Peak District Base – Cheshire Ring

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 holiday from Stoke to Congleton, Macclesfield and Manchester lasts seven-nights. On this active route your narrowboat will first travel northwards through the Harecastle Tunnel, originally completed in 1827, and join the Manchester Canal via a fly-over.

Congleton sits on the banks of the River Dane, and its main attraction is a distinctive hill known as The Cloud, which lies on the border of Cheshire and Staffordshire and overlooks the beautiful Cheshire Plain. The Cheshire Plain is a picturesque area with several walking routes, each of which offers a different perspective of the countryside.

Cheshire Ring

Macclesfield features a Georgian town hall and the hilltop St Michael’s Church, a grade two listed building which has overlooked the market town since the 13th century, save for two reconstructions. The canals around the village of Marple once served as an important industrial hub, with the small town most famous for its series of canal locks.

You can also take in the Roman Lakes leisure complex, an area very popular with walkers. If you are interested in ghouls, Marple Hall and Goyt Mill, a former cotton mill, are said to be two of the most haunted places in Cheshire.

Manchester Canal

You will travel lock-free to Manchester, where the canals are currently undergoing improvement work. Manchester itself offers a mixture of historical landarks, 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.

Bollington

You will then cruise through a lock-free section of the Bridgewater Canal. The Canal was constructed to transport the Duke of Bridgewater’s coal from his mine at Worsley, and in its heyday carried more than three million tonnes of traffic. This historic canal is now a popular leisure waterway.

You will pass the Anderton Boat Lift, built in 1875 and one of only two working boat lifts in the United Kingdom. There is also a visitor centre and exhibition building, where you can learn about this feat of engineering.

Anderton Boat Lift

Then cruise on to Middlewich, a market town founded by the Romans and once famous for salt production. It now boasts an annual boat festival, Roman and Norman festivals and regular farmer’s markets.

After leaving Middlewich you will pass through a section with many locks, which will take you back to Stoke.

All routes from this base