Caldon Canal & Leek Arm

Written Tuesday but unable to post due to being in another universe...

Yesterday (Monday) saw us travel through Harecastle Tunnel and Stoke to join the Caldon Canal. A damp start, but the day improved as it went on weather wise. If anyone ever asks us about the Caldon, we always reply that the further you go, the better it gets. It's 3 years since we were last up here and there has certainly been a lot of building and re-generation taking place in that time as you leave Stoke. We eventually moored up above Engine Lock for the night. The weather forecast for Tuesday was for torrential rain overnight and into the morning, so we were thanking our lucky stars we weren't on a river. 

Monday evening - water level normal under pontoon

What a surprise then when we woke this morning to find ourselves listing. We were woken in the night by very heavy rain, but as it turned out, the water level had risen about a foot !!! The piling had disappeared and the water almost up to the towpath. Now on a river I wouldn't dream of mooring with really tight lines, but on a canal I like the ropes quite tight to avoid too much movement from passing boats. Other boats in the pound suffered the same experience... you never stop learning.

Tuesday morning  - check the difference compared to the pontoon above !!

BW (sorry...CaRT) were actually down at Engine Lock running water through the lock to prevent flooding. They seemed quite concerned about the state of the levels. Needless to say the River Churnet is well in flood as are surrounding fields. 

This afternoon we went onto virgin territory for us and travelled the length of the Leek Arm. Only a couple of miles, but a lovely stretch of water and we are glad we did it. We managed to get a mooring on the Hazelhurst Aqueduct and have had a lovely meal in the Holly Bush at Denford. We got a really close up view of the water levels in Endon Brook behind the pub which was almost to the top of the bridge... quite frightening.

Leek Tunnel

Leek Arm

Leek Arm

A lovely canal side property

Endon Brook at Denford

In view of the forecast and the fact that we've quite simply had enough of this dreadful weather, we are thinking it's pointless doing the run down through Cheddleton tomorrow and are going to head back to base a bit earlier than planned.

Stoke and Macclesfield.

Yesterday we travelled up into Stoke on Trent which we have to say is not our favourite stretch of water. It seems to drag on forever and the locks are deep and heavy, but on the plus side, it was noticeable that there was far less rubbish in the canal than in previous years.

The tortoise and the hare

We had a brief wait at Harecastle Tunnel for one oncoming boat to emerge, and then we entered as the second of just two boats travelling north. We had been lucky with the weather until now, but the tunnel was very wet and we emerged some 40 minutes or so later into rain - we'd have been better off underground !!

Southern portal

We made the sharp turn at Hardings Wood Junction onto The Macclesfield and negotiated the stoplock at Hall Green. The rain was heavy now and so we decided to moor just beyond the lock for the night. The rain subsided briefly during the evening for some dog walking and fishing, which was very successful. A bite a cast with lots of skimmer bream, roach and perch, the biggest being a good two pounds plus which got the pole elastic stretching well.

Overnight mooring at Hall Green

We left quite early this morning as the weather forecast was for rain around lunchtime... will it ever end ?? Our neighbours were very keen as they headed off towards Stoke at 6.30, but even that was far too early for us. It is so quiet on 'The Macc' and even when we stopped briefly for a coffee at lunchtime just at the bottom of Bosley Locks, which is such a prime mooring site, there was only one other boat. We could see rain over the hills, but it seemed to be skirting us nicely, and so we decided to ascend the locks. We only saw two boats coming down the flight, the second of which was nb Moon Shadow, an almost identical boat to Blue Moon. We chatted with the owner about all things Aqualine - toilet seals, window seals and batteries to name a few !! The rain was still evident in the distance, but the gods were truly on our side today as we stayed dry all the way to the top. The views on the flight are spectacular and make the locks such a pleasant experience. We also watched a pair of yellowhammers and spotted reed buntings too.

Bosley Locks

We continued on making the most of the fine weather and had a run up to Gurnett Aqueduct at Macclesfield. Let's hope for the same luck with the weather tomorrow and that Murray gets knocked out of Wimbledon. Either one will do !!