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Wintering on the Macc/Upper Peak Forest


Mac of Cygnet

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As it is looking increasingly likely that the Marple Locks closure will prevent me from getting back to my mooring at Sowerby Bridge, I'm starting to think about leaving the boat here for the winter.   Of course I will be exploring the obvious possibilities in person on the boat, but if anyone knows of anything I might miss, I'd be grateful. 

Essentially, I would like to leave the boat reasonably safe from December to February somewhere within a reasonable distance (a mile?) of public transport.  Cygnet doesn't take up much space, being a 27ft narrowboat.

Any suggestions or info welcome.

Thanks

Mac

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10 minutes ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

Any suggestions or info welcome.

Assuming your home mooring is 'already paid for' and another mooring will cost 'extra', have you considered moving by road ?

Being so small, probably, a truck with a Hiab could lift you out, take you 'home' and drop you back in for (probably) a lower cost that paying for 3 or 4 months mooring where you don't want to be.

You would also have the advantage of being in 'open' water and being able to go cruising should you so wish.

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12 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Assuming your home mooring is 'already paid for' and another mooring will cost 'extra', have you considered moving by road ?

Being so small, probably, a truck with a Hiab could lift you out, take you 'home' and drop you back in for (probably) a lower cost that paying for 3 or 4 months mooring where you don't want to be.

You would also have the advantage of being in 'open' water and being able to go cruising should you so wish.

I think that would be an extreme solution!  I didn't say I didn't want to be here - the Macc is one of my favourite canals, and a change of winter scene is not unwelcome.

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2 hours ago, Señor Chris said:

I'd go for a winter mooring at Furness Vale (Carr swing bridge) at ~£80/month for your boat. Pleasant and safe spot, half mile to train station and handy for Whaley (Goyt Inn) and New Mills (new-ish micro-pub in the town and the Beehive near the canal).

You obviously have my priorities sussed!  Yes, that winter mooring is on my list despite being 70% more expensive than my Sowerby Bridge mooring just for a bit of towpath.   I've just started a leisurely traverse of the Macc & Peak Forest looking at possibilities.  Thanks.

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10 hours ago, Dr Bradley said:

Is there an update on the Marple Flight. Last I heard they hoped to reopen with restricted width. I'm still aiming to pass Standedge by 3ed of November, Currently on the Thames heading for Oxford.

Wow! It's a long time since we heard from you, Colin.  Welcome back!  The latest we have on the Marple stoppage is that an update will be issued 'early next week'.  Not holding my breath, though.

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2 hours ago, Dr Bradley said:

If it's not going to open I'll have to head for the Rochdale, but as a lock is closed at Red Bull it probably means doing the Shroppie which is somewhat longer.

Last time we heard from the good Dr B were you not heading for lumpy waters? 

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I got the wrong lock. AC canal plan thinks yew tree lock is lock 44 at red bull. Sorry about the type face.

Important repairs begin to historic lock on Trent & Mersey Canal

We are carrying out repairs to Lock 44, Yew Tree Lock on the Trent & Mersey Canal in Stoke.

33789.jpg?v=b34609Trent & Mersey Lock 44 new gate

Our skilled workmen and engineers will be removing the old lock gates by a crane before new ones are fitted, as well as repointing and replacing missing brickwork from the lock chamber. The work is costing around £30,000 and will be completed in five weeks.

David Baldacchino, from the Trust, said: "The Trent & Mersey Canal is such an important part of the region’s heritage so the work we’re doing will ensure boaters can continue to use this popular waterway. It’s vital that we keep the canal in good working order for the local people who use it to walk to school and work or as a place to get away from it all."

The Trent & Mersey Canal runs for 93 miles from the Bridgewater Canal at Preston Brook to Shardlow and the River Trent and includes the towering Anderton Boat Lift, Stoke-on-Trent’s famous potteries and the nature reserve at picturesque Fradley Junction.

The new lock gates are hand-crafted using traditional methods in the Trust’s specialist workshops at Bradley in the West Midlands and Stanley Ferry in Yorkshire. A single lock gate can take up to 20 days to make and has a working life of between 25 and 30 years. In order to be watertight, they need to be built very precisely, fitting tightly to the masonry of the lock walls and to each other.

 
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On ‎23‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 11:00, Señor Chris said:

I'd go for a winter mooring at Furness Vale (Carr swing bridge) at ~£80/month for your boat. Pleasant and safe spot, half mile to train station and handy for Whaley (Goyt Inn) and New Mills (new-ish micro-pub in the town and the Beehive near the canal).

We were frozen in for ~ 6 weeks at Furness Vale early in 2010, friendliest place I've ever been.

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On 24/09/2017 at 22:14, Dr Bradley said:

Thought it was odd, issued as a press release but not a restriction notice. All is now clear. Just have to hope marple is sorted as I really don't want to do the Rochdale yet again.

From the latest CRT notice, I can't see Marple reopening before the main stoppages get going, it doesn't sound good at all.

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16 hours ago, Cheshire cat said:

Someone needs to educate C&RT. Lock 44 isn't in Stoke by any stretch of the imagination

I think it's at Red Bull, not far from Stoke Station and just north of the Harecastle.  Must admit I always think of that bit as in Stoke.  It's where I got my ropes cut a few years back, which is fairly Stoke-like behaviour...

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22 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I think it's at Red Bull, not far from Stoke Station and just north of the Harecastle.  Must admit I always think of that bit as in Stoke.  It's where I got my ropes cut a few years back, which is fairly Stoke-like behaviour...

I think that "Not far from Stoke Station" is pushing it a little!

Stoke Top Lock at Etruria is 40

The Top (paired) lock at Hardings Wood is 41, and is close to Kidsgrove Station (Kidsgrove is in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme)

The Lock outside the Red Bull pub is 43

So, Lock 44 is the paired locks at the bottom of the pound with the CRT Red Bull offices.

So far as I can tell, the boundary between Staffordshire and Cheshire in this area follows the offside bank of the Macclesfield canal, so locks 41 and 42 are in Kidsgrove, but 43, 44 etc are in Church Lawton, Cheshire.

 

So....

 

Lock 44 is in Cheshire, but the area does have an ST postcode.

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5 hours ago, Dr Bradley said:

If you want to get back we could team up to do the Rochdale, but it will be a while before i'm in the north.

I'm not that desperate.  Absolutely no reflection on you!   I have no intention of going back by the Rochdale.   And I'm rather looking forward to wintering on the Macc, once I can get some moorings sorted out.  I haven't given up on Sowerby Bridge, though - I'll keep my mooring on there meantime - it's not expensive.

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