In the post we will be cruising from Todmorden to The Summit, with our boating buddies, Rosemary and Bob, on their narrowboat Sefton.

Todmorden is a really lovely and relaxed town and we have really enjoyed our stay here.  Today is Friday the 8th November and we will be cruising from Todmorden to Walsden today.  We will then continue our journey to the summit of the Rochdale Canal.

We will be cruising nearly 2 miles and doing 10 locks which should, and did, take 3 hours.

We had a really lovely cruise.  The weather was fine but cold, especially for the boys stood on the back of the boat - it's a lot colder when you're not working hard doing the locks!!!

Some of the locks were pretty difficult to open - especially this one - the water was flowing in at the top quicker than it was emptying.

Walsden

This was a lovely mooring spot where we got chatting to some lovely local people.  It was a nice and quiet mooring and great for the dogs.  The scenery on our cruise here was beautiful and we really are loving the Rochdale Canal.  The locks are hard work but that's all part of the life.  We were really lucky as just as we moored up it started to rain!

Luckily we had a wander into the town and found a very nice little pub called The Border Rose.  Good pint of Timothy Taylor - and it's dog friendly.  We had a couple of pints with Bob and Rosemary and then strolled back to the boat to hunker down for the night in front of our lovely cosy fire.

Saturday 9th November

There is a big garden centre in Walsden (with a farm shop) and on the Saturday they were having a food fair and brass band playing.  The brass band were fab - the garden centre was very pricey and we didn't buy anything.  We did go in the farm shop though and the food we bought from there was delicious.

Sunday 10th November

We are leaving Walsden today to cruise to the summit of the Rochdale Canal.  We moored just after Lock 37, right opposite The Summit Inn.  Today we did 9 locks and one swing bridge, over 2 and a quarter miles.  It took us four hours.  It was a very cold but another beautiful sunny day.  The scenery just keeps getting better as we climb higher to the summit of the Rochdale Canal.  The dogs have all enjoyed it and Rosemary and I have had another lovely day doing the locks.

What glorious scenery!  We are just loving this canal so much.  I know everyone says that it's going to get worse but for now we are just loving it.

Our last lock of the day was the start of the downward journey - and after cruising along the summit of the Rochdale Canal we moored up just after lock 37.  This canal used to  be fed by eight reservoirs.  Today, only two are in use and we will see them tomorrow when we go for a walk.

On Sunday evening, our very lovely friends, Rosemary and Bob, cooked us a beautiful roast chicken dinner and it was fab.  We had a lovely evening, being very spoilt.  The following day we had a lovely meal at The Summit. Two meals for £10 - bargain - and it was great food.  It's such a friendly pub and they love dogs!

Tuesday 12th November

We went on a lovely walk today.  We walked along the towpath to Littleborough and ate at The Cherry Tree Cafe. It was really good food!

Tilly was allowed to come in and they gave her a sausage for her breakfast!  We then walked back part of the way along the canal but then walked up to the Pennine Bridleway and to see the Chelburn Reservoirs.  It was about 5 and a half mile walk altogether today and was beautiful.

And here's a little video of the rest of our walk.

We have loved this stretch of the Rochdale Canal - the views are amazing and each town we have stopped at so far has been great.

Lots of love from the Hang Loose crew xx