187: June 2009

Monday, June 29, 2009

The Mac meets the Trent and Mersey

The last lock on the Macclesfield from the Mac side.

From the Trent and Mersey side. The brick house was built in 1831 when the Mac met the T&M which was built in 1777.

Anne in the Willow going into the lock.

Stopped for the night on the little spur of the Trent and Mersey

Little Morton Hall

This was started in the early 1500's and the final additions were done by 1570. This building is owned by the National Trust and is considered to be the finest surviving Black and White in England.

The house has a rock roof that weighs 200 tons.

This is the chapel in Little Morton Hall

Little Morton Hall

Sunday morning we walked thru this pasture on the way to Little Morton Hall

and this is what we saw after we went inside,

Out the second floor window.

The knot garden in the back of the house

On the Mac

A Grey Heron along the canal

Nick making a bumper for the Willow

Ramsdell Hall which is a private residence built in the 1600's

On the Mac

Stopped for the night at Gurnett Aquaduct

The Willow just took on water. Nick is at the stern and Irene is standing at the bow.

Bosley Locks and we both helped at various times to make the passage go faster.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Beginning the Macclesfield

We are at the end of the Peak Forest Canal looking at the begining of the Macclesfield Canal just under the bridge.

Swans on the Mac.

We went to the Anson Engine Museum in Poynton. The Man is starting a 3 BHP coal gas fired engine. The piston is in the large black cylinder.It fires up like a cannon and the rack turns the wheel on the down stroke. Then about 5 seconds it fires up again and so on.