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731 days ago
745 days ago
During our visit to Bugsworth Basin we found out that the village where the basin is situated had it's name changed from Bugsworth to Buxworth. It is said that this was done as the people in the next village didn't like to be known as living next to bugs and the Pub in the basin called The Navigation was once run by Pat Phoenix, Coronation Street's Elsie Tanner. There is also a more sinister tale to tell about the basin. On Wednesday 26th October 1898 John Cotton murdered is wife, Hannah. The murder was committed in the cabin of a narrowboat moored in the basin. He was arrested the same day and sent for trial in Derby. He was hanged in Derby Jail on 21th December 1989. It is reputed that he was the last person to be hanged at the jail.
747 days ago
We stayed at the top of the Marple Flight for 3 days. Leaving on Monday 17th Sept we wanted to head down the rest of the Peak Forest Canal, known as the Upper Peak Forest Canal. Towards the end of the canal which is only about 6 miles away it spilt's into two arms. One leads to Whaley Bridge and the other goes to Bugsworth Basin. We had been told it's quite a shallow canal and to stick to the middle, hopefully we wouldn't come across to many boats travelling in the opposite direction. It turned out not to be as shallow as I imagined, maybe I was just thinking back to the Llangollen Canal. As we reached the end we first went to Whaley Bridge for one night and then onto Bugsworth Basin for another night. Whaley Bridge is a quaint village built on a steep hill at the end of the Upper Peak Forest Canal with lovely views across the Goyt Valley. Bugsworth Basin was built to bring the canal as near as possible to the limestone quarries at Doveholes, 6 miles away. A tramway was built ...
771 days ago
Hi guys we haven't dropped off the planet we're still about, just had a few pc problems. After spending a few days on the River Weaver going from Northwich to Runcorn we went back up the boat lift and headed north up the Trent and Mersey. Originally we were going to do the Leeds and Liverpool Canal but as we couldn't drag ourselves away from Wales we decided we wouldn't have enough time before the lock closures started so we decided to do the Cheshire Ring and end-up back in Wales for the winter. We left Anderton and after a short time cruising we started to come across logs floating in the cut, first one then two, three and four. It was a shame to leave them, they would go great on the wood burner, before long we had quite a roof full. We spent most of the following day chopping wood. By mid-afternoon we had finished the wood, the sun was still shining so we decided to carry on. We cruised to the end of the Trent and Mersey, through Preston Brook Tunnel and out ...806 days ago
Hiya guys we haven’t sunk, well not yet. We’re well clear of the Llangollen canal now, we left there on 23 rd August after a 3hour queue at Hurlston Locks to get out. Once out the locks we turned left and headed north up the Shropshire Union Canal for a couple of miles before mooring up near Barbridge Junction for the evening. The following morning we made a right turn at the junction onto the Middlewich branch of the Shropshire Union Canal. This branch of the canal was only 10miles and after being on the Llangollen Canal for so long it seemed extremely wide and very straight, we should do the 10miles in no time. Our plans were to head to the Anderton Boat Lift on the Trent and Mersey Canal/River Weaver. Known as the “Cathedral of the Canals” the Anderton Boatlift is near Northwich in Cheshire is an outstanding monument to the canal age. Built in 1875 it was constructed to transport boats between the Trent and Mersey Canal and the River Weaver. ...
