Great Haywood to Liverpool / Rufford

[bmp]

With the Bridgewater Canal being closed and other closures that I have read about, is there any way to get from the Great Haywood area up to the Leeds Liverpool Canal near the Rufford branch?

I can plot the route on the CanalPlanAC website but can’t see how I check for closures on there. 
 

thanks for any help..

 

[dmr]

The only route that is (possibly) open is the River Trent, so that would involve all of the Leeds and Liverpool which is high risk. The Macc repairs look to be going well so there is a fair chance that that will be open by the end of this month. So up the T&M, up the Macc, down the lower Peak Forest and Ashton into Manchester, down the Rochdale 9 and turn right onto the working bit of the Bridgewater up to Wigan. Mostly quite a nice trip.

[bmp]

Thanks.  
The river Trent option is not one I want to do 😬

 

Probably be easier and quicker to get it lifted out and moved by lorry😳 ……. Might look for prices on that now instead 👍🏻

[J R ALSOP]

don't forget Chester - Ellesmere Port - Ship Canal - Pomona Lock onto Bridgewater then on to Wigan, cheaper than craneage.

[bmp]

Thanks… I will look into this one - I forgot about that route.  I think I have seen a few people on YouTube do this route too 👍🏻

[ditchcrawler]

33 minutes ago, J R ALSOP said:

don't forget Chester - Ellesmere Port - Ship Canal - Pomona Lock onto Bridgewater then on to Wigan, cheaper than craneage.

Note that the ship canal days for narrowboat transits are now limited , not sure where you will find the details 

[haggis]

3 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Note that the ship canal days for narrowboat transits are now limited , not sure where you will find the details 

I think the MSC details are now shown where you can book passage through Harecastle etc. 

[Alway Swilby]

3 hours ago, haggis said:

I think the MSC details are now shown where you can book passage through Harecastle etc. 

Only from Ellesmere Port to Marsh Lock on the Weaver. Not on to Pomona Lock in Manchester. And it's only for the locks at Ellesmere Port and Marsh Lock not the passage on the MSC itself. You still need to book with the MSC directly. 

Edited June 9 by Alway Swilby

[bmp]

1 hour ago, Alway Swilby said:

Only from Ellesmere Port to Marsh Lock on the Weaver. Not on to Pomona Lock in Manchester. And it's only for the locks at Ellesmere Port and Marsh Lock not the passage on the MSC itself. You still need to book with the MSC directly. 

Thanks for that. I looked on the CRT booking website for info but couldn’t find what I needed…. It didn’t help that I am not yet sure of that route  - need to do a bit more reading up on it. Hopefully the breach on the Macc will be fixed quickly as that would be my preferred route and I wasn’t planning on moving until July / August anyway. 

Edited June 9 by bmp

[nealeST]

1 hour ago, bmp said:

wasn’t planning on moving until July / August anyway

I’m banking on doing the same trip at roughly the same time frame. The Macclesfield canal will be busy I think. The route suggested here via Chester up the MSC and onwards is potentially a brilliant plan B. Well worth the money to solve a very tricky problem. 

[Grassman]

 

How about Ellesmere Port to Eastham then the Mersey down to Liverpool and the short stretch of the Leeds & Liverpool to the Rufford Branch? The cost would be similar but surely it would be much quicker than doing the Trent, the Yorkshire Navigations and most of the length of the L&L from the eastern direction.

 

It would be a cheaper fee on the MSC because you're only doing 2 miles of it (saving about £200), however the combined locking fees of Eastham and Brunswick would be more than the cost of locking up Pamona, and you'd need a pilot for the Mersey part.

 

The OP didn't fancy the River Trent, but I found the MSC and Mersey to be much easier than the Trent.

[bmp]

11 hours ago, nealeST said:

I’m banking on doing the same trip at roughly the same time frame. The Macclesfield canal will be busy I think. The route suggested here via Chester up the MSC and onwards is potentially a brilliant plan B. Well worth the money to solve a very tricky problem. 

Yes - I agree …. This will be a good backup plan but hopefully the Macclesfield option will be available again soon.

2 hours ago, Grassman said:

 

How about Ellesmere Port to Eastham then the Mersey down to Liverpool and the short stretch of the Leeds & Liverpool to the Rufford Branch? The cost would be similar but surely it would be much quicker than doing the Trent, the Yorkshire Navigations and most of the length of the L&L from the eastern direction.

 

It would be a cheaper fee on the MSC because you're only doing 2 miles of it (saving about £200), however the combined locking fees of Eastham and Brunswick would be more than the cost of locking up Pamona, and you'd need a pilot for the Mersey part.

 

The OP didn't fancy the River Trent, but I found the MSC and Mersey to be much easier than the Trent.

I think the MSC canal will still be a bit daunting for me but I really don’t fancy the Trent or the Mersey 😬… On the back of a lorry will probably be the option before the 2 rivers 😬

 

[Neil TNC]

To do MSC from Ellesmere Port to Pomona, all the details are here in the MSC Induction Pack

The recommended surveyors for your Certificate Of Seaworthiness are Mike Carter and John Pope, both difficult to pin down, we used Mike, 75 quid. New notice to Mariners from MSC, they are only allowing Up passages on Thursdays and Down passages on Tuesdays, both start at 08.00. You will have to book CaRT and Council separately to get out of Ellesmere Port, though Whitby Lock and overbridge. 6The Bridgewater Dept most difficult to deal with, best by email, they will want to see copy of your BSS and insurance, allow a week to deal with them. They will Lock you up on the Friday at 08.00, so you will have to overnight at Salford Quays. Cost for Pomona is still 30 quid.

mli01-pleasure-craft-induction-pack-2025.pdf

[ditchcrawler]

5 minutes ago, Neil TNC said:

To do MSC from Ellesmere Port to Pomona, all the details are here in the MSC Induction Pack

The recommended surveyors for your Certificate Of Seaworthiness are Mike Carter and John Pope, both difficult to pin down, we used Mike, 75 quid. New notice to Mariners from MSC, they are only allowing Up passages on Thursdays and Down passages on Tuesdays, both start at 08.00. You will have to book CaRT and Council separately to get out of Ellesmere Port, though Whitby Lock and overbridge. 6The Bridgewater Dept most difficult to deal with, best by email, they will want to see copy of your BSS and insurance, allow a week to deal with them. They will Lock you up on the Friday at 08.00, so you will have to overnight at Salford Quays. Cost for Pomona is still 30 quid.

mli01-pleasure-craft-induction-pack-2025.pdf 1.55 MB · 0 downloads

That is what I was referring to, Thanks Neil 

[bmp]

1 hour ago, Neil TNC said:

To do MSC from Ellesmere Port to Pomona, all the details are here in the MSC Induction Pack

The recommended surveyors for your Certificate Of Seaworthiness are Mike Carter and John Pope, both difficult to pin down, we used Mike, 75 quid. New notice to Mariners from MSC, they are only allowing Up passages on Thursdays and Down passages on Tuesdays, both start at 08.00. You will have to book CaRT and Council separately to get out of Ellesmere Port, though Whitby Lock and overbridge. 6The Bridgewater Dept most difficult to deal with, best by email, they will want to see copy of your BSS and insurance, allow a week to deal with them. They will Lock you up on the Friday at 08.00, so you will have to overnight at Salford Quays. Cost for Pomona is still 30 quid.

mli01-pleasure-craft-induction-pack-2025.pdf 1.55 MB · 0 downloads

Thanks Neil….. this is exactly what I need👍🏻