5 locks, 371 in total. Another day when we seemed to miss the rain, not that I'm complaining. We motored the last couple of miles to Stockton Brook, through 2 drawbridges, and were just in time to meet Barbara and Ellie, who came bearing gifts in the shape of homemade honey cakes – yummy and many thanks, both for the cakes and for coming to visit. The locks were quite difficult so Barbara and Ellie had a fairly hard introduction to canal life. Once through the 5 locks we walked back to the village for a pub lunch, only to find that the one remaining pub did not serve food - *sigh* - so we cobbled together some lunch on board and then motored a little further to absorb the pastoral setting of this part of ... read more

1 lock, 362 in total. Rain, more rain, and heavy rain. Did we want to climb Mow Cop in this? – not really. Was the view gong to be any good when we got there? – unlikely. We waited for 45 minutes and decided to abandon the plan, a decision which made more and more sense as the wet day progressed. We motored the last stretch of the Macclesfield to a lock with a 1 foot drop – this was the original end of the Macc – the Trent & Mersey built and controlled the link section onto the Trent & Mersey proper. To accommodate the difference in levels between the two canals without digging more locks and cuttings, the last part of the Macc crosses the T & M by aqueduct and then loops round ... read more

0 locks, 349 in total. The Macclesfield is a beautifully scenic canal. Thomas Telford designed it to be as fast a route as possible and an alternative way to Manchester, using extensive cut and fill techniques. Much of the canal is built on embankments which have been landscaped so well that they look a natural part of the surrounding area in most places. There are some wooded cuttings too and all the locks have been grouped together at Bosley. We've spent much of the day looking down on houses, trees and farm animals and gazing into the distance at some wonderful scenery but, churlish as this may sound, the water level is generally quite low, even after the rain of the last 2 days, and progress has been long and slow even for a narrowboat – ... read more

0 locks, 349 in total – we did have 2 swing bridges and 2 lift bridges today thoufh – it's not allplain sailing! A day of sunshine and scenery for the most part and two missed photo opportunities. There was a family of 8 very small ducklings who decided that chasing our boat was fun – they almost ran across the water in little bursts of energy and it was very funny. It stopped abruptly when about 30 Canada Geese decided to take off in our direction, very shortly after we had passed them by – quite unnerving seeing all these fat stomachs and large feet coming straight towards you at eye level before dropping down immediately behind us! There was some industry at New Mills and also the Matlow's factory – Swizzles? Love Hearts? Refresher ... read more

0 locks, 333 in total. Engine checks and then we motored a little way into Romiley for food shopping and the local swimming baths. Chinese takeaway in the evening to round off a generally lazy day.... read more