On the Cut, 2026

[Ralph Turner]

Watering/fuelling up at Great Heywood.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

Watering/fuelling up at Great Heywood.

What a wonderful bridge! On this forum, we expect you to provide a photographic account of your trip—especially if the photos are as beautiful as this one.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Very kind of you, Gianluca, thank you. Hopefully the odd snap will pop up, here, from time to time.

 

[Peter Roberts]

Perfectly idyllic, Ralph.
Like Gianluca I'm looking forward to more.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Many thanks, Peter.

 

[Ralph Turner]

I maybe should have mentioned, the pic above was taken on my Canon 6D with the wee 40mm pancake, then the jpeg uploaded to my ipad for a quick b+w edit using the ipad's basic but fairly effective tools.

 

[Tony Warren]

Very nostalgic shot Ralph. Is that on the Grand Union?

 

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks, Tony. It's the Trent & Mersey at the junction with the Staffordshire & Worcestshire.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Apparently I can edit and convert raw files on my iPad. Hadn't realised this until very recently. Here's a beautiful old oak next to bridge 108 on the Staffs & Worcester Canal.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

Impressive tree!

 

[Ralph Turner]

Impressive tree!

Thanks, Gianluca

 

[Ralph Turner]

Heading along the narrows towards Market Drayton.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

Definitely narrow! Thanks for the update, @Ralph Turner

 

[Ralph Turner]

Cheers, Gianluca. It's not anything special as a photo, but it gives you an idea of the challenge with a 60ft (18m) boat. In places the width of the waterway is not vastly greater than the (just under) 7ft (2m) of the boat, particularly whilst trying to take the odd snap or two

 

[Ralph Turner]

Evening light at Audlem. (snapped with Samsung S10 phone)

 

[Gianluca Drago]

Evening light at Audlem. (snapped with Samsung S10 phone)

Thanks @Ralph Turner for the update!

 

[Gary R. Smith]

Looks relaxing Ralph!

 

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks, chaps. @Gary R. Smith looks can be deceptive, certainly on this occasion. It took us all day to get two boats down through eleven locks. All that effort and we've only travelled about a mile in that time lol.

 

[Gary R. Smith]

It took us all day to get two boats down through eleven locks.

Well, you didn't show the locks (maybe too busy).

Traffic at the locks? or just the time involved in prep at each one?

 

[Ralph Turner]

Well, you didn't show the locks (maybe too busy).

Traffic at the locks? or just the time involved in prep at each one?

There are quite a number of variables at play here (how many crew members there are, state of lock gates -some leakier than others, some sluice paddles easier than others to operate, possible boats coming the other way, whether the lock is already your favour, whether it's a single or double lock, etc) but typically around 15-20 minutes on average per boat, per lock. We're in two boats with three active crew members (who're, perhaps, a little past their prime, shall we say) between them. Hopefully this gives a bit of a picture