Marple Locks and Aqueduct

Our mooring was just round the corner from the start of the Marple Locks. A flight of 16 descending a total of 209 feet over the course of a mile and a half. With Vicky's poor health and Will's hand still fragile from its burn we knew we could really do with some help. We'd therefore planned to travel on a weekend and Will had contacted the CRT a few days to ask if they could arrange for any volunteer lockies to assist us. They were very obliging, contacting the regional coordinator and getting back to us to confirm that there would be someone to help us. What a relief that was!

10 minutes before the arranged time Gina found us at our mooring to say she'd be helping us down the flight. At a sunny 21°C it was the warmest day of the year so far so Vicky packed suncream and water for her and the dogs before setting off with them in the chair, meeting Will with Rainboat at Lock 16. Gina was amazing. Friendly, capable and very efficient. We met another boat coming in the opposite direction at lock 13 and when CRT volunteer Chris had finished helping up them, he joined Gina in assisting us.

There were tons of Gongoozlers watching Rainboat and who could blame them on this beautiful stretch of canal? The first locks ran alongside a quiet road but after this the dogs were able to trot along the towpath enjoying the attention they attracted. Vicky lost count of the number of times she was asked what breed Leo was 😂 Tiger Lilly stuck to Vicky like glue and Leo was as good as Leo gets at staying close by. Will felt guilty for 'just' driving the boat and winding a few paddles up and down but he did all he could on a descending flight and with the help of Gina and Chris and Vicky doing what little she could we got through all 16 locks in 2.5 hours. At the last lock Will gave Chris a bottle of Proper Job and Gina a bottle of fizz that he'd placed in the freeze. She said she'd look forward to drinking it later but in the meantime
rolled the cool glass on her hot forehead. It had been a hot one!

Round a bend in the canal lay a railway bridge and beyond it the stunning Marple Aqueduct, flanked by an arched stone viaduct. At 30m it is the highest canal aqueduct in England and the tallest masonry arched aqueduct in the UK; the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct being made of stone with cast iron. It was due to be demolished in the 1960s by British Waterways after neglect and leaks caused it to be unnavigable but Cheshire County stumped up the extra cash to repair it as part of the restoration of the Peak Forest Canal and it is now a Grade 1 listed Scheduled Monument.

We crossed over it and found moorings in the shade of a woodland glade immediately afterwards. It really was a beautiful end to our journey down the Marple lock flight.

The sun continued to shine and we enjoyed the birdsong all around us (apart from the owls at night which freaked Leo out 🦉😱). The glade was filled with the white flowers of wild garlic and wood sorrel with a smattering of Woodland Strawberry blossom and Bluebells. Whiskers loved the woods and Leo was excited to spend time outside, sniffing all the scents left by walkers and their dogs as well as greeting his adoring public.

We took the dogs on, through what used to be Rose Hill tunnel. Since its collapse sometime between 1849 - 1888 it has been left open and is known as Rose Hill Cutting. Beyond it, Hyde Bank tunnel also collapsed but was repaired.

On a separate outing we took Leo and Tiger Lilly back up towards the locks and saw Kala Walsh, the owner of the cottage adjacent to Lock 1, with her spaniel Billy. We'd both talked to her while Rainboat was descending but now we had a bit more time and Kala was really interesting. She is a ceramics artist who organises the Treacle Market in Marple that we'd visited last month. On Vicky's request she showed us into her studio (what used to be the cottage's double garage). She sells her creations at markets but holds ceramic classes here every so often. She'd grown up in Marple but always admired the beautiful canal cottage and when it came up for sale 2.5 years ago nobody seemed to want it because it was off grid, with a septic tank and oil that needed to be refilled by tanker. It dropped in price a little and Kala and her partner were able to buy it. Since then the weight limit on the towpath has changed to below that of the oil tanker, making it even more difficult to get fuel, but Kala seemed happy with the compromises needed to live in this beautiful location.Read more