intrepid pony: Aching arms and grass stains

Top of the Marple flight drained (2012)

Lottie heading for the foot tunnel under the road

It was a lovely sunny morning. The Captain stopped for water and went for coal at the nearby yard. The guy delivered the bag before the boat had filled with water. Meanwhile Lottie was much admired by passing locals. As always when admired she puts on an ‘I’m adorable’ expression on her face and half closes her eyes appealingly.

View a quarter of the way down the locks

We cruised slowly enjoying warm sunshine without the chilly wind. The views were lovely and constantly changing. All too soon we had to stop for lunch as we didn’t want to get to the Marple flight and have nowhere to moor.

After lunch it was all speed ahead in glorious sunshine – until a passing walker said, "the canal is closed ahead.” We carried on in disbelief as last time we had come up here there was an emergency stoppage preventing us carrying on north. The whole canal was drained while they found and repaired a leak in the canal bed. We walked the locks and took record shots as it was an unusual sight seeing them dry. Afterwards we cruised on to Bugsworth Basin (well worth a visit) and turned around to go home as the basin is at the end of the canal.

opening up

At the Marple flight I found a notice tacked to the top gate. The canal was closed on the Bugsworth stretch so we started locking down. Normally the Captain and I take it in turns to work a flight of locks changing drivers after every two locks. I’m glad of this because I would hate to work that flight alone like some lock slaves do.

looking back at the leaky gate

The locks were heavy! The flight descended 214 feet which is an average of 13.3 feet per lock, far deeper than normal. That meant they had heavy gates and the paddle gear was incredibly stiff. Often I had to put my windlass on the paddle gear with the handle uppermost and jump onto it using all my weight to force it down. Added to this the flight was equipped with anti vandal padlocks so working each lock took longer.

Half way down - arms already aching

After my two locks I handed the long handled windlass over to the Captain and took a short break on the back deck. As he went forward to work the next lock a girl with a dog on a lead asked him a question. Her dog growled at Lottie and she shot sideways tripping the Captain up. He fell down the grassy bank and slithered to the pavement below. Other than wounded pride and grass stains he was unwounded but returned to the boat grumpy.

Lower part of the Marple flight drained (2012)

“Tell me why are we doing this?” he asked. “The Hudderfield narrow canal had better be worth it.”

Lottie had to stay on the lead for the first eight locks due to traffic on the roads and people as the canal passed through Marple. Once we passed the half way point the surroundings became rural with lovely views even though we were descending. She made the most of her freedom exploring both sides of the canal.

not enough water for a rowing boat (2012)

We only met one boat coming up which surprised me as this flight is part of a ring. We are definitely still in the low season. Thankfully nearly all the locks were almost full and quick to get ready for us.

We actually only took three hours to reach the bottom. Quite an achievement considering the heavy locks and having to watch our lurcher .The Captain promptly moored at the bottom of the flight in case there was nowhere nearby to moor. As expected no boats appeared, we were alone with only the occasional rumble from the nearby railway.