Splish Splash

 

Wednesday 26^th August 2020

Our objective for today was to do most of the Cheshire Locks (“Heartbreak Hill”) and reach Church Lawton. That is a nice mooring spot which we have used before, and it is just six locks short of the Harecastle tunnel. That is now on a booking system, and I emailed them, getting a slot for 14:00 tomorrow (Thursday). It should be fairly comfortable to get there from the overnight mooring without too much stress.

The weather was much better, so we took off the cover, and then we moved forward a few yards to the water point which is right outside the Barchetta, and filled up. After that we set off up the hill. The first eight locks are fairly close together, in some cases very close, so I walked between them, before getting the bike off the bow. That allows me to close the lock gate behind Loulie, and still get forward to the next lock before she arrives, so that I can have it ready for her. These locks are fairly sharp, with strong undertows, which are always worse when going uphill, as we were. The water flowing in initially pushes the boat backwards, but as it rises the flow quite suddenly switches – it runs under the boat and reflecting off the bottom gates it is now pushing the boat forward. Even if you anticipate the change and get into reverse in time it is often difficult to stop the bow bumping hard against the top gate. We met a fair number of people, but more going south (downhill) which was good news as it meant that a lot of the locks were set the right way for us.

In the Cheshire Locks

At one lock (a doubled pair) one of the two was drained and under maintenance. This meant you could see the sluices and the ground paddles, which are normally invisible under water.

Ground Paddles on a lock under repair

After the first eight locks you pass under the M6, and the gaps become a bit longer. After the pair at Hassall Green there is nearly half a mile before the Pierpoints locks, so I left Loulie and cycled on ahead. Disaster, however, was waiting around the corner. I had the ratchet windlass in one hand, but the cycle lock (a cable with a combination lock) was wedged on the rear carrier. On a bumpy bit of towpath it bounced off; I heard it land, twisted round to see, and lost the front wheel on another bump. I fell off in stages, and wound up in the canal in slow motion, it seemed. At first I thought “Don’t go over the edge” then I realised I was doing so. Then I thought “Hope the bike doesn’t come in as well” and then it did.

Sadly, at some point in this kerfuffle I had lost my grip on the windlass. I had very quickly established that I was in no trouble – the water felt surprisingly warm, and was only about half way up my chest. The bottom was very solid – the bank was recently installed metal shuttering, and it felt as though they had poured concrete at the base and allowed it to flow out to form the bed of the canal. There were undulations but it was basically smooth. However I could not locate the windlass – I tried scraping with my feet, and even reaching down with my hands as far as I could, but no success.

At this point Loulie came around the corner, and spent a few moments working out what she was seeing – “Is he in the water? He is!”. She pulled over to the side and we let another boat go past while I heaved my bike and then myself onto the towpath.

There was still the matter of the windlass – a very fancy ratchet design that had cost a bit short of £100. I got the fishing magnet and a rope out, and spent a long time casting it out and hauling it in, hoping to lock on to the windlass. One big problem was that the magnet was attracted to the vertical shuttering of the bank, whenever I hauled it in too close. I suspect that this is where the windlass was hiding – close in to the bank, so that the magnet was diverted before it could lock on. In the end I had to reluctantly give it up, and we headed onwards.

Only a flesh wound. This was all I had to show for my dive.

For a few locks I continued without changing – it wasn’t that cold, but eventually I gave up and had a hot shower and a change while we were travelling between two more widely-spaced locks. There was a burst of six locks close together – three Lawton Locks, the Halls Lock and two Church Locks, and we had reached our moorings. This is a good place – quite narrow, but with reeds on the offside, and the narrowness encourages passing boats to slow right down, while there is a combination of rings and Armco to offer a secure mooring. We tied up, fed the dogs and then settled down to try to get over the trauma of the day.

Moored at Church Lawton

TODAY: 6:45 HOURS. 5.4 MILES. 20 LOCKS.

Voyage: 17:40 HOURS. 31.3 MILES. 30 LOCKS.