April 15th - an absolutely beautiful day with temperatures up in the mid 20's. We caught the bus to Leek where we met the Leek contingent and changed for a short ride to Cheddleton. Several had not seen the twin water wheels there and some time was spent taking photographs of the mill, its water wheels and the wonderful steam engine that has been lovingly restored.

We then followed the Caldon canal towards Stoke as far as the Hazlehurst locks, managing to get past the Hollybush Inn with great difficulty especially as there was a local tug o' war comeptition taking place. The Hollybush is a canalside pub with real ales, great food and superb views.

The Hazlehurst locks are interesting as here the upper level is on the same height as Leek and an arm of the Caldon canal breaks off here heading towards the town whilst the main canal drops through a series of locks towards Froghall where limestone was carried from the Caldon Low quarries.

We followed the Leek branch taking a break at The Rez, a wonderful little cafe-type place that was formerly an underground reservoir of the Severn-Trent water authority; the building has been converted to a lovely cafe with the most delicious home-made soups, cobblers, sweets and cakes whilst the reservoir itself is now the home of a sub-aqua club. We sat outside eating wonderful cakes etc and basking in the hot sun before returning to the canal and heading for Leek.

Whilst herons are frequently seen, along with the occasional kingfisher, a great surprise to all the walkers was the sight of two snakes (probably grass snakes) swimming in the canal.

Having reached the end of the canal there was a very short discussion about whether to continue along the canal feeder to Rudyard Lake and sprint for the bus or to take a leisurely stroll into Leek and visit the Belgian bar Den Engel and the Wilkes' Head. A unanimous decision went for the latter option and Den Engel benefitted from the walk by selling several pints of Slater's and Thorndale ales whilst a contingent of enthusiasts crossed the road to the Wilkes' for the magnificent Whim's Hartington IPA.

We then hopped onto the bus and returned to Macclesfield with fond memories hoping to retell them in the Waters Green Tavern later in the evening.

Some pictures available in the photo album - see the link on the right.