Monthly Archive: October 2016

Chance has allowed a couple of North Cheshire Away Days. The Cheshire One had spent part of half term down in Bedfordshire.  Mid-week a Virgin train whizzed her and Boatwif back to Macclesfield from Milton Keynes. The Captain drove up later and tackled the top Must Do Cleddau job, a boat wash. A germ of an idea had formed in Boatwif’s mind: perhaps just a gentle little cruise, just to Marple, only about 90 minutes further north, then a walk...

Cleddau has cruised “home” northbound along the Macclesfield Canal, a very familiar route. High above Scholar Green (love that name!) is the ragged shape of the Mow Cop folly;    while across the fields from Ramsdell Hall      is Little Moreton Hall. Who would be weary of seeing again this charming crooked structure?   Tied up beside the Ramsdell Hall Railings     on Thursday temptation grew. It was a dry day, the winds had dropped, and tantalisingly Little Moreton Hall was...

After an emergency closure of the navigation on the Middlewich Arm Cleddau had returned southwards to Nantwich to await further news… Canal and River Trust was due to publish an update about the stoppage on Monday morning. When late on Saturday night a check on the website revealed that the closed area would reopen at 10am on SUNDAY morning it was time to formulate a new plan. The boat needed to be turned round to face north again, (a slow...

Back to the Macc… It’s a simple route really: take a left out of Overwater Marina,      go about 5 miles northbound to Barbridge Junction,     take a right across the Middlewich Arm to Middlewich, then a right uphill, up the Trent and Mersey to Hardings Wood Junction, then a left back onto the Macclesfield Canal… Was the Cleddau crew really ready to go straight back to the Macc – well, not quite. There was a pause overnight...