Summer Cruise - Week 8

Although the skies are dark and overcast, the top of Ella is still looking good with the flower tubs, tomatoes and courgettes.  We have received many lovely comments from fellow boaters and walkers as they pass the boat, and we are very grateful for all the comments.

Monday 25th July - Leek to Milton

Today we retraced our steps back along the Leek Arm of the Caldon Canal.  It really is a beautiful stretch of water, having the feel of a river about it.

Towards the end of the Leek Arm we cross the main line of the canal going to Froghall. This reminds me of a similar arrangement of the Macclesfield Canal at Hardings Wood.





                                                                                  



We negotiated the left hand turn back onto the main canal and headed towards Park Lane Wharf where we stopped again to empty rubbish and put on water 

At Stockton Brook Locks we saw the sculptures again, this is the one at Lock 7. I have researched the artist and he said he worked with two local Primary Schools 1 day a week over 2 months to help create the sculptures.  The one mentioned on the right hand side is Hillside Primary School. 

Norton Green Lift Bridge required a British Waterways key to raise and lower the bridge.  Much easier than using the windlass!!

Coming through Engine Lock we found an open mooring with views across fields and a large flock of Canada geese, so tied up for the evening and walked Toby.  Unfortunately I have been bitten by a horsefly on my leg which is causing me some discomfort and a trip to the local chemist in Milton was needed to buy the appropriate cream!!

Later that evening we met the owners of nb Rickman, they also own a Bourne Boat builders boat and it was interesting to swap stories!!

Tuesday 26th July - today we cruised back down the remainder of the Caldon Canal and back on to the Trent and Mersey.  Fortunately for us it was very quiet at the Etruria Staircase Lock and we managed to go through them successfully on our own.  News of the death of a boater in the staircase lock on the Droitwich Canal has a very sobering effect, and we took extra, extra care in all  the locks.

Looking back as we left the Caldon Canal, you can see the Caldon on the left and the Trent and Mersey to Stone on the right.  We are now heading for Middleport Potteries and Westport Lake.  

This is the site of the Burslem Arm. The Burslem Branch Canal is a 3/8 mile arm of the Trent and Mersey Canal.  It opened in 1805 and was closed by a major breach in 1961.  It is currently being restored and will add to the regeneration of the Middleport  Canal side area.

Middleport Pottery is a fascinating place to visit and is the home of The Burleigh Pottery.  Only one of the seven bottle kilns remains and this is only because it is built into a wall of the factory.

Following our visit we enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea all eaten and drunk from beautiful Burleigh bone china!







We moored up for the night at Westport Lake, which is traditionally a resort for pottery folk who were unable to make it to the seaside resorts of nearby Rhyl or Blackpool!!  

Wednesday 27th July - woke to grey skies and very wet rain this morning!  However we have been promised it will get better!  Today we take Ella for her first trip through the Harecastle Tunnel, we have been through on our share boat three times and each time have found it quite daunting.  

We cruised up to the tunnel and queued up for our turn to go through.  We watched five boats emerge from the tunnel.  It is only wide enough for one boat and at busy times you join a convoy of up to eight boats.








There are two Tunnels through the Harecastle Hill.  The original one was built by James Brindley who died before it was completed.  This tunnel had no towpath and the boats were 'legged' through by men walking the boat through lying on their backs on the roof of the boat.  A second tunnel was built by Thomas Telford with a towpath which was used alongside the other tunnel.  Today only the second tunnel is open for navigation and after extensive rehabilitation it is in excellent condition.  To enable powered craft to use the tunnel there is forced ventilation to keep the air as clean as possible.  





The tunnel is about 1.75 miles long and takes about 40 minutes to navigate.  We were advised to travel at a speed above tick over as that would create a certain amount of wash and help to keep the boat in the middle of the tunnel and prevent it bouncing off the walls of the tunnel. Certainly worked for us!!





You must take care in the tunnel as due to subsidence the roof of the tunnel gets very low in some places and it is necessary to cruise with your knees bent!!  




We arrived out the other side and turned left on to the Macclesfield Canal where it runs parallel with the Trent and Mersey Canal until it turns right and crosses over the canal on the Poole Aqueduct.  A similar arrangement found on the Caldon Canal but on a larger scale.






The first and only lock for 11 miles is Hall Green Stop Lock, a lock only 12 inches deep which prevents the flow of the water to the rival canal, in this case the Trent and Mersey.  Today it was incredibly busy and we had to queue to get through it!!

We moored up just south of Heritage Narrowboat Marina and spent a lovely evening walking Toby and visiting the Rising Sun for our supper.

Thursday 28th July - as the weather is meant to be very wet for the majority of the day we have decided to stay where we are and have a day cleaning the boat and relaxing. I did the relaxing and Dave walked Toby, fair division of labour!!

Friday 29th July - today the weather was meant to be better so we set off for Congleton.  Unfortunately it wasn't any better and the cruise was rather a damp affair.  No locks and no wind meant that it was possible to cruise with an umbrella up which kept the worst of the rain off! 





We stopped at Heritage Narrowboats to fill up with water and diesel.  This was the boatyard we used to pick up our first hire boat, Ruby Tuesday, in March 2013. (See blog 'Why and How' Nov 2014)








The smooth lawns of Ramsdell Hall reach down to the canal and on the other side of the canal are ornate cast iron railings.  

 This gives the illusion of the canal acting as a sort of ha-ha at the edge of the gardens.








We moored over night on the aqueduct over looking Congleton and the viaduct, very pleasant mooring.  A walk into town to do some shopping ended up with me climbing over a gate and catching my thigh on a piece of wire, ripping my trousers and cutting my leg! Must be a lesson to be learnt there some where....

Saturday 30th July - woke to a much better day and began our cruise back the way we had come.  Dave winded the boat just north of our overnight mooring and we cruised slowly back through Congleton.

Bridge 76 is a lovely example of a snake bridge or turnover bridge which carries the footpath across the canal to the other side.  
This was so the horses didn't need to be unhitched from their boats when narrowboats were horse drawn.

It was very busy and we passed a wide variety of boats including a pirate boat out for the day!!

I particularly like the mile stones on the Macclesfield Canal resembling tombstones. At the beginning of WW2 they were buried to confound would-be invaders and the Macclesfield Canal Society dug up as many as they could and cut new ones from Kerridge gritstone to fill in the gaps. 






We moored up again just north of Scholar Green for the night, with open views on both sides of the boat.

The pirate boat came back, Happy 30th Birthday to Helen, they certainly looked as though they had a great day!!







Sunday 31st July - woke to sunny skies this morning, looks like it could be a better day! We would like to get to Rode Heath today as we are leaving the boat here so that the boat builders can sort out a few problems for us.

We returned through the stop lock and this time it was very quiet!














The structure in front of this lock carries the Macclesfield canal as it crosses over the Trent and Mersey Canal!

From here is a long line of locks known as the 'Cheshire Locks' or 'Heartbreak Hill'. These locks were all duplicated under the direction of Thomas Telford in the  1830s. They are narrow pairs of locks with the chambers side by side.











Some have been made into singles and others have fallen into disrepair.







The Lawton Treble Locks are Telford's work and replaced a Brindley staircase lock which was both time consuming and wasteful of water.

The water here is a similar colour to the water near the Harecastle Tunnel, a peculiar orange shade caused by minute particles of ironstone rock.

As we approach Rode Heath we pass a Canal and River Trust yard with an enormous bank of stop planks used to close off the canal when work needs to be carried out.  You usually see them stored beside canal bridges.







So, Ella is now moored up at almost the exact same spot that she was launched into the canal on 28th September 2015.  We are going to leave her here for Bourne Boat builders to sort out some issues with the paintwork.  We hope to return in a few days time and complete our cruise back to Overwater Marina.

Summer Cruise - Week 7

Well we have broken another record - we are entering our 7th week aboard Ella, and all is still going well!!

This week we will be exploring another canal new to us - The Caldon Canal.  I have been checking how many canals we have actually completed and to date it is 12 canals!!  I am very impressed with ourselves!!

Monday 18th July - today we have decided to leave Great Haywood and move on to the village of Salt.  We put water on at the junction and then called in to Great Haywood marina to fill up with diesel.   They were very helpful and when the time comes to relocate Ella to a different part of the canal system, then we would strongly consider this marina.
This is the Canalside Cafe attached to the Farm Shop, both very good.







As we approached Weston Lock there was a family of six swans, two adults and four cygnets, the adults got out of the canal and left the cygnets in front of the boat.  One cygnet managed to get behind the boat but three went ahead of the boat into the lock! They eventually followed us out the lock and were effectively separated from their parents.

Having moored up about a mile from Salt bridge we walked into the village and had lunch at the Holly Bush Inn, very pleasant and the most amazing garden with stunning hostas in pots!

The bridge is an amazing construction of brick and stone, very attractive indeed.

The garden outside the Holly Bush Inn is a very pretty picture, love the mannequins!!!







After our walk back we decided to call it a day and stay moored where we were for the night.

Tuesday 19th July - Salt to Barlaston.  Today was the hottest day of the year so far, but there was a breeze as the boat was moving. 





We passed a mile marker showing that we were equidistant between Preston Brook and Shardlow.










We moored up outside Stone, a very pretty canal town and went and did some shopping.  We also had some lunch at The Star alongside the canal.  It apparently dates from the 14th Century and is one of the oldest pubs on the canal network.  It has an unusual fact - none of the rooms are on the same level!!

We returned to the boat and began our ascent up the four locks through Stone.  At the second lock is a sculpture of Christina Collins, a young lady who was travelling from Preston Brook to London in June 1839 and met an untimely end in the canal at Stone.












Alongside the canal is the old Joule's Brewery building.  Joule's used to brew their beer in Stone but have now moved their premises to a brand new brewery in Market Drayton!!






Once through Stone we came to the Meaford Flight of locks.  There are four of these quite close together, but the paddles can be quite hard work!!  We moored up between Barlaston and the Wedgwood factory in open countryside.  Very peaceful, apart from the trains again.

Tonight was a full moon, captured reflecting in the canal.

















Wednesday 20th July - Barlaston to Milton on the Caldon Canal.  Continued past the Wedgwood Factory where the famous Wedgwood Pottery is still made.  The original factory was in Stoke at Etruria, but mining subsidence made the site unsuitable and the factory moved to the new site in 1940 and it is still the centre of the industry.

We cruised right through the centre of Stoke seeing the backs of many factories and warehouses.  This made us laugh!!












Arriving at the five locks in Stoke we were very pleased to find two volunteers on hand to help us up through the locks.  They raise the canal up 50ft and are quite daunting from the inside! Our two helpers were Ken and Bernard, a very big thank you to you both for all your help! 






Once at the top of the flight we turned right onto the Caldon Canal.  Another new canal for us to explore.  The first set of locks you come to are a staircase of two locks and fortunately for us our volunteers helped us through them as well!!  This is the only staircase lock in North Staffordshire.

Just as you turn in to the Caldon Canal there is an imposing statue of James Brindley, one of the early canal engineers who shaped the way canals were built during the industrial revolution.

There are two locks in the staircase and the top lock is larger than the bottom lock so as you fill the bottom lock...

...the water escapes over the edge of the lock!!













We stopped by bridge 8 to visit The Emma Bridgewater Pottery, some lovely pottery and nearby are beautifully restored bottle kilns for the potteries.








We moored up at Milton for the night, a rather bleak spot before the bridge, and walked into the town to stock up on provisions.  

Thursday 21st July - today we are continuing along the Caldon Canal and where it branches we shall stay on the main line and stop at Denford.

We worked our way up the five locks at Stockton Brook.  These locks raise the canal up to the summit level of 484 ft above sea level.  At the bottom lock there is a splendid Victorian Waterworks, an ideal conversion project!

At the next two locks there are a couple of stunning sculptures commemorating the history of the potteries and the surrounding area by Anthony Lysycia.

As you approach the Endon Basin there is an obstruction in the middle of the canal, it is the remains of a light railway swing bridge - most unusual!








We stopped at the services further up the canal - Park Lane Wharf - to fill up with water and empty rubbish.  Most pleasant area, all very clean! 





At the junction, the main line continues down the three Hazlehurst Locks and under the Leek Arm.  Originally there was a staircase lock here, but it caused such a bottle neck for the working boats that it was soon abandoned and a new section of canal was built with three separate locks.












After the locks the canal passes under the Leek Arm on the new aqueduct built in 1841.










Once through the aqueduct you can see the remains of the basin for the original staircase lock.  We cruised past the Holly Bush Inn and moored up in a quiet pleasant spot.  We walked Toby through the delightful Deep Hayes Country Park and had supper at the Inn.


Friday 22nd July - we set off for the terminus of this arm of the Caldon Canal, to be found at Froghall.

On the way we stopped to look at Cheddleton Flint Mill which was used in the late 18th century to grind flint for the nearby pottery industry.

It was powered by twin waterwheels, although one was originally a corn mill.

After Cheddleton Locks and Oakmeadow Ford Lock, the canal joins forces with the River Churnett and it widens out considerably.  It leaves the river behind at Consall Forge and continues on its way to the canal terminus at Froghall.  The canal becomes very narrow with very low bridges along a lot of its route.

Once we had arrived at Froghall we needed to wind the boat and moor up our side of the bridge.  As you can see the tunnel is very low and Ella is too large to fit through.  On the other side is a delightful Wharf with all facilities, which I fear is under used!!









Saturday 23rd July - today we shall retrace our steps back to Denford.

At Consall Forge you pass so close to the North Staffordshire Railway, that you need to squeeze beneath the cantilevered waiting room of Consall's beautifully restored station.







Once back at Denford we moored up in exactly the same spot and spent the evening on board.  Attempts to do some work on the blog were thwarted because of a very poor internet signal!!

Sunday 24th July - we left Denford, returned back up the Hazlehurst locks and turned left at the junction on to the Leek Arm.














We loved these two boats, our girls were always a fan of Jammie Dodgers, and I love the idea of Jammy Butty!!

The banks of the Leek Arm have some beautiful canalside properties with delightful gardens.  

The canal is much wider here and it feels almost like cruising on a river.

Towards the end of the canal is the Leek Tunnel - very tall and narrow, so no problem getting through this one!!









Once through we needed to wind immediately and this is where we moored for the night. The canal does go on for another 200 yds before it ends, but the winding hole is only 45 ft, so not large enough for Ella.




We had a surprise visit from Laura and Amy on their way back from Salford to Cambridge, a lovely end to another amazing week!!









Stops on the map this week are pale blue dots, looks quite pretty doesn't it?