Thursday Jun 14th, Littleborough to below Chelburn Wharf moorings, below West Summit Lock

Hills of the North, Rejoice! Glorious. Just glorious!

Today was nothing more really than almost completing the climb up from Castlefield to the 600’ or so summit level of the Rochdale Canal, and the weather really couldn’t have been kinder. The shorts & sunglasses have been out and even the easy chairs & picnic table have been in use.

Mooring at Littleborough

Our mooring at the foot of the 12 locks that take the canal up from Littleborough to the summit was not perhaps the best. There’s nothing wrong with it that a bit of dredging would put right, but the boat did have a decided tilt to it during the night. However, we were both so tired after the last couple of days that we couldn’t face climbing up 2 more locks to the better moorings.

Littleborough itself hardly impinges on the canal and by the time you have climbed up the first two locks you are out in open countryside with stunning vistas opening up all around you.

Benthouse Lock

The weather also decided to put its better face on and we were treated to blue sky and fluffy white clouds which skidded across the sky in a stiff breeze creating wonderful contrasts between bright & dark shades on the moorsides all around us.

We stopped at the unusual sanitary station on the off side (the Elsan point is in a wooden hut, complete with table, chair and coffee making equipment) and noted the opposite bank as a suitable stopping point on our return journey.

Benthouse Lock - old arm & crane

The next few locks are spread out a bit, but set in wonderful surroundings. Benthouse Lock has an angled dock with mooring bollards and the stump of an old crane which would make a lovely mooring if we could be assured was dredged sufficiently. The views are stunning.

View from Pike Hosue Lock

Pike House Lock brings to mind the immortal line spoken by Captain Mannering in Dad’s Army – “Don’t tell him, Pike!” The nest lock, Sladen Lock, introduces a spell of industry as old mills nestle beneath the high moors against the canal. Greenvale Mill, on the towpath side is a relative newcomer being built in the 1940’s and extended in the 1950’s, but the mill building on the opposite side against Thickone Lock is much older. We watched the driver of an HGV with a curtain sided trailer negotiate the narrow access road and manoeuvre around to deliver its load. Rather him than me!

We had to wait here for some time as the lockkeeper let water down the flight to fill some low pounds further up and to enable a boat to descend. It is late afternoon as I write this and they have been the only boat we have seen moving all day!

The locks come thick and fast now as the canal fringes the outlying village of Calderbrook, but the sense of excitement is getting stronger as we near the summit.

With us being the only boat around, the lockkeeper lent us a hand with the remaining locks which from Lock 44 have only short pounds in between and he has to manage water supplies carefully. A couple of the locks have suffered from middle aged spread and are only capable of taking one narrowboat at a time.

Mooring at Chelburn Wharf

Finally we reached Lock 38 and our work for the day was over. If you are not passing over the summit the same day (passages have to be booked in advance), overnight moorings are provided on the off-side at Chelburn Wharf as the Rochdale Canal Society notice proudly proclaims. The BW sign calls it Chelbourne Wharfe (with an E) making it sound much too pretty.

It is an idyllic spot. To our right is the bridge immediately before West Summit Lock with the lockkeeper’s house adjacent. Across the other side are a variety of old blackened stone built terraced houses and more modern houses making up the settlement of Summit. How appropriate. Towering ahead of us are the high moors and hills through which the canal threads its mile-long summit level, deliberately dug deeper by Jessop to provide an additional water resource.

Mooring at Chelburn Wharf

After the slog of the last two days (we shall take longer on our return journey), today has been the perfect antidote. Sun, scenery, al fresco lunch and wine. What more can you ask for?

Glorious. Just glorious!