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Published: July 26th 2013
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16 locks, 349 in total.
A lovely morning, ascending the 16 Marple locks. These are spread out over a mile, lifting the canal 214', which makes each lock very deep at 13'. I believe we are now on the second-highest stretch of canal – from Marple Junction at the summit pound we can continue on the Peak Forest to Whaley Bridge or turn south onto the Macclesfield Canal and either way there are no locks for miles. Water levels are a continual problem – either too little or, when it rains, too much. On the way up the flight today we met 3 waterway volunteers and one engineer as one of the lock pounds had drained to a trickle shortly before we arrived. It was all sorted in time for us though, I'm pleased to report.
The sun was shining, the temperature pleasant – we went through one tunnel, one ex-tunnel and on an aqueduct over the R. Goyt, which we had been following for some time, all before the lock flight. The locks are set in a mixture of parkland, tall trees, steep hillside and built-up
area – it is one of the most enjoyable flights we've negotiated, particularly the views over the Derbyshire Peaks as we climbed higher. Once we hit the outskirts of Marple the locks were increasingly well tended and we were watched by many parents and young children – they're proud of their canal and it's part of their life.
Amidst this idyll there were two heart-stopping moments, both times when I was helming. In one pound was a pumped water inlet – I'd seen it, opposite a building right on the edge of the canal, so I made sure that I was going faster than usual in a lock pound so that I could drive through the flow. Suddenly the water was really gushing out of the inlet at a tremendous rate; the bows just went sideways, heading straight for the building and I had to use every scrap of power in the engine to drive forward and away without turning the stern into the building as I manoevred – it was close. At the next lock there was a boat waiting to come down so the crew wandered over to help, as most
people would do. I was 13' down in the lock when I heard an anguished yell from John and I realised that the 'helper' had opened up the gate paddle fully; they hadn't seen the sign about strong flows from gate paddles and don't raise them until the lock is at least half full. I watched gallons of water cascading into the lock, very close to my bows, and I waited for the force to slam me backwards into the downhill gates – no way would the engine cope against that flow – but nothing happened. John sprinted to the top gate and closed the paddle (panic over) before I realised that the 'helper' had not even checked that the bottom paddles were closed. In fact this gad been the saving grace as the water had gushed in one end of the lock and gushed straight out the other.
Late lunch, shopping, laundrette – and now I am sitting here typing with the most magnificent view from our window. I hope my photo does it justice.
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