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 Java Support not Enabled , 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 11^th June 1943 - there were nine 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.  The canal was now threatened with closure so the future of the N.C.C.C. was inextricable from it. This forced the Club to take on more the role of a canal society, than that of a cruising club, until the canal’s future was assured by the 1968 Transport Act. For twenty years the Club was lobbying and fighting in every way it could, both on its own and in concert with other organizations, for the retention of the canal and its two access routes via Marple and Bosley locks.

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. In 2002 a boathouse at the end of the arm was purchased and converted into a wet dock. Accounts of these events can be found in Golden or Diamond Reminiscences

Today the Club is probably the largest, in addition to being the oldest on the narrow canals.

Dennis Suleman revised by Noel Christopher.