Bowden Hall(near Chapel -en-le-Frith)

Bowden is the most recently acquired water, formerly with South Manchester.The location of these waters is off the A6( Chapel-en-le Frith bypass section). At the Chinley-Glossop roundabout, there are 2 exits one the A624,known by locals as the Ferodo exit and the other is a minor road, signed to Bowden and the one you need to take and leading onto a narrow tarmac road. The new water is on the right hand side of this road about 600 metres from the roundabout and the entrance is through a newly painted white barred gate which is at an angle to the lane and partially obscured as you approach it from the A6,but it cannot be mistaken as it is clearly signed as a DNMAC water.

The location is attractive, perhaps the most picturesque of all our waters and of significant potential. Unfortunately the water has been neglected and requires a significant amount of work regarding the stabilisation of pegs,control of vegetation and water level control. The call for help from members produced a record turnout of more than thirty members on a working party in July 2009, a tremendous amount of work was undertaken. Nevertheless substantial work still needs to be undertaken in 2010, if this watr's potential is to be achieved.

The photograph is of Les Maddocks from Reddish who undertook the mammoth job of digging out one of the main water inlets into the lake on the 25th July when thirty two members turned up in order to carry out work on Bowden Hall lake.Unheralded he has since visited the site by himself in order to tidy up the diggings from the drain and to paint the gate; the exercise he was carrying out when I took this picture. I was very impressed by such selflessness a rare commodity these days..

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