Mon 23rd
May Slaithwaite to Booth Lock 31E
We made an
early start through two locks and the narrow section, mooring above 23E to wait
for our appointment with the C&RT team to operate the guillotine lock 24E. Meanwhile we did some shopping in ALDI.
Early start in Slaithwaite
Through the narrow section
The team
arrived a few minutes early, and raised the guillotine lock for us, using a
windlass. It looked hard work, and we were pleased we hadn’t had to do it
ourselves. We entered the lock and they
lowered the gate again – more hard work.
Into the guillotine lock 24E
Guillotine gate
Guillotine coming down
Helpful assistance
After the
excitement of the guillotine lock, there was a pleasant wooded stretch as we climbed
more locks in the direction of Marsden.
Green woods above 24E
Into the Pennines
Life on the lock walls
Moorings
were hard to come by, and we stopped eventually on some lock bollards, opposite
a winding hole, above lock 31E. We couldn’t get properly into the side, so we
had loose ropes. It was overcast, and
heavy rain started.
We hadn’t
seen a moving boat all day, but a Shire Cruisers hire boat went past in the
pouring rain, going down through the lock.
A little
later, we noticed that our boat had moved in closer to the side. Looking out of
the front windows, we could see that the water was now rising over the
towpath.
Heavy rain
Flooded towpath
Concerned
that perhaps the hire boat had left a paddle raised on the lock above, James
went to have a look. It was difficult to walk along the towpath in places due
to the huge puddles. There was an
overflow at one point, with water rushing off underneath the path, presumably
then in a culvert across a field into the nearby river. Further on there was a feeder stream, which had
water gushing down the hill in a torrent, and surging into the canal. No wonder the levels had risen! At the next lock everything was in order,
with all the paddles down. There was a small reservoir alongside, with a
cascade from there into the canal, but there was no water flowing down.
Happy that
at least there was somewhere for the water to escape down to the river, James
returned to the boat, dodging the puddles once again.
Wet mooring
10 locks,
2 miles
Tue 24th
May Booth Lock to Marsden
Morning mist in the Pennines
The morning after the rain above 31E
After an
early mist, everything was clean and fresh this morning, with brilliant
sunshine on the hills. The water levels
had returned to just below towpath level.
James went to look at the river, hoping to see a dipper. No dippers, but lovely sunlight through the new
beech leaves.
River Colne
Beech wood
May blossom
Moorland coming into view
The canal and the reservoir
The locks
are very closely spaced coming into Marsden, and on one occasion we had to run
some water down from the lock above to avoid grounding. Some of the pounds were
almost circular, and one lock gate had Blue Peter emblems carved into the
beams. Hazel had a go at operating the
locks.
The round pound between 34E and 35E
The Blue Peter lock gate
40E with some hills
Hazel with the windlass
The last
lock, 42E, was particularly difficult to open, and some passing walkers were
recruited as volunteers.
The final lock
Assistance needed
We moored
above the final lock, 42E, on visitor moorings.
We met a lady who said she had lived here for years and never been
through the tunnel, and we invited her
to come along with us. She said she might.
Marsden visitor moorings
James went
into the village to confirm our table reservation for this evening at the
Riverhead Brewery Tap. He had sent a message via their website, with no
response. He had tried to phone them, with no reply. They had not received the message, so they
booked us in for 7pm. Later we both went
to explore the village. We have
discovered that shops close early around here – most at 5pm, some at 4.30pm.
Riverhead Brewery Tap
In the
evening we returned once more for our anniversary meal. The food was excellent, and we think we chose
well.
11 locks,
1 mile
Wed 25th
May Marsden to Diggle
Tunnel
day! A Shire Cruisers hire boat was also
to go through, and they had arrived yesterday evening, and carried up to the
tunnel. We took some things off the roof
before making our way to Tunnel End, where we met the C&RT staff. John was
to be our pilot.
The visitor centre
Ready to go
Kitted out
Staff meeting
Hire boat waiting behind us
We started
at 8.40am, and we had an extra passenger as far as the first checkpoint. It
seemed strange letting someone off on a rock at the side of a tunnel, but we were assured
that a car was waiting for him in the adjacent tunnel. James had set the time lapse camera, so we
hardly took any extra photos in the tunnel.
The trip
took 1 hour and 40 minutes for the three mile tunnel. James had to crouch for
most of the way and hit his head several times with the hard hat. The bow
thruster was very useful at times as there were several places where there were
kinks or crooked sections. We had to stop to phone the base on three occasions
just to inform them of our progress.
Reporting in
The tunnel
goes through bare rock in places, and has a brick roof in other places. Chicken wire and concrete had been applied in
other areas. They are very proud of the three superlatives: the longest,
highest (in altitude) and the deepest (below ground) canal tunnel in the UK.
We
unloaded our pilot, together with boxes of equipment, at the tunnel entrance,
and continued to the visitor moorings just round the corner. The hire boat came through a little while
later. There were three boats waiting to make the journey the other way.
Diggle entrance
Sadly when
we checked the camera, we discovered that one of the settings was wrong and
nothing had been recorded. If anyone
wants to see what it’s like try Standedge Tunnel Time lapse as a Google search
and there are several to choose from.
We
discovered that there was a cafe in the old mill building next to our mooring,
and decided to try it for breakfast.
The
weather had turned colder and it was raining slightly, so we lit the fire and
put the hood up.
0 locks, 4
miles, 1 tunnel
Thu
25th May Diggle to Upper Mill
This
morning was damp. Not rain exactly, just wet misty air that settled on
everything leaving very fine droplets.
Diggle visitor moorings
Wet windows
We had a
wonderful breakfast experience this morning at the Woolyknit Cafe. So good that James entered his first report
on Trip Advisor. See here
Woolyknits cafe
Mist on the hills
Then we
returned to the boat and James tightened the engine belts as one had been
squeaking loudly. It seemed to work.
At the first
lock we encountered a different type of paddle gear, leaning back at an angle. We
had a scenic voyage down the valley from Diggle to Dobcross, accompanied by the
railway.
Different paddle gear
Close to the railway
Wet bluebells
Down the valley
Lower than the trains
Grey skies
At
Dobcross there is a transhipment warehouse, where goods were loaded from boat
to packhorse and vice versa. The canal
was completed to this point by 1799, but the tunnel was not open until 1811, so
horses had to do the journey from Dobcross to Marsden.
Transhipment warehouse
We paused
to use the adjacent facilities but found the Elsan point was out of order. We had no choice but to tip a cassette down
the loo.
There
follows a narrow section, reminiscent of the Llangollen, or the Caldon Canal.
Narrow section
We passed
through the lock under the railway viaduct, surrounded by dog walkers and
hikers. Then a lovely wooded section.
Under the viaduct
Beautiful woods
At Upper
Mill we moored on the visitor mooring bollards, but were very loosely roped as
it was shallow.
Upper Mill visitor moorings
We visited
the village which seems like a holiday resort with lots of eateries. There is a
useful Co-op. James used some stepping stones
to return across the river. Hazel chickened out and went the long way round.
The route across the river
11 locks,
2 miles
Next week:
On down through Stalybridge to the end of the Huddersfield Canal, with family
joining us on Sunday.
