Tuesday April 24th, Rode Heath to Wheelock

Mooring at Rode Heath

After the grey and lowering skies of yesterday, we set off this morning with blue skies and bright sunshine, enough to shed a layer of clothing after the cold winds of the last few cruising days. The boat that had been tied up in front of us, ‘Icarus’, had set off just before us and Elaine helped them pass through the Thurlwood Lock before refilling it for us.

Thurlwood Steel Lock, c1978

I can remember the former Steel Lock that stood alongside here. It was built in the 1960’s to replace the original duplicate lock in an attempt to overcome ground subsidence from the nearby salt works. The boatmen didn’t take to it and preferred to use the remaining single lock. The boats were effectively locked inside a steel caisson and the whole contraption was on jacks to allow for any change in ground levels.

Due to the single lock being the preferred option, and it not being affected by subsidence which had been the expected outcome, the steel lock was taken out of use in the 1970’s and finally demolished in the early 1980’s. I took a picture of it in either 1977 or 1978; it looked a most alarming contraption!

Site of the Steel Lock

The entry to and exit from it are still visible, but the lock site had been infilled with rubble. Two old salt work buildings gently crumble away well below canal level, presumably they were once on a level.

Our journey down the remaining locks of Heartbreak Hill was full of interest. Small settlements line the canal at intervals – Rode Heath, Thurlwood, Hassall Green, Malkin’s Bank and Wheelock. All to a large extent depended on the former salt and chemical works that lined the canal bank to the south-west.

Patches of modern housing sit cheek by jowl with the old terraced cottages of the former salt & chemical factory workers. Boatmen also lived hereabouts, mainly employed on the short runs between the salt & chemical works and Middlewich. In many cases, both old and new residences line the canal bank.

After the two locks at Thurlwood comes the longest pound of the day – all of half a mile across Chell’s Aqueduct over a minor road to the two Pierpoint Locks, the only locks on Heartbreak Hill that for some reason were never duplicated.

As we dropped down the Red Bull locks yesterday, the distinctive hill called Mow Cop with its ‘ruined’ folly on its peak became visible. This is a welcome companion to boaters traversing the Cheshire Plain as for several days as it can be seen for miles around, even from the Shropshire Union Canal a few miles to the west.

We did climb to the top a few years ago from a mooring on the Macclesfield Canal. It was bright sun and blue skies when we set off, but by the time we staggered to the top, everything was covered in mist, it was throwing it down with rain and we couldn’t see anything of the wonderful view that it is said can be obtained from the top.

It was again prominent in the view behind today.

Hassall Green

Soon after the Pierpoint locks and just before the first of the two Hassall Green locks we pulled into the moorings for Hassall Green Stores to buy a few more bags of coal. The stores and its adjacent brasserie are housed in a most attractive old canal warehouse adjacent to the landscaped duplicate lock and its usable neighbour, and the whole scene looks most attractive.

Apart that is for the incessant din from the M6 that crosses just below the second of the Hassall Green locks. At least Elaine was happy as she saw plenty of Eddie’s, but not close enough to get the names!

The eight locks of the Wheelock Flight – the final locks of Heartbreak Hill – are again situated in fine surroundings. Malkin’s Bank is a charming place with a short arm now used by a boatbuilder who specialises in repair and refurbishment of old wooden boats. This arm used to lead to a large chemical works once owned by Brunner & Mond, who later became ICI. The site is now, needless to say, a golf course. That says it all about C20^th/21^st priorities.

We were on the last leg now. A sharp bend under a derelict railway bridge brought us to the final two locks. The upper lock has its duplicate undergoing repair. BW signs indicate “Caution. Work in Progress!” – but not a sign of anyone around. The functioning lock had only one bottom gate paddle working – surely that should have been put right before work started and ceased on its neighbour?

Passage through the bottom lock of the 26 from Kidsgrove brought our first sighting of a Canals & River Trust vehicle with the new logo on. These should become more widespread as time passes.

Mooring at Wheelock

Eventually through the bottom lock, we passed under the main road bridge and tied up on the visitor moorings just before the sanitary station which we will utilise tomorrow.