Please note that it is not currently possible to complete the Cheshire Ring.

The Marple Lock is currently closed for repairs. This lock is on the Peak Forest Canal to the east of Manchester near the junction with the Macclesfield Canal. This will affect you if you were considering cruising the whole of the Cheshire Ring. At this point in time, the Canal & River Trust are planning to have the repairs completed and re-open the lock on Friday 24th May, 2019. 

There are plenty of other cruising routes in this area, including the Four Counties Ring. 

The Cheshire Ring canal boat hire from the Black Prince Holidays Cheshire hire base in Cheshire is an active week long narrowboat cruise of around eight hours per day

After leaving our base, you will cruise northwards over the Bridgewater Canal, originally built to transport coal to Manchester on the command of the Duke of Bridgewater. It once carried three million tonnes of traffic as a vital part of industrial England, but in the last 35 years has primarily existed as a leisure waterway.

You will travel lock-free to Manchester, where the canals are currently undergoing improvement work. Manchester itself offers a mixture of historical landmarks, from the old cotton mills near the city centre to the Manchester Town Hall, one of the most prominent Victorian buildings in the country. The city is also surrounded by six local nature reserves.

As well as cultural areas of interest, Manchester is the ideal location to spend an afternoon and evening, with a plethora of places to shop, eat, drink and relax as well as a range of activities for all of the family.

After spending some time in Manchester, you cruise into the Peak District on the Macclesfield Canal, with its pretty stone villages including Bollington, Adlington and Higher Poynton. Bollington is known locally as The Happy Valley, and its most famous landmark is the White Nancy, built in 1817 to commemorate the battle of Waterloo. Adlington is a small village, which boasts Adlington Hall, a country house originally constructed in the 13th century.

Just north of The Peak District, you meet the Trent & Mersey Canal before travelling through the many locks to Middlewich. Middlewich, once famous for its salt, Cheshire cheese and silk production, is now best known for its canals, with three passing through the town. In recent years it has also seen an increase in tourism, with the town hosting an annual Folk and Boat festival, Roman and Norman festivals, and a host of farmer’s markets.

All routes from this base