Navigation Restriction: Macclesfield and Peak Forest Canals

Due to the continued rise in water levels that supply the Macclesfield & Peak Forest canals, we are pleased to advise from Monday 21 November, the Bosley and Marple lock flights will open without restriction.

Since the re-opening of the Bosley Lock Flight for pre-arranged bookings, we have seen a significant increase in the reservoir levels that supply the Macclesfield & Peak Forest canals following the recent rainfall.

From Friday 4 November, Bosley Lock Flight will open to navigation on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays, only, 8am till 4pm, with last entry at 1pm. No booking required.

Marple Lock Flight will open on Wednesdays only, 8am till 4pm, with last entry at 1pm. No booking required.

Should customers find themselves approaching an empty pound, please contact our North West Customer Support Team for assistance on 0303 040 4040.

We would like to thank all those who have contacted us to book passage through Bosley & Marple Lock Flights during this current window of navigation, please note all bookings will still go ahead as planned.

We will continue to monitor the reservoir levels and keep these opening times under review.

Please be reminded, the planned winter works programme starts week commencing Monday 7 November with closures implemented across the winter period. Please check your route for any upcoming closures that may affect your journey.

Due to recent improvements in the water levels in Bosley and Sutton reservoirs, which feed the Macclesfield canal, we are now in a position to advise the Bosley lock flight will open for prebooked passages only, from Thursday 27 October, till, and inclusive of Monday 31 October. We hope this window will provide customers the opportunity to return to moorings for the winter.

Passage down the flight will start at 8am, with passage up the flight starting at 8.30am. Bookings will be open to those returning to home or winter moorings only and can be made by calling our North West Customer Support Team on 0303 040 4040.

Whilst the Marple lock flight on the Peak Forest canal will remain closed to navigation, any customers who are waiting below the Marple flight who need to return to home or winter moorings, please contact our North West Customer Support Team on 0303 040 4040.

With the current reservoir holdings, this will be the only opportunity to return to home or winter moorings that we are currently able to provide. Our teams will continue to monitor our reservoir holdings and water inflows, should we receive a further substantial and sustained period of rain, we will provide a further update of when an additional window can be provided.

Despite some rainfall, we have not seen any improvement in our reservoir holdings that supply the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canals, and navigation remains closed on the Bosley and Marple lock flights.

Works have progressed along the Bosley flight; The gates have now been fitted at Lock 12 and works to fit the landing stage between Lock 4 and Lock 5 should be completed over the next week. Following completion at Lock 8, which is due in the next few days, our team will then move to Lock 11 to carry out quadrant works and Lock 12 to fit a new fender. Completing these works now will help to minimise any disruption for when we are in a position to re-open, albeit with restrictions.

Please be reminded, during these closures, it is expected that the water levels will drop within the summit pound, which is between Bosley and Whaley Bridge. Our teams will continue to top up the summit pound daily, though it is expected to take longer than normal to refill. The pumps supplying a feed from the River Goyt at Whaley are being monitored daily to ensure a sustained feed.

Our teams will continue to monitor our reservoir holdings and we will provide updates on the water position throughout the closed period.

Unfortunately, we have not seen any improvement in our reservoir holdings that supply the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canals, and navigation remains closed on the Bosley and Marple lock flights.

Following our last update on works to help retain water, we are now in the process of fitting the gates at Lock 12 on the Bosley flight, with a new coping stone for the entrance to the lock being delivered next week ready to be installed.

We are making progress refitting the cill and repairing the head gate at Lock 8, whilst awaiting further designs which will enable us to lift and repair the tail gate.

Please be reminded, during these closures, it is expected that the water levels will drop within the summit pound, which is between Bosley and Whaley Bridge. Our teams will continue to top up the summit pound daily, though it is expected to take longer than normal to refill. The pumps supplying a feed from the River Goyt at Whaley are being monitored daily to ensure a sustained feed.

Our teams will continue to monitor our reservoir holdings and we will provide updates on the water position throughout the closed period.

Despite some recent rainfall, unfortunately we have not seen any improvement in our reservoir holdings that supply the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canals, and navigation remains closed on the Bosley and Marple lock flights.

Whilst navigation remains closed, we continue to complete works to help retain water. The repair works to Lock 1 and Lock 11 on the Bosley flight are now complete and our teams will be moving to Lock 8 and Lock 12 next week to start further repairs. We have taken this opportunity to bring forward the planned winter works to Lock 12 to minimise any disruption for when we are in a position to re-open, albeit with restrictions.

Please be reminded, during these closures, it is expected that the water levels will drop within the summit pound, which is between Bosley and Whaley Bridge. Our teams will continue to top up the summit pound daily, though it is expected to take longer than normal to refill. The pumps supplying a feed from the River Goyt at Whaley are being monitored daily to ensure a sustained feed.

A further update will be provided by Friday 19 August, or sooner if we have anything to share with our customers.

Due to the prolonged period of dry weather, we have not seen any improvement in our reservoir holdings that supply the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canals, and navigation remains closed on the Bosley and Marple lock flights.

Whilst the lock flights remain closed, our teams continue to complete works which will help retain water.

Please be remined, during these closures, it is expected that the water levels will drop within the summit pound, which is between Bosley and Whaley Bridge. Our teams will continue to recharge the summit pound daily, though it is expected to take longer than normal to refill. The pumps supplying a feed from the River Goyt at Whaley are being monitored daily to ensure a sustained feed.

A further update will be provided by Friday 29 July.

Whilst we have experienced recent rainfall, this has had no impact on our reservoir holdings which supply the Macclesfield & Peak Forest canals and navigation remains closed on the Bosley and Marple lock flights.

Whilst the locks remain closed, our teams are currently reducing the supply from the reservoirs to the canals, however due to the levels dropping on the summit pound, which is between Bosley and Whaley Bridge, we have had to reduce the supply slower than originally planned to ensure a sustained supply to the pound is maintained to help reduce any risk to our infrastructure and moored boats.

During these closures, it is expected that the water levels will drop on the summit pound, our teams will continue to recharge the summit pound daily, though it is expected to take longer than normal to refill. To help prevent water loss, we have a team delivering grouting and leak sealing works around the summit and the pumps supplying a feed from the River Goyt at Whaley are monitored daily to ensure a sustained feed.

We have taken this opportunity to complete a range of works along these canals to help retain water, including lock gate replacement works at Lock 1 and Lock 11, Bosley lock flight, with piling works started between Lock 4 and Lock 5.

Please note, if conditions continue, we may have to close access to the Bugsworth Basin to help retain water.

A further update will be provided by Friday 15 July 2022.

We are updating further on the water resources position for the Macclesfield & Peak Forest canals.

Further to our previous communications in relation to the risk of closure of these canals, the current restrictions have allowed us to keep the canals open longer than our original prediction of late May/early June. Over the last few weeks, despite some rainfall our reservoirs have not seen any significant refilling, as most of the rainwater has been absorbed into an already very dry landscape.

We are now in a position where we need to suspend navigation through the lock flights, therefore we will be implementing closures on the Macclesfield canal and Peak Forest canal lock flights from 12pm (noon), on Friday 24 June 2022.

We hope that by providing 2 weeks’ notice it will help our customers plan their upcoming journeys or move to alternative locations to avoid the impact of the closures on their cruising plans.

We anticipate that the canal will remain closed for several weeks, but this is entirely weather dependent. Whilst the closures will prevent use of the lock flights, cruising between the locks will remain available. Mooring restrictions will be suspended at the locations listed below to allow those waiting for the canals to re-open, to moor during the closure.

Implementing these closures means that we can conserve water, allowing the reservoirs to start to refill, so that when we are in a position to re-open, albeit with restrictions, we will be able to open for as long as possible.

Our teams will continue to monitor our reservoir holdings and will provide weekly updates on the water position throughout the closed period.

To conserve as much water as possible whilst these closures are in place, both lock flights will be padlocked closed and secured against operation and the gates will be ‘ashed up’ to reduce leakage.

Mooring Locations where restrictions will be relaxed:

• Macclesfield Canal - Below lock 12 Bosley Moorings
• Macclesfield Canal - Above Lock 1 Between Bridges 53 & 54
• Macclesfield Canal - Between Bridges 1 – 3 Marple Moorings
• Peak Forest Canal – Below Lock 1 to Marple Aqueduct

We apologise for the inconvenience and disruption this may cause to your boating plans. By implementing these closures, we hope it will allow boaters to plan your journeys knowing what to expect over the summer months as our teams continue to work hard to conserve water at every opportunity.

A further update will be provided Friday, 1 July 2022.

Please be reminded, from Monday 25 April 2022 the following lock flight operating times will apply across the Macclesfield & Peak Forest canals:

Bosley Lock Flight – open Sundays and Thursdays

• Open from 8:30am to allow passage through the flight. Last boat entry to the flight will be at 1pm, and all boats must have exited the flight by 4pm.

Marple Lock Flight – open Tuesdays and Saturdays

• Open from 8:30am to allow passage through the flight. Last boat entry to the flight will be at 12 noon, and all boats must have exited the flight by 4pm.

Following essential maintenance works at Bosley Reservoir over the winter, requiring the reservoir to be drawn down; coupled with the on-going repair works at Toddbrook Reservoir, we are starting the upcoming main boating season with much less water than normal.  Unfortunately, this means that there will be limited supply of water to support navigation in the North West this spring and summer.

The Trust is providing additional resources to this area to support our water management activities and will have teams of volunteer lock keepers helping to conserve as much water as possible.

You can help us conserve water by ensuring paddles are fully closed once you have passed through a lock.

We apologise for the inconvenience and disruption this may cause to your boating plans. By implementing these operating times, we hope it will allow boaters to plan your journeys knowing what to expect over the summer months as our teams continue to work hard to conserve water at every opportunity.

Our teams will continue to monitor our reservoir holdings throughout the season and where possible, amend the operating times should the situation improve. Please note, these operating times will remain under review and could be subject to change.

If you would like to know more about the reservoir situation, you can find more information, here.

Filmed last summer, this video provides some further background information to the works at our reservoirs which, because they require the water to be drained, is limiting water supply.  The works mentioned in the film at Bosley Reservoir are now complete.  However, rain is needed to refill the Bosley Reservoir following the completion of the works and we start the main boating season with the reservoir nearly empty.

As per existing operating times, both lock flights are closed today, Friday 22 April, to help the summit water levels recover ahead of the weekend demand. The existing operating times remain in place this weekend, until Sunday 24 April:

Bosley Lock Flight – open Saturday 23 April

• Open from 8:30am to allow passage through the flight. Last boat entry to the flight will be at 1pm, and all boats must have exited the flight by 4pm.

Marple Lock Flight – open Sunday 24 April

• Open from 8:30am to allow passage through the flight. Last boat entry to the flight will be at 12 noon, and all boats must have exited the flight by 4pm.

Macclesfield & Peak Forest canals lock flight operating times, 2022

Following essential maintenance works at Bosley Reservoir over the winter, requiring the reservoir to be drawn down; coupled with the on-going repair works at Toddbrook Reservoir, we are starting the upcoming main boating season with much less water than normal.  Unfortunately, this means that there will be limited supply of water to support navigation in the North West this spring and summer.

To make sure that the limited water that is available lasts for as long as possible, we need to restrict the use of the lock flights from Monday 4 April 2022.

The Trust is providing additional resources to this area to support our water management activities and will have teams of volunteer lock keepers helping to conserve as much water as possible.

From Monday 4 April until Sunday 24 April 2022, the following operating times will apply:

Bosley Lock Flight – open Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays

• Open from 8:30am to allow passage through the flight. Last boat entry to the flight will be at 1pm, and all boats must have exited the flight by 4pm.

Marple Lock Flight – open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays

• Open from 8:30am to allow passage through the flight. Last boat entry to the flight will be at 12 noon, and all boats must have exited the flight by 4pm.

Both Lock Flights will be closed on Fridays to help the summit water levels to recover ahead of the weekend demand.

From Monday 25 April 2022 the following opening times will apply:

Bosley Lock Flight – open Sundays and Thursdays

• Open from 8:30am to allow passage through the flight. Last boat entry to the flight will be at 1pm, and all boats must have exited the flight by 4pm.

Marple Lock Flight – open Tuesdays and Saturdays

• Open from 8:30am to allow passage through the flight. Last boat entry to the flight will be at 12 noon, and all boats must have exited the flight by 4pm.

We apologise for the inconvenience and disruption this may cause to your boating plans. By implementing these operating times, we hope it will allow boaters to plan your journeys knowing what to expect over the summer months as our teams continue to work hard to conserve water at every opportunity.

You can help us conserve water by ensuring paddles are fully closed once you have passed through a lock.

Our teams will continue to monitor our reservoir holdings throughout the season and where possible, amend the operating times should the situation improve. Please note, these operating times will remain under review and could be subject to change.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about the current reservoir situation, you can find more information, here. Alternatively, we will be holding an online meeting with our water management team on Wednesday 6 April at 7:30 pm. You can register your interest to attend, here.

Filmed last summer, this video provides some further background information to the works at our reservoirs which, because they require the water to be drained, is limiting water supply.  The works mentioned in the film at Bosley Reservoir are now complete.  However, rain is needed to refill the Bosley Reservoir following the completion of the works and we start the main boating season with the reservoir nearly empty.