There is only one way to go right now for us, and that’s retracing our steps – literally.
We are currently moored some yards from the junction of the Macclesfield Canal with the Peak Forest Canal having come up the Macc this week. Our aim was to head down the Peak Forest Canal via the Marple Flight onto the Ashton Canal and then nip into Manchester to join the Rochdale – finally!
However, the best laid plans of mice, men and continuous cruisers regularly go awry as Rabbie Burns sagely advised!
If we go up to the junction we can’t turn left there because that leads to the 16 lock Marple Flight. Lock 7 is suffering from subsidence on the lock side and a movement of the wall of the lock chamber so none of us can start the flight from either end.
Steve spoke to an engineer on site this week who has told us that they will have to monitor the lock for some time to evaluate movement. It was an experienced boater whose boat got stuck in the lock, extracted her boat and raised the alarm. Had it been a less experienced boater the situation could have had very serious consequences.
So it looks like the Marple Flight won’t be open for weeks at the very least. Option 1 is to sit here and wait…and wait…and we’ve worked out we’re not brilliant at waiting at someone else’s behest for unidentified periods of time. We can’t wait here indefinitely either. We can get water here but we need to dispose of rubbish and empty the chemical toilet cassettes and we can’t do that here as CRT sold off the former facilities for housing and the new ones aren’t up and running.
There are facilities at Bugsworth Basin if we turned right at the junction but we couldn’t get to them either as there’s a faulty lift bridge along there that can’t be lifted to allow boats through.
The update on that is not looking like a quick fix either. “..we have identified several issues that are making the bridge inoperable. Whilst we continue to liase with out contractors who are making the replacement parts, which has an approximate lead time of 6 weeks…” They are doing a lift of the bridge for an hour or so on a Thursday from next week so we could go to the services eventually but it’s a canal dead end at Bugsworth Basin and Whaley Bridge.
The only realistic option is to turn and go back the way we came, all the way down the Macclesfield Canal (which has been lovely as it always is), back onto the Trent and Mersey.
From there we could go for Option 2 back the way we came, up the Bridgewater into Manchester to the Rochdale but Lock 87 which was the reason for us doing the detour we have is still out of action. A bus lane closure has had to be requested to enable the repairs and it appears that this should be in place on 20 September so somewhere after that date the Rochdale could be accessible. However even if we did get on locks 81 – 65 are out of action because of a problem at lock 77 (see the pattern of the 7s? It was Lock 57 on the Trent and Mersey where we waited earlier in the summer!). Then locks 43 – 41 are out of action because there’s an old mill being demolished which is collapsing into the canal and may result in debris needing to be cleared from the waterway. So the Rochdale isn’t looking brilliant – there’s a fallen tree at 31, but that will probably be sorted relatively quickly, and there’s a paddle not working on lock 11, which should also be easily resolved.
So getting onto and up the Rochdale really looks frustrating from every angle. We’ve been told it’s beautiful which is why we wanted to cruise it en route to Ripon Basin in Yorkshire, the most northerly point on the network but that beauty will still be there next year… or the year after if the Rochdale remains navigable.
What other Options do we have? Well, the whole reason for going up the Rochdale was to get to Yorkshire and there are other ways to do that.
Option 3. Back down the Macc, up the Trent and Mersey, turn onto the Bridgewater, onto the Leeds and Liverpool and head up the Wigan Flight of 23 locks although there seems to be a problem with one of those locks at the moment due to vandalism. There’s a water restriction the entire length of the canal which could create multiple issues and is unlikely to be rapidly resolved.
It is amazing – stuck as we are, we do seem to have multiple options. Option 4 is to go to Yorkshire via the Midlands and strike out in an easterly direction. Down the Macc, along the Trent and Mersey, onto the River Trent, the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, Aire and Calder, Selby Canal, River Ouse and Ure Navigations before heading onto the Ripon Canal. That’s 267 miles 5¼ furlongs and 84 locks which is the least number of locks of any option. As a route it has 23 moveable bridges, just one tunnel (Harecastle aka the Scarecastle which we know well) and includes the excitement of 57 miles ¾ furlongs of tidal waters, some 15 miles 2½ furlongs of commercial waterways, small rivers, large rivers, narrow locks, broad locks, large locks and one major waterway lock.
So Option 4 it is – Yorkshire here we come – via yet another route!
On a more serious note though, the frustrations we have faced this summer with the network in the North West lead us to ask if there is a way continuous cruisers like ourselves can support Canal and River Trust to maintain and repair canals more effectively than they are doing now. We want this historic network to be available to our children, grandchildren and their children to enjoy.
The Trust is a charity. One which is spending significant time and sums publicising the fact that it believes future funding cuts by the government are putting our canals at risk. The funding cuts are in the future and obviously a worry but the situation NOW is also a serious concern, at a time when funding has not been cut, but appears to indicate that the charity is unable to manage the job it has committed to. How those of us who want to help and who use the waterways regularly can help is something that remains to be explored. Currently, we collect rubbish from the waterways as we travel, and we report issues that we experience as soon as we see them (often to be told CRT are already aware of them). This year, we have experienced 5 closures when we have been told by regular users of the stretches where these issues have occurred, that these stemmed from incidents that had been previously reported. Prevention is better than cure, and that means economically – issues that are left, only to be dealt with when a collapse happens, are invariably more expensive, and more time consuming. This is an increasing problem with an ageing, historic network.
How can those of us who care and want to help, support CRT to look after the waterways more effectively? I don’t have an immediate answer, but I do believe that all of us who passionately believe in the value of our waterways need to be involved as part of the solution.
Pickingupducks 