Cheaper than gym membership

First thing this morning I rang British Waterways to book passage through the Rochdale 18 on Thursday morning. I thought the weather was conspiring against me, it started to rain just as we left our mooring. By the time we got to Marple it had stopped and after a quick shop, dumping the rubbish, emptying the loo and topping up the water tank we turned onto the Peak Forest Canal and started off down the flight.

The locks are very deep, they lower the canal through 214 feet over the 16 locks. We were lucky that some of the locks were in our favour which made the journey down quicker, at least I wasn't having to fill them before we could get the boat in. Some of the paddle gear was very stiff which made it hard work and one lock leaks so badly that it took an age to fill. I did get a rest at the lock before last as we met a boat with six on board coming up the flight and they did all the work to get us down so they could come up! When we had completed the lock flight, in only 3 hours and 40 minutes, Ray decided on plan B. As it was only a couple of hours cruise to the junction with the Ashton Canal we carried on to allow ourselves a day off tomorrow.

Just after the bottom of the flight there is an aqueduct which takes you across the River Goyt far below you, with the railway viaduct towering above you, spectacular! My photo doesn't really do it justice but it gives you an idea.

The canal passes through a couple of miles of countryside before it reaches Hyde and suburban Manchester where it passes through 2 short tunnels.  The town doesn't encroach too much on the canal and apart from some industry and a sewage works it remains a pleasant cruise.We were going to moor before the lift bridge on the approach to the Ashton but a local dog-walker told us there were other boats moored the other side of the bridge and I always consider there is safety in numbers when mooring in built up areas. After we had moored up I went for a stroll and found a very nice mooring with picnic tables and a view down into the Tame Valley, it was occupied but if they move tomorrow we might sneak onto that mooring for the night. I feel as if I have done about 4 major workouts today and might have a few aches in the morning.

Today's journey 10 miles, 16 locks, 1 lift bridge and 2 tunnels.
So far we have travelled 249.8 miles, 222 locks, 7 swing bridges, 3 lift bridges and 6 tunnels.