I am Linda and along with my husband Richard and our dog Oreo we enjoy our summers on the UK's canal system

Thursday 8 August 2013

Higher Poynton (Macclesfield Canal) – Wednesday 7th August

We said goodbye to the lovely Peak Forest Canal this morning but we will be back 

The Peak Forest and the Top Marple Lock
 
The entrance to the Macclesfield Canal
We topped up with water at the services and set off along the Macclesfield Canal.  It is very pretty but I don’t think I have ever seen so many moored boats!  I know there are a lot at the bottom of the Oxford Canal and again coming out of Chester but we hardly seemed to be out of tick-over! 

Goyt Mill
We passed Goyt Mill which is looks very impressive.  It seems to still be in good condition and for once, it’s a mill that hasn’t been turned into flats.  It used to spin cotton which was imported through Manchester Docks and taken between the two by canal.  However the British textile industry declined in the sixties as Far Eastern countries offered a more competitive deal.  My late father worked for Horrockses in Preston for a while and I remember going to visit the mill in the sixties – oh dear that makes me sound old L

We passed Lord Vernon’s Wharf which was originally built to serve His Lordship's coal mines in the area and is now occupied by Braidbar Boats.  However there are a lot of long term moorings there which, I suppose, now lay claim to mooring at Lord Vernon’s Wharf.
 
Lord Vernon's Wharf
Just after Bridge 15 we came across a lovely wide expanse of shallow water which Pearson’s think was probably caused by a burst and it was cheaper to pay our compensation to the farmer than to repair the canal.  There is a long length of visitor’s moorings there and we got the last one!

The wide where we are moored
Richard wanted to find the Nelson Pit Visitors Centre which we eventually found behind some public toilets!  Stupidly I hadn’t taken my glasses so could only read the big writing on the information boards!!  I don’t think it really told us anything we didn’t already know though.  From there we walked along the Middlewood Way for a short distance – this is a path for walkers, cyclists and horse riders and follows the line of the former Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple.

Middlewood Way


Somewhere between bridges 20 and 21 to High Poynton
4.95 miles
0 locks

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