A Long Day

Yesterday's post only covered part of the day's run. Having started from Rode Heath at 08.15 we'd reached Harding's Wood Junction and joined the Macclesfield Canal at Hall Green by lunchtime.
The "Macc" is one of my favourite canals, despite it's shallowness and relative lack of stopping places. I do enjoy the views unencumbered, unlike many of the Midland canals, by excessive tree growth along the banks. And the Bosley flight of locks is one of my favourites. 
They are not without their eccentricities however. For a start, the top gates have no handrails so unless you fancy walking across the top of the beams, working them can involve more walking round the lock than usual and jumping stepping from one (closed) gate to another (open) gate is definitely out!

Lock 11 (second from bottom) at Bosley. Note the lack of handrails on the top gates.

The locks themselves are rather fine, being made from stone blocks rather than the more usual brick.

Note the stone block construction - although the gates still leak!

Best of all though are the views as you go up (or down) the flight.

A rare shot of Yours Truly enjoying the views.

We did the twelve-lock flight in an hour-and-fifty minutes. Not a record by any means but by the time we got to the top it was 18.05 and we'd been on the go continuously for almost ten hours. We intended to stop at the Fool's Nook pub about a mile further on, but a quick check showed that the pub itself appeared to be closed so we carried on for another hour or so and eventually just found the last spot on the moorings at the Gurnett Aqueduct before Macclesfield where the Old King's Head was, thankfully, open.