Stoke-on-Trent

It is Sunday again and we have left the Caldon Canal, passed through Etruria and are well on our way to Tixal Wide.

We encountered some very strange things on the Caldon, at Froghall is the famous tunnel, where to pass through your boat has to be less than 5 feet above water line at the roof and less than 5 feet wide at roof top. My guess is that less than 5% of boats are that small! So someone has spent £2,000,000 building a new lock and restoring a basin, now fitted with floating mooring jetties as well!! Equally silly is the services block; they are all on the far side of the tunnel and therefore inaccessible!

On our way back to Etruria we met Sid, of Sid & Joyce fame, Half past four, now members of the Stoke-on-Trent Boat Club.

We are comfortably moored, almost out side the Wedgwood factory, a few miles and locks above Stone, which we may get to tomorrow. This morning we came down the Stoke flight, which finished in a new tunnel under some new road junction, the tunnel is single width, has a bend in it and boats travelling south have right of way. BW canal builders can never have used a boat!

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Caldon Canal - Leek

We have now moved on to the Caldon Canal, it is very quiet and after leaving Stoke on Trent, very beautiful. Having heard that there was a boat gathering at Froghall we opted for the Leek arm.

Yesterday we decided to walk from the end of the arm into town, the bit we had to walk through can only be described as the, ar*e-'ole of Leek. We passed car & lorry breakers, chemical works, concrete component manufacturers and lots of derelict industrial sites. The town centre was equally unexciting!

Today being Sunday we are having a lay day and making plans for our arrival at Great Haywood for Shruggy for the music.

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The Trent and Mersey

We left the River Weaver this morning, we were on the 0845 lift up at Anderton. We have now made four journeys on the Anderton two this month in Pluto and two before it was closed in the eighties. A sign of old age I suppose.

Tomorrow we will pss through Wheelock on our way to Red Bull basin. Yet again we have changed our plans. We will now do the Caldon prior to Tixall Wide for the Shugborough event.

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Winsford Bottom Flash

Aren't BW variable? A few days ago a lockie warned us that there may be a river closure on Friday morning, we were in Northwich, so after essential food shopping I tried to phone BW to see if there was a problem. Nobody was there to answer the phones so I eventually found out that BW management had called a staff meeting for the River Weaver. That's why nobody answered the phone! Eventually the staff came back and the locks opened for business just after 11:30am. Why no information for the paying customers?

We are now moored off of BW water, at the bottom of a garden at Winsford Bottom Flash, £3.00 a night, good value. We will stay at least another night before working our way back to the Anderton Lift.

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The Anderton Lift

We turned up at the Anderton Lift on Monday at lunch time and unbooked, we went down at 13:45, fantastic service from BW! Since being on the River Weaver we have been as far as possible towards the Manchester Ship Canal and are now working our way upstream. Today we are at Northwich, its curry club at Wetherspoons, so a curry beckons.

Tomorrow we will go as far as poss. upstream where we have been told of a mooring at the end of someone's garden on Winsford Bottom Flash.

At the moment the weather is superb, the current temperature reminds us of the Caribbean, more rum punch please!

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Shropshire Union Canal

We are now having a well earned day off at Nantwich. The Shroppie is a canal of contrasts, sometimes wide, strait, well maintained, and at other times; narrow, shallow and awful. Really just as you would expect from BW.

We stopped at Brewood, bought cheap diesel at Wheaton Aston, 35.9p/l; avoided a rainy day by mooring at the Shebdon Embankment, did Market Drayton on market day! And spent a night at Audlem.

While at Market Drayton we met up with, "Harvey", Maggie & Tony, who were going the other way, having been to the River Weaver.

We expect to be off of the Shroppie either Sunday or Monday and hence queuing for the Anderton Lift. It was useful meeting with "Harvey", info on the Weaver.

PS - While moored up Sunday evening, a cow fell into the canal from the off-side, and walked backwards and forwards along the line of the sheet piling. Eventually it walked across to the tow-path side and climbed out unaided. Incidentally, the canal was deeper on the off-side than the tow-path side!

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The Shroppie!

Today we joined the Shroppy at Autherly Junction having travelled the Staffs & Worcs all the way from Stourport on Severn.

Like the Severn and the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal, we can recommend the Staffs & Worcs Canal from Stourport to Autherley Junction. The mooring opportunities and easily works locks are great and the lack of boats left us often in splendid isolation. On Saturday we came up the Bratch, a 3 lock staircase, without waiting at all.

While at Stourport Elaine & Gordon sent us text messages about June's birthday and recommending a restaurant by just the telephone number. June, while going walkabout spotted a nice looking restaurant, noted its number, bingo! We had a super meal, thanks Elaine!

We think we are on our way to the River Weaver, watch this space.

To all who sent cards and messages to June - THANK YOU.

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