Stoppage

In view of the forecast for this morning, we stopped in bed and listened to the rain. Setting out around 11, we began to pick up news of problems down the hill. It turned out that lock 63 on the Trent & Mersey had failed, leaving the pound above it with no water. Traffic had come to a complete halt. So we moored up at the back of the queue above lock 61 to sit it out. There were nine boats in front of us, and another five came along behind.

Some were saying it would be Saturday before it was fixed. The first CaRT guy to tell us about it said they were planning to do the work tomorrow morning. So we walked on down to have a look.

The pound was down to its muddy bottom, but a work party was already tackling the issue.

There had been a problem since the weekend with the lock losing water, but they hadn't been certain of the cause. Now they found that the upper paddles were leaking.

A lot of made-to-measure work has to be done on site. There's very little mass production of these items, and some good technical skills are called for.

You don't normally get to see these recesses where the paddles are located – they're below the water-line.

So the CaRT guys seemed positive they had solved the problem. Now they have to bring the water down to get the levels in the pounds back up to normal. The main reservoir is up the Macclesfield canal, and they'll be doing it overnight. It will be interesting to monitor whether we are aware of the water coming past us. We've been told they'll start to move the boats in the morning.

Well, it's a lovely sunny evening – might get the guitar out on the towpath if it stays this way.