The Great Escape!

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!

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!