Walked into Uppermill this morning to buy provisions, a really lovely village, which we must visit again.
Set off around 11.00am as we only have a short trip today. This is because the locks leading up to Standege Tunnel are locked to preserve water within the tunnel. We are currently going up locks. Once we have travelled through the tunnel we will be going down locks, so Standege Tunnel is basically a holding point for water.
We are currently 565ft above sea level.
Standege Tunnel is 3 miles long which is the longest in the country.We have a British Waterways person on our boat to guide us through. We also have to wear hard hats and life jackets. Wallace has to be restrained within the boat, so as not to cause distraction, (British Waterways staff are frightened of dogs)
I know this all sounds very frightening, but health and safety in this country has gone mad. In the olden days a man and a woman would have lay on a plank and walked the boat through.

The locks we have to negotiate tomorow

We have moved to Uppermill today, and we are now officially in Yorkshire.
The views are really spectacular.
 However the canal is very low in water, because of leakages. (with all this rain as well)
I was preparing a lock for Wendy to bring the boat into, when I received a call on my radio, "I'm grounded, can you come and help?"

As I had the camera with me I couldn't resist the above picture.
We finally managed to free the boat by letting water from the lock out by opening the paddles. However this caused further problems, as it drained the water from above the lock.
Luckily two British Waterways engineers approached as we sat in the lock waiting for the water level to rise. We told them our problem. They told us that a boat was in the next lock coming down, and the water from that lock would fill the channel.
As we watched the water level rise we set off again. As we saw the other boat approach we moved to the right, as did the other boat. Suddenly we both stopped. Grounded.
As we waited for the other boat to free itself I asked if his boat was an Aqualine boat? He told us it was, so we had a long conversation regarding our boat manufacturer,
After freeing ourselves, it was a very slow journey to Uppermill, as we had to keep to the middle of the canal and keep the speed to the minimum to avoid grounding again.

 It took us two attempts to moor at Uppermill, due to the lack of water, but we are here.
The village is typical Yorkshire, cobbled sidestreets and very friendly people. The only downside is the visitors moorings are under trees, so it is very dark. Which is a shame, as we have had a really sunny afternoon.
Last night we watched the England game in the local pub with another couple who are also going through the tunnel on Wednesday. Sorry to finish on a sad note

Today we have started the locks on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.
The scenery is outstanding, as the canal meanders through woodlands with the glimpse of the Penines showing through.
We are moored at Mossley, a picturesque town on the River Tame.
Whilst having a meal at the Roaches Lock this afternoon, Wendy suddenly told me our boat was sideways across the canal. As she panicked I told her to pay the bill and I would go and investigate.
Our boat had been untied at both ends, but somebody had managed to loop the front rope onto a mooring bollard.
I secured the boat in such a way, that nobody could untie it again.
Later a man knocked on our boat and informed me that he spotted two local youths (10 years old) untying our boat. evidently they are known to the locals. He had taken photographs of them in the act, and had contacted the Police.

leaving Scout Tunnel 205 yards 

Wendy working the locks

We apologise for not keeping you up to date, we have been in Stalybridge since Tuesday.
Wendy had a successful trip to Birmingham on Wednsday, arriving back in Stalybridge around 7.30pm.
On Thursday, we walked into the town and looked around, then stayed on the boat in the evening.
Friday, the heavens opened. The local River Tame flooded.
A friend we had met in Greece visited us at night, and we went out and had a lovely meal, followed by a drink in the pub nearest the boat.
Today, after stocking up with provisions, and allowing for the rain to stop, we set off once again.
Due to the bad weather we are now at Millbrook, only 2 miles and 4 locks from Stalybridge. However the boat is now filled with water, but we are in a dilema. We have 3 days to travel 8 miles and 16 locks, before we are booked into Standege Tunnel on Wednesday.
On the plus side we are now in the Penines, hills towering all around us.
Tomorrow we will venture out (weather pemitting) and take some pictures of the surrounding area.

Hope everybody back home are ok, and the weather is not as bad as it is here.

The picture above is where we moored for 4 nights in Stalybridge (note the weather)

We joined the Huddersfield Narrow Canal today. This is our 10th river/canal since setting off, and we have completed over 200 miles..
The start of the Huddersfield was very dirty and full of rubbish. But that soon changed after 2 locks.
We have moored up at Stalybridge, this is because Wendy has to travel to Birmingham for her Olympic induction tomorrow. (she is not entering the olympics, but is a volunteer for Cadbury's, one of the main sponsors of the games). I keep telling her she will be in a Cadbury's Cream Egg outfit.
We were asked by another boater today if we were going through Standedge Tunnel. This is the longest tunnel in the UK.
We told him we were. He then asked what day we were travelling through it. We said we didn't know.
Evidently, and nothing is written in any guides, or on web sites. Standege Tunnel is only open on Mondays, Wenesdays and Fridays, and, only 3 boats per hour are allowed through from 1.00pm -3.00pm.
On mooring at Stalybridge we contacted Standege only to find we can travel through on Wednesday week.
So now we have 8 miles and 14 locks to do in over a week. Slow going but at least we will have time to explore the area.
Sorry no photographs today. We do not post photographs if we are mooring for more than 24 hours in one place

We have finished the Peak Forest Canal. But not without challenges.
We needed water and a pump-out.
On consulting the Nicholson Canal Guide for the area, we found a boatyard which was on route. However on arriving we found only private moorings, the boatyard had closed in 2010.
Proceeding onwards we knew another yard was near the junction.
On arriving and manoevering through a tricky boatyard, we were told we had to reverse out, turn the boat around and reverse in. So, we proceeded to carefully reverse. Wendy noted that a hire boat was leaving the service area, and heading at speed towards us. A man on the front of the boat held a mop out as if to fend off our boat. As they approached our boat, with Mr Mopman ready and in position, I shouted, "Halt" In my best possible German accent. I then said, "Can you please wait until we have finished our manoever" With this Mr Mopman dropped his guard and the boat stopped.
We continue to reverse, and position ourselves ready to do the turn. In the meantime the hire boat has shot out of the boatyard entrance, not realising he had a very tight right hand turn, as they hit the opposite bank, Mr Mopman is unable to contain his fury at not being able to turn a 20 ton boat with a wooden handled mop.
After we had finished in the boatyard, we had to look for a mooring. We reversed a little way back down from the boatyard, only to find the water was too shallow to moor.
We continued to the junction, which had very little mooring available.  We did notice a nice mooring about 200yards from the junction, on the Ashby Canal. One which we had not intended on doing. But here we are.
It seems we have spent most of the day practicing our reversing technique.

Tomorrow, we will travel the 200yards from the Ashby Canal to join the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.

Peak Forest, Ashby, Huddersfield Canals Junction

Moored on the Ashby Canal

Junction as we approach

8.00am this morning. Cloudy and rain. 9.00am this morning, looking brighter. So we make a break for it. 16 locks to do, and they are very deep locks.

The Start

All the locks are empty so we have to fill them up before the boat can enter, this takes about 5 mins per lock.

We did not meet a single boat coming up the other way, which is very unusual. Although we did comandeer a few passers by to give us a hand.

The Final Lock Opening

Shortly after completing the locks we were faced with 2 tunnels and 3 aqueducts





Train Viaduct next to Canal Aqueduct (Old V New)

We have completed just 3 miles in 4 hours and 20 minutes, and dropped over 150 feet.

We are nearing the end of the Peak Forest canal. It has been very spectacular, and we have really enjoyed it, despite the weather.