In some parts of the UK canal network a number of canal’s can be
linked together to make a cruising ring.
These are great ways to have a narrowboat holiday as you never have
to turn round and head back and you see new places everyday. They
are also fabulous places to walk and if you are feeling energetic
you can use them as long distance paths and spend days exploring
them.
The Cheshire Ring is made up of the Trent and Mersey Canal
(Kidsgrove Staffordshire to Preston Brook near Runcorn), the
Bridgewater Canal (Preston Brook to Castlefields Manchester),
Rochdale Canal (Castlefields to Piccadilly basin Manchester city
centre), Ashton Canal (Piccadilly Basin to Portland basin in Ashton
Under Lyne), Peak Forest Canal (Portland basin to Marple near
Stockport) and the Macclesfield Canal. (Marple to Kidsgrove).
It is 97 miles, 93 locks and takes about 55 hours of cruising to
get around. For more information visit:Cheshire Ring
Info )
Don't be Discouraged, Heartbreak hill doesn't refer to steep
climb but is a nickname given to the Cheshire locks by boaters.
Heartbreak hill is a flight of 26 locks spread out over 7 miles
dropping the canal from Harecastle tunnel and the summit of the
canal onto the Cheshire plain
The locks were opened in 1777, but the traffic using the canal got
so great that the canal company appointed the engineer Thomas
Telford to improve the navigation in 1830, an additional tunnel at
Harecastle was built and all the 26 locks of the Cheshire locks
were duplicated except for the two Pierpoint locks, why these 2
were not duplicated is not now known. I assume that the money ran
out.
These are the first locks of Heartbreak hill (and the first
locks as you head south after Crows Nest see …..
Cheshire Ring Series Crows Nest Lock ).
They are also the last of the paired locks as you travel northwards
(however, currently only one of each of the pairs of locks is in
use) .
So whenever we get to this place we are either daunted by the
prospect of working all these locks, or, extremely grateful to have
made it through them all and a well deserved meal at the Old Mill
Restaurant in Wheelock is calling to us. At these locks it used to
be possible with some slick lock working to 'overtake' a slower
boat that had been holding you up on the decent from Red Bull.
The Locks do get very busy at weekends so whilst waiting for a gap
to hunt for the cache indulge in a bit of gongoozling and enjoy the
sound of rushing water as the locks are filled and emptied.