Saturday 7 May 2011

Hyde to Marple Locks…

We enjoyed our day off yesterday, doing some domestic stuff and washing the Anderton mud off the other side of the boat.  We had a flying visit from Anne and David, ex of nb Nifty 50.  We met them 11 years ago on their Millennium Cruise down to the Thames, and spent several days locking, eating and drinking with them, and have kept in touch ever since.  This is the first time we have managed to get together though.  They have recently put Nifty 50 up for sale as they are beginning to feel ‘past it’ (Anne’s words, not mine!!)  Unfortunately the visit was very short because David had an appointment at 4.30, so they were only with us about an hour.  We hope to be able to meet up again sometime next week while we are still in the area.  After they had left we went for a walk and found a geocache.

This morning we set off for the short trip to the bottom of Marple Locks, stopping at Romiley to stock up on supplies.   We had quite a bit of rain this morning, and got a bit wet! We will start up the locks tomorrow morning and await the arrival of Russ and Nat on a hastily arranged visit after realising that they would be in the general area visiting friends for the weekend.  Russ arrived back from his aircraft-guarding duties in Italy on Wednesday.  We will be glad of some muscle up these locks as, although a beautiful flight, the paddle gear is very stiff.

We went for a walk halfway up the locks this afternoon to suss them out, and helped a single hander up a couple.  There are no rings or bollards between the locks for him to tie up to, so he is having to go and prep the next lock and open the gates before he can leave the previous one – very hard work for him!

SDC10571Narrows on the approach to Marple Locks

SDC10568Another aqueduct, another viaduct

SDC10569

SDC10572Above the treetops from the centre of the aqueduct – the River Goyt 100 ft below

SDC10564One of the locks

SDC10565View back from Lock 7 with the single hander in the lock below

SDC10573Visitor moorings below Lock 1 – they leave a lot to be desired!  The bit you can’t see the other side of the boat has no bank!

3.5 miles and 0 locks

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