted another boater with a folding sawhorse, he’s now acquired one and really enjoys not having a bad back after a session of wood chopping (and I’m glad that the cold has encouraged him to wear boots when he’s sawing!!)

The smokey chimney creates a challenge for the helm

Having a fire lit all the time does cause a few problems when you’re cruising. Whilst I love the sweet smell and happy memories conjured up by burning wood, coal smoke (ironically it is smokeless fuel) is not as pleasant and catches in your throat. Wet coal and slightly damp wood causes clouds of fluffy white smoke to billow across the front of the boat which the helmsman then blames for the bumps as we pass through narrow stone bridge holes. Other challenges include the low winter sun blinding you as you turn the boat, strong side-on winds holding the boat against the canal bank and trees dropping snow on to you as you cruise underneath them. It’s all good fun and part of life on board in the winter (especially for those of us without the luxury of bow thrusters on our boats!)

Offside of canal and the wall of Oakes Mill

Cuddlies hiding in the pipe of Oakes Mill

One benefit of cruising up and down the same stretch of waterway is that you get time to spot little oddities. Below Hightown there is a large pipe sticking out from the side of a mill which is almost completely inaccessible. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to stick two cuddly toys into it, and I’m completely stumped by why you would go to such trouble.

This feature protects the embankment (just ahead) from flooding

Another unusual feature is a large runoff near to the Dane-in-Shaw embankment. This is normally covered in weeds, but for the first time in many years it’s been cleared and shows what a huge and quite dramatic structure it really is.

Congleton Wharf (One of my Dad’s favourite spots)

After taking advantage of another easy mooring at Congleton Wharf, we ambled down Canal Street for the switch on of the Christmas Lights. It was fabulous to see so many people enjoying the event and the Christmas market was buzzing with the sounds of buskers and busy shoppers.

Walking Christmas trees by the town’s tree

The recent wintery weather might be a bit slippery underfoot and cause the mooring ropes to freeze, but it has certainly helped to get everyone into a seasonal mood.

Getting Steamed Up at Bugsworth Basin

By Heather Bell, Posted on September 30, 2024

Marple junction – turning on to the Peak Forest Canal

It already seems like a lifetime since we were driving around the North Yorkshire coast in the motorhome. We’ve spent the last few weeks back home on the boat dawdling our way up the Macclesfield Canal towards Marple. However, we did put a sudden spurt on when we noticed that the water level had dropped and heard of a leak further up. This is a summit level of just over 23 miles, so it wasn’t a little leak! You can forgive us for being slightly paranoid about getting stuck after last winter’s escapades.

Canal River Trust engineers stabilising the water level and working on the leaking sluice

Having got past the leak we relaxed a bit and stopped on a wide reach (like a little lake) at Higher Poynton where I spotted a Kingfisher and made friends with a cheeky duck who kept flapping up into the side hatch (aka duck hatch!!).

We trundled on through the swing bridges of the Peak Forest Canal, stopping for a few days for Ian to go on his barefoot wanders. The Millenium Walkway at New Mills is quite dramatic and was well worth the walk.

Finally, we made it to our destination at Bugsworth Basin, a true favourite of ours, as it’s not every day that you get to moor up in an ancient monument! The basin was constructed at the end of the 1700s and has multiple arms that originally provided access to wharves and tramways. It was the navigable hub that linked the local quarries with the industries of the North West.

The carved out hillside of Chinley quarries above Buxsworth

Limestone for construction and architectural sculpture, gritstone for grinding and tonnes and tonnes of lime that was used everywhere, from farming to toiletries. Limestone is so versatile that I doubt the Victorian Industrial Revolution could have happened without it. Demand was high for these raw materials and in its hey day, there used to be around 160 working boats milling around the basin.

Moorings along the main arm of Bugsworth Basin

By today’s standards, I think the basin is looking busy, with about 30 boats moored up. And I’ve learnt a new word this week, Wharfinger, an archaic term for the keeper or owner of a wharf or dock. (If I’d read The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, I would have known what a Wharfinger was). This person was responsible for the day-to-day activities including the maintenance and provision of the channels, docks, quaysides, slipways, berths, providing tide tables (where appropriate), resolving disputes and to warn of any latent hazards in the vicinity. Now more commonly known as … the Harbour Master. Bear in mind that during the 1800s, Bugsworth Basin was known as the largest inland port in the country.

Our arrival in this area of the High Peak coincided with the annual Buxsworth Steam Weekend. That’s not a spelling error, in 1930 the villagers, with the support of the vicar and school headmaster, campaigned to change the village name and remove any association with bugs (this vote was repeated and won again in 1999!). Despite its small size and steep roads (1 in 7 is the maximum a steam engine can manage), the village managed to squeeze 3 engines in. On closer inspection we got another surprise, Engine 2701 (aka Tombola) had originally been built by Fodens, an engineering company based in Sandbach, just down the road from the Grammar school that Ian went to (although I think the engine might be a tad older than he is! [b***** cheek!!! – Ian]).

I do love the sight, sounds and smells of these massive metal beasts. The glowing colours, the shining brass, the puffs of smoke from the chimneys, the hissing steam erupting from the valves and whistles; it’s a real treat for all the senses. As a youngster in my hometown, I would sit by my bedroom window and listen out for the toots as our local traction engines rumbled slowly past on the main road heading to the next weekend summer rally. I guess I’m just an old nostalgic at heart. [Yep – nearly as old as me! – Ian]

Enjoying the views of the Peak Forest Canal, near Disley

Bang on the Maccy

By Heather Bell, Posted on August 1, 2024

A tapestry of green on the Macclesfield Canal

We made it back onto the Macclesfield Canal and even got our favourite mooring on the embankment that overlooks the Dane in Shaw Valley.

Passing through Hall Green Stop Lock, at the start of the Maccy, always gives us a feeling of arriving home, well, technically it is as we were both born within a 1/4 mile of this canal! No more locks for us until the Bosley Flight and we don’t plan to go up there for a while due to the hassle of getting to hospital appointments. As we’re not going to be moving any great distances for the next few months, this breaks the “Continuous Cruisers” rule that is a condition of our boating licence with Canal & River Trust (CRT). You can claim mitigating circumstances, so I’ve contacted CRT to explain the situation and to ask them to allow us some latitude in our length of stay in this area. They were very helpful after my knee replacement in 2022, so I’m hoping they will be again.

The shoulder reconstruction surgery went ahead as planned, so now I’m a one-armed bandit. No, he didn’t amputate!! It’s just how it feels having my right arm strapped up in a sling all the time! Ian’s been a very busy bee. The boat is looking very tidy with newly painted gunnels and he’s currently doing the welldeck. Passers-by, both walkers and boaters have all suggested he’s doing the painting equivalent of a rain dance, and to be honest, despite the dry forecast on one day, that’s exactly what happened- it poured down just after he’d started!

The water from our reconditioned water tank is still bit wiffy, so he’s fitted a filtering system to mitigate this. That proved to be a bit of a nightmare as, despite trying different connectors and the trusty PTFE tape, various joints kept taking it in turns to leak. But, after three days of battle, swapping the position of the filters and switching to thread seal, Ian won! It’s something we probably should have done years ago.

You’d think that being moored up would be uneventful, but we forgot to factor in the nearby marina with its fleet of hire boats. At the weekend, Ian literally had to jump ship to help a crew discover how to take a runaway dayboat out of neutral so that they could steer it. And yesterday, we were rammed. The noise was horrendous, and it rocked the boat so badly that our stuff went flying off the shelves inside! Having started out as hire boaters, we totally understand that there is a learning curve to steering these beauties, but an apology is always appreciated! We did politely suggest to the helmsman that next time he could at least try to use reverse to stop the boat from crashing!

Weather permitting, Ian has also been taking the opportunity to do regular walks up Bosley Cloud with the dog. The views across the Cheshire Plain are quite stunning. Whilst I’m feeling physically restrained, my mind isn’t, so plans are afoot for the next few month’s travels, both near and far. I always love having something to look forward to and the calendar is now bursting with scribbled plots and plans!

Heron’s New Home

By iangbell, Posted on June 17, 2016

Chores and a short chug to Heron’s new home, that’s what we did today.

I did a serious clean of the cooker surround this morning. The only thing that worked on the baked on grease was something called Bar Keep’s Friend. It still took me over an hour. Then I touched up some of the gunnel paint. No Heather, not all those patches down the sides. I would have had to hack through all the jungle to do that. Just a small patch on the top of the gunnel that was scratched all the way down to bare metal. I have no idea how that happened, but it must have been in the last 3 days. At least I’ve got the first coat on now.

Then it was just an hour down the cut back towards Scholar Green, to take up our berth in Heron’s new home at Heritage Narrowboats.

We know Heritage quite well. The two different different boats that we owned shares on were based here. So I knew it was going to require some careful manoeuvring to get into the berth I had chosen. Heritage has long jetties that accommodate four or five boats, rather than the single boat jetties we are used to. It means a careful reverse in past other moored boats. I was grateful that the there is virtually no wind today. This sort of close quarters activity is much more difficult when it’s windy.

Of course, when I got to Heritage, most of the staff were outside enjoying their lunch break. So I had an experience audience to watch my entrance and reverse. Thankfully, probably due to the lack of wind, it was almost flawless. I don’t think anyone noticed the very gentle bump I gave to the moored day boat.

Heather is coming up to visit parents and take me back to Chiseldon tomorrow. So, tonight, I’m relaxing. The packing and tidying can wait until tomorrow morning.

That’s the end of this 5 week adventure. The frequency of posts is going to drop significantly. But this won’t be the end of this blog.

Heron has a few more wanderings to come.

Scary Cows

By iangbell, Posted on June 15, 2016

Having mentioned the really short footpath, I though it would be fun to go and walk it. So we did, on the way to visit Little Moreton Hall. It is small, yet perfectly formed. Two kissing gates separated by about 6m of footpath. The rain of the last few days has made the route down to the hall pretty muddy. My new boots got a true christening. But it wasn’t the mud that stopped us. We were in sight of the prize, but the last field had these very scary cows. When they saw Sam and me, they began to converge on us from all multiple directions. Really, they were not stopping. We got half way across the field before I decided that retreat was the best policy. As soon as we turned, they lost interest in us. I think Sam was happy to retreat, judging by how hard she tried to remove my arm at the shoulder.

Back at the boat for lunch and the short trip into Congleton. The mile markers on the Macc are these rugged stone affairs, this one showing it’s 12 miles to Marple. Lots of other landmarks to recognise along this route, not all of them specifically related to the canal. That’s what happens when you return to the town where you spent the first 18 years of your life.

First is Ferric the Red. This little boat has been moored on the stretch before Congleton Wharf for many years. Always something to look out for, signalling the approach to the Wharf, a landmark that has some significance. The aqueduct at the end of the wharf crosses Canal Road. I was born in the hospital on Canal Road, just downhill from the wharf. And I lived for the first year of my life in the house next door to the shop, just uphill from the wharf.

After passing under another of the Macclesfield Canal’s characteristic turnover bridges, you then enter an little hidden away underworld. The canal makes it’s way under the railway and two road bridges, the old and the new. If you are on the road or rails, you are hard pressed to even see the canal under you.

The embankment looking over Dane-in-Shaw is not far away, but when I got there, the only place to moor is right at the far end by the Biddulph Valley Way. It’s not the best view, but better than some. I can see why no-one else moored here though. The bank is totally overgrown. I needed to hack down masses of vegetation to even get off the boat. And then I got nettled, again.

I’m staying here until Friday, when I will move onto our mooring at Scholar Green. Tomorrow’s adventures will be entirely land-based.

Back Gardens

By iangbell, Posted on June 5, 2016

I spent this weekend with Heather visiting parents, both mine and hers. Despite all the other distractions, Sam the roof dog still needs exercise, so I explored their back gardens.

Right now, you’re thinking “That doesn’t sound like much exercise!”. Back garden can have a somewhat broader meaning.

Congleton Park - Bandstand — Congleton Park – Bandstand

This morning I walked around Heather’s mum and dad’s “extended” back garden. Their house back onto Park Wood, and Congleton Park. Almost immediately next to their house is a well tended path, down through the woods and into the park. And then there is a path all the way around the perimeter of the park. It makes a very pleasant walk, with a bit of cardio exercise at the end, climbing back up though the wood.

I know the woods and the park very well. They have been a part of my life on numerous occasions, often significant occasions. The Park Pavilion hosted a nursery school I attended, or was it an after school club? I learnt to canoe in the River Dane alongside the park. Heather and I agreed that we should get married at some point whilst attending the annual Bonfire and Fireworks in the Park. (What happened to proposals and going down on one knee?). We got married in St Stephens, the church overlooking the park and we concluded our wedding reception at another Bonfire and Fireworks display in the park.

Congleton Park - Formal Gardens — Congleton Park – Formal Gardens

Not only was the path down through the wood well tended, so was the whole park. For quite a few years, it wasn’t looked after. Vandalism, graffiti, litter, they all took their toll. It wasn’t always a pleasant place to be. What a difference today. Clean, no litter, no graffiti. They’ve even got some public art. I hadn’t seen these wooden sculptures before.

20160605_085300_HDR 20160605_085333_HDR

Then this afternoon, it was time to rediscover my parents’ back garden. Their house overlooks Dane-in-Shaw Pasture, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is bounded, on one side, by a tall brick railway viaduct carrying the West Coast Mainline and, on the the other, by a tall embankment carrying the Macclesfield Canal over the valley. In fact the Dane-in-Shaw brook is tunnelled through this embankment. The Shropshire Union has impressive embankments, more often for their length and not for their height. This Macclesfield canal example may be short, but it really is one of the tallest I have seen.

The circular walk following the canal along the embankment, then the Biddulph Valley Way, then descending into the Dane-in-Shaw Pasture, finally returning to the canal, has long been know as the walk in the back garden. So obviously I decided to do the route in reverse. This was mainly because I wanted to see how much water was flowing done the overflow and into the brook. It looks like the spillway on the southern end of the embankment is continuously leaking, despite the water level being below the level at which it should overtop it.

There is a small but constant flow of the type that is only likely to get greater as it erodes more material. The Macc has had some well publicised leakage problems and is currently closed in Bollington because the embankment there sprang a leak. Let’s hope they get this fixed before it gets too serious. I am planning on mooring there for a few days at the end of this trip.

Even during a weekend away from the boat, I get drawn towards the canal.