Sunday 15 May 2011

Starting Heartbreak Hill…

The weather forecast for today was for a clear morning, with showers this afternoon, they were wrong!  We left our mooring in the middle of nowhere in persistent drizzle. We officially joined the Trent and Mersey at Hall Green stop lock, then negotiated the very weird junction at Red Bull, where the canal crosses the T & M on an aqueduct, then turns left, left and left again to join the T & M proper, then 2 locks carry the canal down and underneath the aqueduct, these two are our first on  Heartbreak Hill. We worked twelve locks before we decided to stop for the day at Rode Heath, and treat ourselves to a Chinese Takeaway tonight.

SDC10651Ramsdell Hall – still on the Macc

SDC10649Ornate railings separate the towpath from the fields below the Hall

SDC10648Mow Cop, with it’s castellated ruin, known as Wilbraham’s Folly.  The Folly dates from 1754 when it was erected to be seen from Squire Wilbraham's Rode Hall, a couple of miles away on the Cheshire Plain.

SDC10654From the aqueduct carrying the canal over the Trent and Mersey

SDC10657About to turn onto the T & M proper

SDC10658The 1st lock of Heartbreak Hill – brown water, due to ironstone colouring the water

SDC10659The aqueduct from below

SDC10664Many of the locks are duplicated, which cuts down on queues

SDC10662But a few of the duplicate locks have fallen into disrepair and been closed.

SDC10666Approaching Rode Heath

7.0 miles and 13 locks

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