Hardings Wood Junction to Oakgrove:- (14 miles and 13 locks):
On June 24th, with Peter & Doreen from Burton Joyce aboard, we approached the unusual junction at Harding's Wood from the south. We made a sharp turn to the left to enter the Macclesfield Canal and then made two sharp turns to the right before crossing over the Trent & Mersey on the Red Bull Aqueduct and heading up one of our favorite waterways.
We stopped of at David Piper's very congested boatyard for a chat and a pump-out and, after giving him a hand to reposition some moored boats, we headed for Little Moreton Hall. It was a beautiful sunny day as we cruised through the very pleasant East Cheshire countryside. We moored by bridge 86 and then took off on a lovely 1 mile walk through fields and over styles to reach the Hall. It is a fabulous16th century moated house and a perfect example of black and white timbered architecture with its carved gables and ornate windows; it also has a good collection of furniture and a small herbal nursery; definitely worth the £2:50 entrance fee.
The "Macc" is quite shallow in parts and finding a good mooring can be a bit of a challenge so we decided to head on into the market town of Congleton. On entering, there is a beautifully symmetrical roving bridge, or "snake bridge" as they are know locally. However, for us, the perfect setting was tainted by some teenagers sitting on the bridge throwing rocks at passing boats. As we emerged, a couple of stones hit our roof; I handed the tiller over to Pat, jumped onto the towpath and ran up on the bridge to confront the "morons". With our mooring chain delicately draped around my neck I persuaded them to take up another hobby..... I should add that we had very few such incidents during our travels. We found an excellent mooring on the embankment just north of town and had a great view across the Dane Valley. Not far away was an elegant railway viaduct and, in the opposite direction, the local landmark known as "The Cloud"; a 1,000 ft hill. We went for a pleasant walk in the evening but did not get as far as "The Cloud" to check out the remains of the ancient earthworks.
We were up and away early for another great day of cruising and a little bit of exercise as we locked up the picturesque and unique Bosley Locks. These 12 closely grouped narrow locks raise the canal 118 feet in a distance of one mile and have the unusual feature of a pair of mitered top gates instead of just a single one. The canal was surprising uncrowded as we poodled along towards Oakgrove with "The Cloud" watching over us. In the evening we had a nice meal and some Higsons ale at the "Fools Nook"; we then bid Peter & Doreen good-bye and said hello, once again, to Olive & Len from Kent. We had another "interesting" experience that evening. A fellow boater knocked on the cabin and asked if I knew how to operate the Royal Oak swing bridge; using his BW key, he had opened the bridge but couldn't get it to close completely. With the number of irate motorists increasing by the minute, I and others tried in vain to resolve the problem; every new expert that arrived on the scene told us, erroneously, that all we had to do was re-open it and then it would close properly. Just as we were about to give up and call British Waterways I decided to try a new approach. With my trusty mallet in hand I gave the bridge a mighty wallop, it gracefully went into the closed position and the boater was able to remove his BW key.