© North Cheshire Cruising Club NCCC 2022
North Cheshire Cruising Club
High Lane Wharf
Club History
The Club was founded in the bleak days of the Second World War
when it was illegal to use petrol in a pleasure boat. It is therefore
not surprising that the Club was formed in somewhat unusual
circumstances. Pleasure boats had moored in this canal arm since
shortly after the turn of the century and many of them had been
kept in boathouses. A brief history of the canal arm may be found
here.
In 1937 the boat house owners in the Arm, for the first time,
grouped together to employ a solicitor to fight a demand from
the local council for rates on their boathouses. Although they did
not succeed and had to pay rates, the idea of forming themselves
into an association was first kindled. In May 1943 Mr HW Downs,
who had owned a pleasure boat since 1925, was approached by a
group of boat owners who suggested that a club be formed to
rent the wharf and yard which was at this time unoccupied. The
railway owners (L.N.E.R.) were approached and asked a rental of
1/- (5p) a yard which was beyond the means of the moorers.
Subsequently Mr Downs was visited by the L.N.E.R. district
engineer who said that they would like to see a club formed that
could take over all of the yard and wharf.
A meeting of all interested parties was called and it was decided
to form a club to rent the area on 11th June 1943 - there were
sixteen founder members. A name for the Club now had to be
chosen and many years later Mr Downs recounted how this came
about. “Having had much to do with the North Cheshire Water
Board the name “North Cheshire Cruising Club” came naturally.A
prize of 5/- (25P) was offered for the best design for a Club
burgee and was subsequently won by Mr Bill Axon for the only
design submitted.” Mr Axon moved from the area shortly after
the war and lost contact with the Club. In 1983, when we were
preparing the celebrations for our fortieth anniversary, he was
traced and it was found that after nearly forty years he still had
the original hand made burgee pinned up on his garage wall. He
donated it to the Club and it can be seen today in the Clubhouse,
framed and preserved for all posterity in a vacuum. Regrettably
Mr Axon, the last of our founder members, died in 1992.
There was a small office that then stood by a weighbridge at the
entrance from the main A6 road. It was in a deplorable state as it
had not been used for years and was badly affected by dry rot.
The members set about repairing it and converted it into the first
Clubhouse. The crane on the wharf was unusable at this time and
in true war time spirit, it was repaired with parts salvaged when a
Manchester tram route was being dismantled. Although this
crane has not survived nor the succeeding crane that was
scrapped as unsafe about 1996.
Club cruises in war time were also rather unusual. Because of the
prohibition of the use of petrol in their boats members would
arrive at the Arm by public transport and bow haul their boats to
the main canal. Here they would eat the sandwiches they had
brought with them before they bow hauled their boats back to
their moorings. Quite how the Commodore led these cruises is
not recorded! Accounts exist of several powered cruises at this
time, all of which ended in brushes with the police.After the war
small amounts of petrol became available for pleasure cruising
but members found that the condition of the canal was fast
deteriorating as little maintenance was being done as commercial
traffic had virtually ceased. In 1953 the club was deeply involved
in the Macclesfield National Rally that drew attention to the threat
then hanging over the canal.
On 6th March 1955 the secretary reported that a number of
officers of the Club had attended a meeting of the County Anglers
Association which was addressed by a representative of the IWA
where the results of the Board of Survey of the canals were
reported. The conclusion of the Board of Survey was that the
Ashton, Peak Forest and Macclesfield Canals were recommended
for closure. The meeting resolved to take all necessary action to
combat this. Local MPs and councillors were contacted, a public
petition was organised and meeting of all interested parties held.
It is difficult to know at this point in time simply from the minutes
of committee meetings, whether the Committee of the NCCC or
its members appreciated how close the Macclesfield Canal came
to closure in 1955. The whole waterways movement fully
expected the BTC annual Bill to include powers to abandon the
majority of the class 3 waterways which included the
Macclesfield, Ashton and Peak Forest Canals. But when the Bill
was published on 28th November 1955 there were no such
draconian powers sought. This reprieve was a consequence of the
widespread public disquiet and parliamentary concern about
what was being proposed. The NCCC organised a petition and the
all party meeting at Stockport Town Hall was part of this pressure.
The Bowes committee was established to take a broader view of
the future use of the canals within the BTC umbrella. It did not
report until July 1958, which gave a breathing space.
Meanwhile some curious events had occurred. On 8th Jan 1956
Mr E Burgess reported that he had received a letter from the
commercial manager BTC Liverpool expressing good wishes for
the success of pleasure cruising on the Macclesfield Canal! In
October 1956 it was reported that we had been approached by
Cheshire County Council and the Mersey River Board for
information to be supplied to the Bowes committee. Then on
Thursday 27th February 1958 at a half hours notice we were
visited by Sir Reginald Kerr the head of British Transport
Waterways, Mr Marsh NW Head of BTW and Mr Scarlett the local
inspector. The visit occurred mid week and they were greeted by
Messers Brierley and Kennerley (the Club chairman being
unavailable at such short notice). The object of the visit was a
preliminary survey prior to a visit by water of Sir Reginald Kerr.
This visit occurred on 21st May 1958 at one day’s notice, when he
was accompanied by Lady Kerr in the inspection launch
Kingfisher. Sir Reginald was accompanied from Poynton by an
escort of eleven club boats. Upon arrival at High Lane he
inspected the accompanying craft and the Clubhouse and then
addressed a gathering of about 40 people, stating that he was
very anxious to develop the use of canals by private boat owners.
The BTW booklet No. 11 on cruising the Macclesfield and Upper
Peak Forest Canals was issued in 1958 and no mention was made
of the Ashton or Lower Peak Forest Canal.
From these disconnected strands can be divined official policy on
the three canals: support for the Macclesfield and abandonment
of the Ashton and Lower Peak Forest from Marple top lock. In
1961 and 1962 Sir Reginald and his wife were invited to be the
honoured guests at the NCCC dinner dance to thank him for his
support and he was elected an honorary member in 1961.
The struggle for the Macclesfield canal succeeded with only
modest effort but that for the Lower Peak Forest and Ashton
canals intensified. Requiring a National Rally at Marple in 1966
with follow up events in the four succeeding years all heavily
supported by the Club. Fortunately opinions were changing there
was a new Labour government, the southern Stratford canal had
been restored and there was a greater demand for leisure. All this
combined to encourage the passing of the 1968 transport act
which assured the future of the canal network. The Ashton canal
still had to be saved but the method by which this could be
achieved had been demonstrated and was applied by the Peak
Forest Canal Society. The canal was reopened in 1974 and its
status increased to cruise-way by the 1983 transport act.In the
mid 1950’s a wooden estate agent’s building in the yard became
vacant and, as the Club had outgrown its original Clubhouse, was
acquired and converted. The Club continued to grow and after
about twenty years this building was proving to be too small. A
lease was subsequently negotiated with B.W. on the present
Clubhouse which was in a semi derelict condition and after
considerable restoration was opened in 1975 by General Sir Hugh
Stockwell. The original slipway was constructed in the mid 60s.
This was replaced in 1995-6 by the present slipway constructed by
the considerable efforts of members.
Together with accounts of club and individual cruises the most
notable of which were to Market Harborough in 1951, The
reopening of the Stratford canal, which was attended by a
magnificent array of 15 club boats and the Commodores Cruise
of 1993, taking in the Manchester Ship Canal, Weaver and Dee.
Accounts of all these events can be found in Golden or Diamond
Reminiscences.
A fuller account of the Club History can be found in “In The Arm”
the story of North Cheshire Cruising Club, 2009, Published by
NCCC.
Dennis Suleman revised by Noel Christopher, 2010.
Individuals have owned boat houses in the High Lane Arm of the Macclesfield Canal since at least 1910. These
individuals came together in 1943 to form the North Cheshire Cruising Club (NCCC). A chance discovery whilst clearing
a store room revealed an almost complete set of Club minutes which has allowed the author to piece together the
story of the Club from earliest times to the present day.
The club was formed in the middle of the Second World War and it was therefore an act of great optimism. This
optimism continued in the early years of peace but was soon dashed by the threat of widespread canal closure. The
campaign to save the Macclesfield, Peak Forest and Ashton Canals was central to the National campaign being
mounted by the fledgling Inland Waterways Association to preserve the right of navigation on threatened waterways
and reinvent the canals as a leisure facility. This book documents the role played by NCCC in this fight, describing the
early Cruising Queen celebrations, Macclesfield and Marple rallies and
canal clearing activities on the Ashton Canal, as well as other
contributions setting the NCCC’s part in context.
Concurrently with these nationally important activities the NCCC
worked towards full occupation of the arm and provision of boating
facilities. The most ambitious projects were the conversion of the stone
warehouse and the second slipway. It also catalogues the regular
activities of a thriving cruising club on the Macclesfield Canal and how
they have changed with time.
The book of 80 pages utilises over 40 photographs from the club archives and other sources, many not previously
published. The author is an honorary life member of the NCCC and their archivist. He is therefore uniquely qualified to
write this history.
Price per copy is £5 + £1 p+p and can be ordered from NCCC Ltd, The Wharf, Buxton Rd, High Lane, Stockport,
Cheshire, SK6 8AA.
For further information:
e mail: inthearm@nccc.uk.net
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