Poynton to Furness Vale (almost) 8.1 miles, 3 movable bridges After 3 days aground with our granddaughter she was safely returned to Techno Son-in-Law and Cheshire Mum. Should we stay in our stationary home for the rest of the Easter break or escape once again into the hills of Derbyshire? It was a very easy decision! Back up the M1 and M6, cast off for Marple and the Upper Peak Forest Canal – a weekend in Bugsworth Basin is so much...

Gurnett Aqueduct to Victoria  Pit Moorings: 8.8 miles            “That’s it,” proclaimed the Captain as, at 1440 today, Cleddau drew onto her home mooring. It was a graceful mooring up, there was no wind to create havoc, no boat on the towpath opposite to narrow the turning space – and no Halcyon Dawnon the neighbouring pontoon to avoid. Neither was there any audience, so no applause …            It’s obvious, but it has to be stated: there were so many...

Bosley Bottom Lock to Gurnett Aqueduct: 6.1 miles, 12 locks, 2 swing bridges            The sun was shining weakly on the iced waters of the canal this morning.  A delay for a couple of domestic tasks allowed two boats to pass and to do some useful ice-breaking….  Nb Misty Waters and Cleddau have been leap-frogging each other for days but the other boat was unknown. When later at Lock 6 there was a conversation with its crew Boatwif gleaned that these...

Ramsdell Hall Railings to Bosley Locks:  6.5 miles. Might as well delay the Bosley Locks until the winds have dropped and the temperature improved. Such was the thinking behind this morning’s decision not to cruise on immediately but to walk across the fields to Little Moreton Hall. According to the notice it is about a mile.  That’s a mile there, a mile back – easy.  About half way there, just past the partly frozen pond, the Captain quizzed Boatwif: “You...

Rode Heath to Ramsdell Hall: 6.44 miles, 13 locks            Thursday – wind was forecast; wind there was. By the time this afternoon’s mooring was reached the wind was gusting up to 22 mph…             However much Cleddau’s overall appearance was improved by her 2009 repaint her slab-sided profile remains. Cross winds can make her sulk, to become stubborn and to refuse to move over into deep water. Try leaving a lock on an exposed part of the Trent and...

Church Lawton to Rode Heath 3.5 miles,10 locks            A cold night – a blue morning.          No need to hurry off, not planning to go very far… So, after several more old working boats had chugged past, returning from the Ellesmere Port Easter Boat Gathering, Cleddau was made ready to set off: TV mast and phone aerial dismantled, washing machine in action, side hatch closed and a second coat of blue paint on the repaired bollard. Extra clothing...

Ramsdell Hall (Macc) to Church Lawton (Trent & Mersey): 5 miles, 7 locks Bored of reading about snow sightings (several today) and biting winds (a fair amount)? Today’s update will make no further reference to either topic…      What would the day bring? How far would Cleddau cruise? Much seemed to depend on how to solve a new problem… On return from Seyella yesterday something looked odd. There had been various boat movements during the afternoon and one can understand that boaters...

Below Bosley Locks to Ramsdell Hall, 6.5 miles Where was the sun this morning? It was promised by the BBC Weather Service but didn’t deign to make an appearance until the three hour cruise was nearly over…            The canal between Bosley and Congleton is mainly sheltered but, as it creeps along, the huge hulk of the Cloud is still in view.         About a mile along the canal old farm buildings have been redeveloped into modern accommodation over recent years;...

Macclesfield to below Bosley Locks, 6.1 miles and 12 locks.        Ice surrounded the boat again this morning. It was still and calm with few people about as Boatwif trotted down Buxton Road to an early morning Easter service at St Paul’s Church. Two mini eggs and the Parish News the heavier Boatwif returned to find the Captain ready for action:          “A hire boat’s just been through, it’s cut us a route through the ice,” he proclaimed. A cup...

       There was a sense of being in foreign parts today. A landscape and canal route usually familiar looked strangely different…          It had been a quiet night, high on the aqueduct above Bollington. There is no traffic noise here and the few ducks about were too hungry to make a racket, unlike the Canada geese at Poynton on Thursday night.  Then there had been frequent outbreaks of goose gabble after dark: “It’s well after lights out in the dorm,”...