Marple.

0 Locks, 4 Miles. Now moored at bridge 2 Macclesfield Canal.

With a slight improvement in the weather we decided it was time to head off again towards the Peak Forest Canal. For a week-end it was surprisingly quiet on the water with only a handful of boats on the move. The view across the valleys from our high vantage point, this is the highest pound on the canal system, was amazing with the occasional glimpse of high rise apartment buildings in Manchester in the far distance. Along the way we picked up this hitchhiker, pretty little character.

We moored before bridge 2 in case there were no moorings available further up. Upon investigation it turns out to be a wise choice as the moorings between bridges 1 & 2 seem to be a well trodden path between a housing estate and the pub and even local boats were avoiding the area. I wonder why?

After lunch we walked down the Marple flight to the aqueduct and railway viaduct which run parallel less than 100 yards apart. By one of the locks we found a couple fishing in the lock with a sea searcher magnet. Upon enquiring if the fishing was any good they said they had caught one windlass but there was something much bigger in there that they couldn’t lift out as it kept falling off the magnet. We stopped for a chat which must have lasted about half an hour but they were local boaters and passed on a lot of tips about where we are going.

On the way back to the boat we walked through a park by the town library and came across these fabulous carvings done out of old tree trunks. By this time we decided it would be too late to cook a meal so we found a Chinese takeaway and got fish and chips which were not too bad at all.

A very interesting carving made out of an old tree trunk at Marple.

 

How's this for an ornate carving?

1671 locks, 3520½ miles, 62 Tunnels, 47 swing bridges and 47 lift bridges since Nov 2006