On my early morning walk with Duggie we came across these seven fine furry black pigs, but on our return the next day they weren’t there, just mum mooching about in another pen, sad!
The weather was cold and blustery, not at all what we were expecting for the end of May and we were all well wrapped up as we preceded under the two lift bridges and passed two swing bridges and the sweetie factory that makes ‘Swizzles’, you know when you are approaching by the sickly sweet smell in the air. We continued passed the junction to Buxworth, arriving in pouring rain at Whaley Bridge, the terminus of the Peak Forest Canal. We stopped for lunch and waited for the rain to abate before we explored, particularly the warehouse that covers the canal allowed loading and unloading in all weathers from the railway wagons that ran in right alongside the boats.
We returned to the junction and headed to Buxworth, The basin at the end is still called Bugsworth, but the worthies of the village at some point thought Buxworth had a more upmarket sound. In fact there is not much of a village at all, but the basin is on a grand scale with three arms, which allowed for the loading of great quantities of limestone that was brought down from the Quarries at Doveholes, over six miles away by horse drawn tramway. There is lots still to be seen including the old stone sleepers that carried the rails. The scenery is superb with the hills of The Peak Forest all around and The Navigation Pub that overlooks the basin filled all our needs and to my surprise the Nicholson’s guide says that Pat Phoenix who played Elsie Tanner in Coronation Street was at one time the landlady. We were so snug here that we decided to stay the night.
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