We’re heading south!

Even though we moved onto the boat in January, we haven’t been able to leave the area of our home town. Our family is our core, the centre of the web, and the greatest of plans must be put on hold to spend time with the people we love.
The house still hasn’t sold! The weather is still too cold to fix the paint on the roof of the boat, so the solar panels are still wrapped up in their box in the saloon. Despite all of this we are finally upping-sticks (or mooring ropes) and heading south without a return route planned (except back on a train to see Grandma!).

So today we headed out of Congleton, down the Macclesfield Canal, topping up with water at Hassall Green Stop Lock.

A “Stop Lock” is a shallow lock that protects the loss of water from the end of one canal as it joins onto a new canal, which in this case, is the Trent and Mersey Canal close to Kidsgrove. The original canal companies were very competitive and charged tolls for boats to pass. Water was often limited especially in the summer months and shallow canals made passage impossible with the deep drafted hulls of barges.

There are a lot of features along the canals which relate to managing the water levels. On embankments, you can often spot gaps in the hedges and fences with steps running down the steep slopes to culverts and run-offs. The steps are access points for the Canal River Trust to inspect the structures. This little dell has a flush of green and in a few weeks will be a sea of bluebells.