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Earliest and latest entry times for Harecastle tunnel


Philip

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I'm planning a trip from Barbridge to Shardlow and return in a couple of weeks, taking the T&M route both ways for a change (normally take the Shroppie for anything towards the Midlands!). Thinking of taking 9 full days as well as the first afternoon, so a straightforward plod down the branch to Middlewich for this. My main query relates to Harecastle tunnel; are there set times and deadlines both for north and south travel? In particular, would I be able to make the northbound passage no later than 08:00 on a Sunday morning? And roughly when is the last northbound passage in the afternoon? It's not vital, would just be useful to know for the itinerary. Also, is Red Bull to Great Haywood doable in a day, providing I'm away fairly sharpish?

 

It'll be a first trip through the tunnel on my Norman and the windscreen will be removed for it so neither height or width will be a problem, but still a tad apprehensive about taking her though!

Edited by Philip
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From the CRT site 

 

Every day from 2nd March – 23th May, the tunnel will be open for passage (no booking needed) from 08.00 – 17.00. Last arrival time for guaranteed passage through the tunnel will be at 15.00.

Every day from 24th May – 31st August, the tunnel will be open daily for passage (no booking needed) from 08.00 – 18.00. Last arrival time for guaranteed passage through the tunnel will be at 16.00.

Every day from 1st September – 31st October, the tunnel will be open for passage (no booking needed) from 08.00 – 17.00. Last arrival time for guaranteed passage through the tunnel will be at 15.00.

 

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You're looking at around 11 hours of actual travelling from Red Bull to Gt Haywood, plus the possibility of having to wait up to an hour if the first boat through the tunnel is northbound, plus any other delays due to traffic. So yes it may be possible in a day but you may equally be overtaken by the darkness before you get there.

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Thanks all for the help and information. I'm planning on setting off from Middlewich on the first full day, so no chance of reaching the tunnel before 3pm and even 5pm is probably out of the question. I'm considering doing all the locks in the afternoon and mooring just a bit up the Macclesfield, around where it crosses the T&M (she'll turn anywhere!) - is it secure enough mooring there?

 

Getting to Great Haywood for the following evening isn't vital anyway; Sandon or Weston will do fine, as the plan for the day after is to stop at Barton or Branston, where the Italian is.

Edited by Philip
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23 minutes ago, Philip said:

Thanks all for the help and information. I'm planning on setting off from Middlewich on the first full day, so no chance of reaching the tunnel before 3pm and even 5pm is probably out of the question. I'm considering doing all the locks in the afternoon and mooring just a bit up the Macclesfield, around where it crosses the T&M (she'll turn anywhere!) - is it secure enough mooring there?

 

Yes mooring rings just after the aqueduct 

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There's a boat layby on the Macc just round the corner from the Red Bull boatyard.  It's perfectly safe, the only downside is you sometimes get a whiff from the sewage plant next to it. The further you can get from the corner before the aquaduct the less pong, except then you get the noise from the water going over the weir...

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50 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Often, 8am is when the tunnel bods start work and sometimes they have stuff to do in the tunnel before they let you in. There are good moorings at the south end, but the north end can be dodgy at night.. 

The Tunnel 'keepers' told us not to moor on the North side as the local yobs are slowly dismantling the bridge, one brick at a time and hurling them at boats either passing below, or moored up for the night.

They are well past the big-capping stones now so its not so bad with just normal sized bricks.

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Last time I went that way overnighted at Red Bull and got to the tunnel first thing only to be held up as somebody had dumped a car in the tunnel mouth and the police needed to check there weren't bodies in it before letting CRT drag it to the edge to make enough room to enter the tunnel.

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18 hours ago, Philip said:

I'm planning a trip from Barbridge to Shardlow and return in a couple of weeks, taking the T&M route both ways for a change (normally take the Shroppie for anything towards the Midlands!). Thinking of taking 9 full days as well as the first afternoon, so a straightforward plod down the branch to Middlewich for this. My main query relates to Harecastle tunnel; are there set times and deadlines both for north and south travel? In particular, would I be able to make the northbound passage no later than 08:00 on a Sunday morning? And roughly when is the last northbound passage in the afternoon? It's not vital, would just be useful to know for the itinerary. Also, is Red Bull to Great Haywood doable in a day, providing I'm away fairly sharpish?

 

It'll be a first trip through the tunnel on my Norman and the windscreen will be removed for it so neither height or width will be a problem, but still a tad apprehensive about taking her though!

 

Personally I like Harecastle tunnel far more than other tunnels, especially those horrible ones down Braunston and Blisworth way. There's two CRT bods that know you are in there and keep a lookout for you. If you don't turn up at the other end they'll come looking for you and best of all you can guarantee there is nothing coming the other way. Yes it gets a tad low in the middle but nothing to worry about.

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We've moored on the Macclesfield just round the corner from the junction (behind the Blue Bell, for obvious reasons...) a couple of times with no problem, and are planning to do the same later this year. No mooring rings but you can get in to the bank no problem -- or could a few years ago...

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27 minutes ago, Alway Swilby said:

 

Personally I like Harecastle tunnel far more than other tunnels, especially those horrible ones down Braunston and Blisworth way. There's two CRT bods that know you are in there and keep a lookout for you. If you don't turn up at the other end they'll come looking for you and best of all you can guarantee there is nothing coming the other way. Yes it gets a tad low in the middle but nothing to worry about.

Are you sure about that? The instructions you get before entering the tunnel tell you what to do in an emergency and that the tunnel keeper will respond by also blasting his horn. However, I understand that when that happens, the tunnel keeper has to summon two C&RT folk to take the tug into the tunnel to rescue you and we have been told that the folk could be anything from 5 minutes to an hour away. When we had a fire in the engine area last year, we followed the correct procedure and after putting the (small) fire out with extinguishers, we started trying to propel the boat forward by pushing off the tunnel walls. We were very glad when another boat came behind us and pushed us out. When we emerged, the guys were just getting the tunnel boat ready to come and rescue us. Neither of us checked how long it was between the emergency procedure and us getting out of the tunnel but it was probably about an hour . We were the first (and only) boat going north at 8am and it was after 10 when I called RCR after we moored up. So yes, they come and rescue you but not immediately. 

 

haggis

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30 minutes ago, haggis said:

Are you sure about that? The instructions you get before entering the tunnel tell you what to do in an emergency and that the tunnel keeper will respond by also blasting his horn. However, I understand that when that happens, the tunnel keeper has to summon two C&RT folk to take the tug into the tunnel to rescue you and we have been told that the folk could be anything from 5 minutes to an hour away. When we had a fire in the engine area last year, we followed the correct procedure and after putting the (small) fire out with extinguishers, we started trying to propel the boat forward by pushing off the tunnel walls. We were very glad when another boat came behind us and pushed us out. When we emerged, the guys were just getting the tunnel boat ready to come and rescue us. Neither of us checked how long it was between the emergency procedure and us getting out of the tunnel but it was probably about an hour . We were the first (and only) boat going north at 8am and it was after 10 when I called RCR after we moored up. So yes, they come and rescue you but not immediately. 

 

haggis

Its still better than Gostyhill, you could be in there for days. We always give friends a ring in Horn Basin and tell them we are coming before entering

 

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7 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Its still better than Gostyhill, you could be in there for days. We always give friends a ring in Horn Basin and tell them we are coming before entering

 

Didn't someone get stuck in there recently due to a big log wedged between them and the tunnel wall? They were there overnight. By chance another boat came along the next morning and discovered them.

Edited by Alway Swilby
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16 minutes ago, Alway Swilby said:

Didn't someone get stuck in there recently due to a big log wedged between them and the tunnel wall? They were there overnight. By chance another boat came along the next morning and discovered them.

That is Why I tell someone

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On 10/04/2019 at 10:05, IanD said:

We've moored on the Macclesfield just round the corner from the junction (behind the Blue Bell, for obvious reasons...) a couple of times with no problem, and are planning to do the same later this year. No mooring rings but you can get in to the bank no problem -- or could a few years ago...

Does anyone have a view on whether mooring here is still OK or not?

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I moored just north of the aquaduct on the Macc recently. Had to leave the boat there for 2 weeks due to being iced in and only able to get to the boat at weekends. It was fine although I did take poles etc off the roof. Good meal in the Red Bull as well. The guy at the Harecastle was really helpful. He phoned me the day before I was booked (winter rules) to see if I was still making the journey due to the ice forecast and he told me if I needed to leave it until the morning to decide to go through the tunnel give him a ring and he will arrange for someone to meet me

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Mooring anywhere at the southern end of the Macc is OK as is mooring above the Red Bull pub on the towpath. 

 

The last time I had a conversation with the tunnel keeper they told me there hadn't been any trouble at the northern portal for quite some time. Hire boaters moor outside the portal because they haven't heard the stories. It's ancient history, rather like the Ashton canal's reputation. 

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10 hours ago, Cheshire cat said:

Mooring anywhere at the southern end of the Macc is OK as is mooring above the Red Bull pub on the towpath. 

 

The last time I had a conversation with the tunnel keeper they told me there hadn't been any trouble at the northern portal for quite some time. Hire boaters moor outside the portal because they haven't heard the stories. It's ancient history, rather like the Ashton canal's reputation. 

I much prefer the Blue Bell (and the lack of sewage works pong) to the Red Bull, hence the question about mooring behind it. Sounds like the brick-flinging yoof risk might not be so high after all...

Edited by IanD
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I notice no one has suggested mooring below lock 43, on the pound where the yard/service station is. I'd prefer to be a bit closer to the tunnel the night before, but as a fall-back are these moorings also adequate?

 

And for anyone in the know regarding the T&M locks; a couple of years ago Kings lock caught me out after opening the ground paddles fully/too quickly and the pull managed to untie the rope from the bollard and no need to explain what happened next... I know all the locks along here need a little more respect with this, compared to the narrow Shroppie locks, but are there any which are particularly fierce?

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I did suggest you moor above lock 42 where there is a long run of mooring rings quite early on in this thread, that would leave you one lock before the tunnel in the morning.

 

 

map from Waterways Routes, M is moorings with rings, piling etc. m is good moorings requiring pins   https://www.waterwayroutes.co.uk/wr/index.html

Waterways Routes.JPG

Edited by ditchcrawler
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10 minutes ago, Philip said:

I notice no one has suggested mooring below lock 43, on the pound where the yard/service station is. I'd prefer to be a bit closer to the tunnel the night before, but as a fall-back are these moorings also adequate?

 

And for anyone in the know regarding the T&M locks; a couple of years ago Kings lock caught me out after opening the ground paddles fully/too quickly and the pull managed to untie the rope from the bollard and no need to explain what happened next... I know all the locks along here need a little more respect with this, compared to the narrow Shroppie locks, but are there any which are particularly fierce?

That was where I meant when I referred to mooring at Red Bull, I meant the Red Bull CRT services.  This was where I moored last time I came through.

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