Marple - Church and Water

Today's Canals : Peak Forest, Macclesfield

This morning we waked up the hill from the canal to the nearest church - both Marple churches are on the outskirts, reflecting the history of the town which only developed from a village once the mill industry arrived. it was the coming of Samuel Oldknow to Mellor in 1790 that transformed the district. Not only did he establish his Mill by the River Goyt, he also sank coal mines, built houses for his workers, made roads, was instrumental in the construction of the Peak Forest and Macclesfield Canals and rebuilt All Saints Church. (see here)

After a short walk along the Macclesfield Canal towpath we used the first 'snake' bridge to take Church Street up the hill - a bit steeper than we had expected!

That road also looks directly back to the centre of Manchester. Alas, we do not have a good zoom lens camera so we make do with the best that a phone can do! Still, it is perhaps just possible to see the skyline with is rapidly increasing number of tower blocks.

As we approached our target we could hear the sound of church bells, but we were a little surprised that they seemed nearer than the church itself. As we later learned, that free-standing tower is all that remains of an earlier building that was otherwise destroyed by fire, replaced as in the quotation above.

We were welcomed at the door by a very friendly Deputy Churchwarden who took a lot of time to talk to us about the church community as well as the history. She even gave us a tour of the extensive facilities, including the main hall which has a panoramic view of the Peak District, including centre stage Kinder Scout. (alas no photos!)

During August, their morning service is what is called Cafe Church - instead of traditional rows of seats, the church was laid out with small cafe tables, 4 - 6 people at each one. Beforehand we all shared in coffee and Danish pastries!

The service was otherwise fairly conventional for this style of church - there were around 100 but a lot of folk were away on holiday (it is, of course, Bank Holiday) so were fewer than the 150+ they would normally see.

Afterwards we walked back down to Marple Junction (where we were moored) - the time more like Google's estimate than on the way up!

By now our water tank was dangerously near to empty, so Mike reversed back to the junction where there should be a full set of boater services. Most of the former canal company maintenance base has been redeveloped for housing, displacing the services to a new block alongside (to the right in the photo). Alas, so far only the water is available. We wondered whether the new block was part of a deal with a developer who is not quite so keen to finish off now that all the new homes have been sold and occupied! Sadly this does sometimes happen so we trust that CaRT will keep up the pressure to have the facility back on line asap - it is quite a distance in two of the three directions for an alternative. Even the far end of the Upper Peak Forest is several hours cruising.

By now the promised rain was falling so we returned to our previous mooring, making our total for today:

0.2 Miles - 0 Locks