'The idea of circular cruising routes is probably as old as pleasure cruising on the canals but it was not until 1965 that the term "ring" was applied to what had previously been called the Peak Forest circular route. The term was not coined by a boat hire company with a flair for marketing but by the Inland Waterways Association fighting the threat of complete closure of the Rochdale Canal. The IWA Bulletin dated July1965 called for "a vigorous Campaign to be inaugurated immediately, for the development and complete restoration of this circuit of waterways best described by the phrase 'Cheshire Canal Ring' ". In the next issue of the Bulletin in November this was shortened to "Cheshire Ring".'