Wednesday April 25th, Wheelock to Middlewich

It’s typical, isn’t it. You get one nice day and the day after is inevitably awful. Today certainly rated pretty high on the awfulness meter with horizontal heavy rain driven on by an almost gale force wind.

Wheelock Wharf (in the dry in 2010)

Needless to say the rain started just before we set off. We moved about 100 yards (past a tied up ‘Tyseley’ – home of the wonderful Mikron Theatre Company for their annual touring schedule) to the sanitary station where we performed the usual functions with water, loo and rubbish.

By now thoroughly soaked (thank goodness for good waterproofs) we set off again through the “executive” suburbs of Wheelock before the boundary of a huge ‘water treatment’ plant (alias sewage farm) came alongside the towpath for a long distance.

We had the misfortune to suffer an engine breakdown at this point four years ago and after two or three hours waiting for the fault to be fixed, it was a distinctly sickly green-tinged pair that set off again.

After a short rural interlude, abandoned salt workings make themselves evident in the lower level of the land on either side of the canal. Subsidence is a real menace hereabouts, even today. I bet buildings insurance cover for subsidence is either not covered at all or is prohibitively expensive.

As the land has subsided (forming occasional lakes in the process, known as flashes), so the canal banks have had to be raised and substantial sheet piling now becomes a feature for the next few miles. As the canal is so much higher than the surrounding land, the wind really drove across the open land making our progress more crab-like than normal.

Eventually we came to the first locks of the day at Booth Lane. Three locks spread over half a mile or so drop the canal down towards Middlewich. The main Middlewich to Sandbach road comes alongside and remains the canal’s companion all the way into Middlewich. The road used to be lined with a succession of large factories, but in recent years, both Hays Chemicals and the Bisto factory have both closed down and are both now nothing more than heaps of demolition rubble.

Fortunately for the town, the huge British Salt works show that the Cheshire salt deposits are still full of the stuff if the number of huge hillocks of the white stuff on display is anything to go by. Having said that, they are largely outdoors and in places a distinct grey colour rather than pristine white!

A single lock called Rump’s Lock (possibly after a former lockkeeper) brings the canal into the built up area. A sad looking former pub looks over the lock. The Winterton Arms is probably still mentioned in Nicholson’s Canal Guides, but it has been closed for a good few years. It was succeeded by an Indian Restaurant, but the building is now boarded up.

The offside continues to be lined by industrial premises, a large sanitary ware manufacturer being prominent among them. There are also plenty of signs of the former salt works with derelict land with remains of old walls and buildings and canal loading wharves. Seddon’s and Cerebos are just two of the names that were indelibly connected to Middlewich, but have now long since disappeared from the town.

It had been our original intention to drop down the four town locks to the main visitor moorings, but frankly, by now, we had had enough of rain & wind and wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a cup of coffee. So we pulled into the moorings above King’s Lock where, after dodging the dog s**t, we tied up.

Judging by the weather forecast for the next couple of days, we might be staying here a bit longer. Mind you we have shopping to do and post to collect.

Tuesday April 24th, Rode Heath to Wheelock

Mooring at Rode Heath

After the grey and lowering skies of yesterday, we set off this morning with blue skies and bright sunshine, enough to shed a layer of clothing after the cold winds of the last few cruising days. The boat that had been tied up in front of us, ‘Icarus’, had set off just before us and Elaine helped them pass through the Thurlwood Lock before refilling it for us.

Thurlwood Steel Lock, c1978

I can remember the former Steel Lock that stood alongside here. It was built in the 1960’s to replace the original duplicate lock in an attempt to overcome ground subsidence from the nearby salt works. The boatmen didn’t take to it and preferred to use the remaining single lock. The boats were effectively locked inside a steel caisson and the whole contraption was on jacks to allow for any change in ground levels.

Due to the single lock being the preferred option, and it not being affected by subsidence which had been the expected outcome, the steel lock was taken out of use in the 1970’s and finally demolished in the early 1980’s. I took a picture of it in either 1977 or 1978; it looked a most alarming contraption!

Site of the Steel Lock

The entry to and exit from it are still visible, but the lock site had been infilled with rubble. Two old salt work buildings gently crumble away well below canal level, presumably they were once on a level.

Our journey down the remaining locks of Heartbreak Hill was full of interest. Small settlements line the canal at intervals – Rode Heath, Thurlwood, Hassall Green, Malkin’s Bank and Wheelock. All to a large extent depended on the former salt and chemical works that lined the canal bank to the south-west.

Patches of modern housing sit cheek by jowl with the old terraced cottages of the former salt & chemical factory workers. Boatmen also lived hereabouts, mainly employed on the short runs between the salt & chemical works and Middlewich. In many cases, both old and new residences line the canal bank.

After the two locks at Thurlwood comes the longest pound of the day – all of half a mile across Chell’s Aqueduct over a minor road to the two Pierpoint Locks, the only locks on Heartbreak Hill that for some reason were never duplicated.

As we dropped down the Red Bull locks yesterday, the distinctive hill called Mow Cop with its ‘ruined’ folly on its peak became visible. This is a welcome companion to boaters traversing the Cheshire Plain as for several days as it can be seen for miles around, even from the Shropshire Union Canal a few miles to the west.

We did climb to the top a few years ago from a mooring on the Macclesfield Canal. It was bright sun and blue skies when we set off, but by the time we staggered to the top, everything was covered in mist, it was throwing it down with rain and we couldn’t see anything of the wonderful view that it is said can be obtained from the top.

It was again prominent in the view behind today.

Hassall Green

Soon after the Pierpoint locks and just before the first of the two Hassall Green locks we pulled into the moorings for Hassall Green Stores to buy a few more bags of coal. The stores and its adjacent brasserie are housed in a most attractive old canal warehouse adjacent to the landscaped duplicate lock and its usable neighbour, and the whole scene looks most attractive.

Apart that is for the incessant din from the M6 that crosses just below the second of the Hassall Green locks. At least Elaine was happy as she saw plenty of Eddie’s, but not close enough to get the names!

The eight locks of the Wheelock Flight – the final locks of Heartbreak Hill – are again situated in fine surroundings. Malkin’s Bank is a charming place with a short arm now used by a boatbuilder who specialises in repair and refurbishment of old wooden boats. This arm used to lead to a large chemical works once owned by Brunner & Mond, who later became ICI. The site is now, needless to say, a golf course. That says it all about C20^th/21^st priorities.

We were on the last leg now. A sharp bend under a derelict railway bridge brought us to the final two locks. The upper lock has its duplicate undergoing repair. BW signs indicate “Caution. Work in Progress!” – but not a sign of anyone around. The functioning lock had only one bottom gate paddle working – surely that should have been put right before work started and ceased on its neighbour?

Passage through the bottom lock of the 26 from Kidsgrove brought our first sighting of a Canals & River Trust vehicle with the new logo on. These should become more widespread as time passes.

Mooring at Wheelock

Eventually through the bottom lock, we passed under the main road bridge and tied up on the visitor moorings just before the sanitary station which we will utilise tomorrow.

Monday April 23rd, Westport Lakes - Rode Heath

After a relaxing day yesterday, we both wanted to be up and at ‘em today as we could now get down to a more realistic cruising mode rather than the stop-start, essentially very slow progress we have made over the last couple of weeks.

Harecastle Tunnel southern portal

It is just a mile to the tunnel moorings, mainly in straight lines passing the huge works of Johnson’s Tiles. The sides of the canal start to rise signalling the nearness of the tunnel.

There was already one boat waiting at the moorings, they had apparently stayed there overnight. As no boats were coming the other way, we were soon on our way into the tunnel’s mouth. Elaine, as is her wont, dived inside the boat ready to get the bathroom gleaming, and to do other sundry chores. She doesn’t do long tunnels, bless her!

To my surprise the tunnel was largely dry with only a couple of places with minor drips from the ceiling. Given the torrential rain we have had over the last week or so, I would have expected more. According to Nicholson’s, the tunnel is 2926 yards long, and is awkward in that the ceiling varies in height above you all the way through, and for a short distance near the centre, the steerer has to crouch Quasimodo style if he is to keep a head on his shoulders.

Harecastle Tunnel north portal

However, after 35 minutes we emerged at the Kidsgrove end, the boat now afloat in water that looks more akin to Heinz Tomato Soup. The colouration is caused by iron oxide leaching from the former mines under Harecastle Hill and it discolours the water on both sides of the tunnel (but particularly the north) for some distance. There were plans to eliminate the leaching some years ago on the rather spurious grounds of pollution, but as it has been like it for 250-odd years without any undue effects, and a huge outcry of protest, the plans seem to have been dropped.

Harding's Wood Junction

Once through the tunnel, the canal passes through a rather dismal section past Harding’s Wood Junction where the Macclesfield Canal bears off to the west, before the Trent & Mersey starts the descent of Heartbreak Hill.

The reason for the Macc to bear off the “wrong way” is made clear after the T&M has dropped down the first two locks as it crosses the T&M on a low aqueduct  having double back on itself.

The first six locks are called the Red Bull Flight and just after the pub that originally gave the flight its name, we pulled in at the Red Bull maintenance yard to empty the loo & get rid of the rubbish.

Then it was a case of pressing on down the remaining locks of the day before we got to our mooring at Rode Heath. Heartbreak Hill is so named as there is a rise (or fall) of 250 feet or so over 7 miles which includes 26 locks. During the canal’s heyday all but two of the locks were duplicated and most of the twin locks are still operable. There is a popular campaign headed by the Stoke on Trent branch of the IWA and the T&M Canal Society to reinstate the 9 “missing” duplicate locks.

Once past the maintenance yard at Red Bull, the urban surroundings that have been a feature for us for several days are over as almost immediately you pass through some of the most pleasing countryside on the network.

Church Locks

As the locks drop you down towards the Cheshire Plain, an enticing landscape emerges of ploughed fields and green pastures interspersed with small copses of trees. The ground swoops and dives in little hillocks and hollows – all very enticing and popular with dog walkers.

We had a great run down the locks with all of them full or virtually so. We were helped as well by four boats ascending the flight and at two of the locks the top gate was already open, as if to welcome us with open arms.

Eventually we reached the bottom of Lawton Treble Locks and we were on the home straight now with one of the longest pounds between the locks before we reached our mooring destination of Rode Heath where we just managed to squeeze between two boats into the last remaining space.

God, it’s good to be really moving again (even if we still tie up before lunch time)!

Sunday April 22nd, Etruria - Westport Lakes

Despite a few faint misgivings about the wisdom of mooring up at Etruria Junction for 3 nights, and leaving the boat there for most of Saturday, we had a trouble free time.

Saturday was a lovely day. We had a mild panic over our first train connection at Stockport as out train from Stoke to Stockport was 5 minutes late and we only had a 5 minute limit to get the Sheffield train. Fortunately for our blood pressure, the Sheffield train was 5 minutes late as well!

We met up with youngest daughter Emma and granddaughter Ellie for lunch, before Ellie had to leave for her dance theatre class. Emma joined us later at the University Arts Centre for the show. We have always been Gilbert & Sullivan fans, having taken part in shows for many years before we came onto the canals. Our middle daughter, Kathryn, is now the third generation to step onto the boards in these shows.

To our complete surprise she had auditioned for, and got one of the smaller principal roles and had not told us a word (probably thinking that Elaine would worry). She did really well, bless her.

The return train journey was not so fraught timing wise, although we had two very noisy journeys, the first enlivened by a group of eight very happy and “mellow” 20-somethings with the cans of Fosters and the rum bottle out, the second by a very annoying group of so called football fans who thought it a great idea to “sing” loud and objectionable chants and yell and swear all the time.

We were glad to get back to the peace and quiet of the canal world and relax.

Rather than face Harecastle Tunnel and the start of the locks of Heartbreak Hill, we managed just a couple of miles on Sunday, from Etruria to Westport Lakes. It may not have been far, but for me at least, this is one of the stretches of canal most redolent of the commerce the canals brought in their wake.

After passing the marina and anonymous business units that have been built on part of the site of the old Shelton Bar steelworks, the rest of the site remains a waste clearance area. The steelworks were demolished years ago, and nothing has been done with the site on either side of the canal.

Old pottery works at Burslem

However, once past the sign signifying the hoped for restoration of the Burslem Arm, the potteries world envelopes the canal with pot banks all around, in various degrees of decrepitude. At least the old bottle or calcining kilns have preservation orders on them, but without the associated factory buildings they look out of place as in the new development just below Twyford Lock.

Middleport Pottery facade

The Middleport Pottery buildings are perhaps the best preserved. This is or was the home of Burleigh Pottery, but the whole site has just been acquired by the regeneration arm of The Prince’s Trust who have aims of preserving and restoring the site, keeping pottery production going and other ideas as well. Good luck to Charlie boy!

Most of the derelict buildings are crying out for some TLC, and hopefully someone will come along and revitalise them before they moulder and crumble away to nothing.

Westport Lake mooring

Soon, however, the views open up with new housing on one side and the open park area of Westport lakes on the other. We always like mooring here overnight before a passage through the tunnel.

Thursday April 19th, Barlaston to Etruria Junction, Stoke on Trent

Mooring at Barlaston

Yesterday afternoon, evening and night brought the worst rain we have seen for a long time. Several torrential downpours punctuated the evening, and in between it was just heavy drizzle. Delightful!

We had decided to press on today as we remembered the Countryfile weather forecast saying that Thursday was likely to be better than Friday. If that remains the case, we must expect downpours of biblical proportions tomorrow as today has been just as wet as yesterday! ‘President’ & ‘Kildare’ are being launched on their journey to the Queen’s Jubilee Pageant Cruise tomorrow from Etruria Junction, and we fully expect to see Noah’s Ark accompany them.

Wedgewood Factory

If it is fine, we will both feel pig sick as we had a decidedly “moist”time of it today. Mind you, it was fine when we set off at 8.15, indeed there was a hint of something bright in the sky. Or was that my imagination?

By the time we got to the Wedgewood Factory, the gloom had come back and it was novel to see the firm’s lettering on their huge logo was actually blue – every time we have been by in the past the sun has always been in our eyes as we looked across and they just looked dark grey!

Trentham Lock, almost 12 feet deep

Trentham Lock inevitably was full – it always is for us. Despite a relatively remote location, it has anti vandal gear fitted on the top gates as it has been subjected to the attentions of the local wildlife on several occasions.

A short distance beyond and you enter the no doubt desirable Potteries suburbs of Trentham and Hem Heath. Fortunately the canal traveller is spared the worst excesses of 1970’s house builders, the canal being in a low cutting for most of the journey through. A pair of bridge abutments mark the site of a long lost railway bridge that carried the North Staffordshire Railways branch to Trentham. This marks the beginning of the end of the suburbs and there is a return to greenery of a sort.

Land to the left, and right (across the main line railway) is the site of former coal mining activity and nature has found it tough going in its attempts to reclaim the land.
        
After the collieries closed, part of the area was used as a sewage works, and part as an unauthorised tyre dump. However, a lot of redevelopment work has gone on in recent years and the land on the far side of the railway, and opposite the Britannia Stadium (home of Stoke City FC) has been turned into a large industrial estate and new ‘parkland’ areas have been opened up for the locals.

Once past here, and the vast City Council incineration plant with its huge chimney, “King Road” takes over. For the next couple of miles, the communities have been swept aside to make way for vast new dual carriageways. At times the canal is hidden from view behind modern high brick walls, sadly the never free of the unceasing din of the motor car and HGV.

Yet, occasionally, there is something of interest to quicken the senses. The former site of Kerr Stuart, the railway engineers is passed. Tom Rolt served part of his engineering apprenticeship here and the site still seems to have a railway connection as a collection of (newly built?) wagon or carriage bogies are lined up.

Soon after, a derelict pottery works quietly crumbles away, ramshackle additions give an almost romantic feel, punctuated by a surviving bottle kiln. A derelict boatyard with even more derelict looking boats follows, the boats optimistically “for sale”. The boatyard sign offers “Indoor Rifle Range, Bait & Tackle, Boats and Engines and Country & Western Line Dancing”. An eclectic mix of activities on offer!

The River Trent is then crossed on a modest aqueduct. It is much smaller in size than when we last crossed it at Great Haywood on our return from Tixall Wide. Despite its modest stature, there was certainly a lot of water pouring down its channel thanks to the rain we have had over the last few days! Ahead lay the former engineering workshops of the North Staffs Railway Company – now occupied by a host of small businesses.

Stoke Bottom Lock

The road network then takes over again with a four lane carriageway monstrosity roaring alongside until the canal dives into the bottom of the Stoke flight’s 5 locks. Even here the canal has not been left alone. The 1960’s road ‘improvements’ meant the line of the canal had to be altered and as the new road bridge over the canal crossed it at the then bottom lock. That was demolished and a new much deeper bottom lock was built to incorporate the bottom two locks.

Cockshutts Lock

Once through the bottom lock with its now private 1960’s lock cottage, the canal passes under some extremely low railway bridges to Cockshutts Lock, its name taken from the adjacent railway sidings.

Old Bottle Kilns at Twyford's Works

The canal now passes between a vast cemetery on the right, and the site of Twyford’s Cliff Vale Pottery Works. Only a pair of restored bottle kilns, incongruously sandwiched between modern apartment blocks, and the main road façade remain.

Through Twyford Lock, it is just a short distance to the top two locks taking you past Jesse Shirley’s ‘Etruscan Bone & Flint Mill’ with its attendant moored boats (‘Lindsay’ & ‘Keppel’ on this trip) to Etruria Junction itself.

We met boats at each of the last four locks which aided our progress no end. Having reached the canal’s summit level, we reversed back into the Caldon Canal to visit the sanitary station to empty the loo, fill up with water and get rid of the rubbish before returning very slowly (we had picked up a blade-full of gunk) to the junction and the visitor moorings just beyond it.

It has rained for most of our trip today, and, with a cool breeze, has been rather unpleasant. So much so that I will defer the delights of the weed hatch until the morrow! If tomorrow is fine and dry, I will say something unmentionable about Countryfile and its weather forecast.

We will remain here until Sunday morning, so we can make our rail trip to Sheffield and back on Saturday to see Kathryn in her G&S show.

Wednesday April 18th, Stone to Barlaston

We had a great evening yesterday at The Mill Restaurant with a superb tapas meal. Well worth visiting again when next we come this way.

There was torrential rain this morning when we got out of bed, but fortunately by the time we set off for the locks it had eased off to a persistent drizzle.

What is it about Stone? We love the town, but every time, we arrive in sunshine and depart up the locks in rain. The photos were taken one year when the sun shone once (briefly).

To our amazement, the locks were all empty and waiting for us. As a result we had a great run up, and apart from a short stop below the already open gates of Newcastle Road Lock to empty the loo at the sanitary station, we were soon exiting the top lock of the four and passing Roger Fuller’s boatyard with his collection of boats – including ‘Ilford’ and ‘Ibex’, which we had last seen at Great Haywood. ‘Tewkesbury’ was also tied up there.

The good run up Stone Locks came to an abrupt end not all that far ahead as a single handed boater pulled out to enter the bottom lock of the Meaford flight. In the event he didn’t hold us up at all, and we were soon emptying the lock to enter.

A couple of BW guys were working at the bottom two locks checking paddle gear and gates and doing some maintenance work on the lock-sides. We got chatting and they said that whilst the rain was welcome, the canal reservoirs in this neck of the woods were full to the brim and British Waterways were having to run water off to go to waste.

Our friends back on the rain starved Grand Union (as well as the Oxford & Leicester summits) would be glad of a bit more!

Start rant.

Cameron and his cronies seem hell bent on spending an obscene amount of money pushing through the proposals for the new High Speed rail link between London and Birmingham. Trouble is, nobody wants it except a few fat cats who will be able to get to Birmingham about 15 minutes quicker than they can now.

Why can’t the money be spent in creating a water grid to move surplus water from the perennially rain-drenched north and west to the drought ravaged south-east? It would cost a fraction of HS2 and everyone would benefit. But I suppose it doesn’t benefit the fat cats sufficiently, and they probably ignore trifling things like hosepipe bans!

Rant over.

Once at the top of the 4 Meaford Locks, the canal enters a strange section. Initially woods appear on both sides (as well as the railway), but those on the west recede to reveal a post-industrial landscape of demolition rubble and electricity pylons that was once Meaford Power Station. It is a landscape that after many years nature is still having a job to recolonise.

After a while, a chain link fence bars entry to the site, assuming anyone would be foolish enough to try. The fence adds a faintly sinister edge to the surroundings. A guard watchtower wouldn’t be out of place here as an image of a Soviet Gulag somehow springs to mind.

Fortunately, it comes to an end when a bridge crosses the canal carrying a former branch from the mainline railway into the power station complex flanked by a modern electricity sub-station that positively throbs as you go by.

Barlaston announces itself by a charming house with a short mooring arm that once, long ago in the mists of time, was a boatyard. A line of whitewashed terraced cottages flanks the canal. Were they built for the boatyard workers?

Elaine got off at Barlaston Bridge to nip to the adjacent shop for a paper, and once through the bridge we are back surrounded by fields – at least for a while.

We called it a (damp) day at the moorings for the Wedgewood Factory and Visitor Centre. We had intended to stay here another day and go to the Visitor Centre (we have been before, several years ago), but have decided to press on to Stoke on Trent tomorrow in readiness for our train trip to Sheffield on Saturday.

Monday April 16th, Burston - Stone

Not much to report today, just a short trip from Burston to the visitor moorings below Star Lock at Stone. Just 3 miles and 1 lock. We're still mawmbling around killing time so as to ensure we get to Stoke on Trent on Friday ready for the train journey to Sheffield and back on Saturday.

So it will be 2 nights here and then 2 nights at Barlaston before we head into the Potteries proper.

The canal already seems much quieter now that the main Easter holidays have finished, but there are plenty of boats on the moorings here in Stone.

Mind you, it is such a lovely town and so welcoming to boaters. We'll relax this afternoon, have a Morrisons experience tomorrow morning and then go out for a meal at one of Stone's excellent restaurants.

Friday April 13th to Sunday April 15th, Great Haywood - Tixall Wide - Burston

Mooring at Tixall Wide

Friday saw us move all of a mile around the junction onto the Staffs & Worcs Canal to Tixall Wide (or Broad Water) where we winded and tied up. We had an enjoyable stay over Friday & Saturday in mostly sunny weather although there has been a cold breeze blowing. When we untied this morning, it was still bright sunshine and blue skies, but again with that cold northerly breeze.

Having crawled past all the moored boats back to the junction, we turned back onto the Trent & Mersey where to our delight the sanitary station moorings were free.

We pulled in to fill up with water, empty both loos and get rid of the rubbish. Whilst we waited for the water tank to fill, Elaine walked back to the village to get the Sunday newspaper. At least we can exercise the little grey cells in completing the crosswords!

Under way again, it is some significant distance before the throttle could be exercised as we crawled by the long line of moored boats tied up on the Canal Farm Shop’s moorings and past the now not so new marina.

The name, Hoo Mill Lock, gives the impression of a bucolic pastoral scene. In reality it is a bit of a mess with a seemingly disused and largely derelict boatyard replete with shacks and rusting containers. Luckily, Lady Luck was shining on us and the lock was empty and by the time we were ready to exit, another boat was waiting to enter.

Soon after Hoo Mill, again with an incongruous name, comes Pasturefield with its haulage depot and warehouses, sited here to take advantage of the A51 that comes down to the canal side for a short distance.

Never mind – look the other way. Across to the River Trent which meanders along its valley playing with the canal; first coming tantalisingly close and then curving away like a shy teenager on a first date not wanting to go too far. Green pastures abound, as do willow lined river banks rising to a low ridge of hills.

These give occasional glimpses of Ingestre Hall, another of the former homes of the Earls of Shrewsbury like Trentham and Alton Towers. It is now a residential arts centre owned and operated by Sandwell Borough Council.

At Shirleywich, an uneven ground surface and a couple of lakes hint at a former industrial activity – salt extraction. A nearby village is called Salt, just to make it clearer.

Weston Lock

Weston Lock is set some way before the village it is named after. Here again, the lock was empty and ready for us, and a boat appeared round the corner just as we were leaving it!

New housing is moving Weston’s boundaries ever further alongside the canal, now surrounding Weston Wharf with its collection of modern contracting craft. The village has a Derbyshire Trent-side namesake, just to the west of Shardlow. We shall have a similar situation tomorrow.

William Pitt's Column (c. Geograph)

Road and railway, both of which have flirted with the canal now move in alongside as more moorings are passed and the canal moves below a high ridge on the offside. The railway is so close you feel as if you could shake hands with the passengers on the trains as they pass!

The ridge hides Sandon Hall & Park – the home of the Earls of Harrowby. Nothing can be seen from the canal except a tall column topped by an urn commemorating William Pitt, the late C18th Prime Minister.

Sandon Lock was the last of the day - we are hard workers really! Here we had to wait for a boat to exit the lock and this time there was no boat in sight at the top so Elaine had to close the gates for once.

About a mile further on the canal passes under Bridge 85 where clear views of Burston Hall can be had. This Victorian villa has an enormous field coming down to the canal edge which they actually take the trouble to mow. Hope they have a ride-on mower!

Mooring at Burston

It was just through this bridge that we pulled in and called it a day – or in our case a morning. Showers and a home-made casserole await. A lovely morning’s cruise through some unspectacular but nonetheless most attractive and unsung countryside in lovely weather. What more can you ask for?

Wednesday April 11th, Bridge 69 to Great Haywood

After a lovely quiet night, we found ourselves with a nice short cruise this morning, which again dawned bright and sunny. We were soon enjoying a continuation of yesterday’s peaceful and relaxing journey along the Trent Valley.
 
Every time we have cruised past this section before, it has been difficult to pick out Bishton Hall, just a few yards back on the off side before Wolseley Bridge. However, either because the trees are not so far forward (surprising given the mini heatwave through March) or clearance of some trees and scrub, we had a good view today. It is a lovely mid C18th building, now used as a preparatory school.
 
Just through Wolseley Bridge we were hailed by a bloke on a moored boat to see if we had lost a dog. He had found a lovely tan cross breed with white ‘socks’ that had either got lost, or had been abandoned by its owner. We couldn’t help him, and he said he would take it to a nearby dog’s home to where he lives.

At Colwich Lock, the towpath user has to cross the ‘roadway’ of the adjacent bridge with great care. It is used by a herd of cattle to cross from a field on one side of the canal to one on the other. Needless to say the short section of towpath is nothing more than a cow-churned mess of mud and other unmentionable items, particularly after the recent rain!

Shugborough Hall across the fields

     The canal now enters an idyllic section. A high bank rears up on the off-side, with the railway line above. Opposite, the River Trent runs right alongside and slightly below the canal while extensive views open up across Shugborough Park, with a clear sight of the big house, formerly the home of the Earls of Lichfield. We will spend most of tomorrow there.

Mooring at Great Haywood

We were pleased to find a mooring just before the junction with the Staffs & Worcs Canal and the iconic junction bridge. I walked over the bridge to the Anglo-Welsh boatyard to empty the loo, whilst Elaine got rid of the rubbish.

Junction Bridge at Gt. Haywood

 
On the return journey, Elaine met up with another Elaine, who, with her disabled husband Derek, had been on the BCN Explorer Cruise in 2010. They have now sold their narrowboat as the tiller steering was getting too much for them both, and they now have a wheel steered narrow beam Dutch Barge. They actually live in Great Haywood!   

Later, whilst walking to the shop for the paper and canal mags, we met Frank & Gillian on ‘Fragil’ who we had met on the Explorer Cruise last year. We had a good chat with them before they untied and moved off, but Gillian kindly gave us a spare electric card for use in Liverpool which they didn’t use when they were there on 2010. Must be something about the Explorer Cruise!

 
Later on, we walked to the Farm Shop, just the other side of the road bridge. We had cruised past several times in previous years and always said we must go there, but never had. The other Elaine had told us it had recently been upgraded, and we enjoyed our visit enormously. Because our freezer is full of the food we had bought before we set out (especially our village butcher’s products), I had to curb my buying instincts. Mind you we will probably be coming back this way again in the autumn……

Ibex and Ilford approaching junction

In the evening, we wandered up to the bridge to take some pictures and were delighted to see a working pair approach the junction from the Staffs & Worcs Canal. It was ‘Ibex’ in her BW colours towing ‘Ilford’ in her FMC colours returning from a canal festival at Droitwich and on their way back to Stone. It was an education to see how a 70’ pair get round a 90° turn.

Ibex makes the turn

Ilford makes the turn

It was great to watch!

Fradley Junction to Bridge 69, near Wolseley, April 10th 2012

Approaching Fradley Junction

Due to a dreadful weather forecast (which actually turned out to be right), we stayed put yesterday and watched a lot of boaters get wet. Very, very wet! It was an awful day, typical weather for Easter Monday! However, the weather this morning was a complete contrast to that of yesterday – bright blue skies and sunshine which made the whole canalscape around the junction look sparkling.

Middle Lock, Fradley

We were up bright and early this morning as we know how hectic the junction area can get later in the day and we wanted to get away to avoid the queues. As a result we were away at 7.35 and through the swing bridge and round the junction and soon heading for Middle Lock (which is actually the fourth or second of the flight of 5 depending on which direction you are coming from)

We were fortunate to have a boat waiting at the top of Shade House Lock and were soon away through the trees of Fradley and Ravenshaw Woods and through Wood Lock which had a badly leaking top gate paddle.

It was then a most pleasant cruise through the woods and fields, past King’s Bromley Wharf with its gently decaying former dairy building and into the joined up villages of Handsacre and Armitage. The former is quite pleasant to pass through; indeed we have moored there overnight a couple of times, the latter a bit grim.

WC's everywhere

It’s not necessarily Armitage’s fault as the canal does squeeze past the northern edge of the village, hemmed in by the river, railway, sewage works and the huge and still fully functioning toilet factory that is Armitage Shanks! Loos, loos and yet more loos fill the large storage yard. It almost makes you feel that you need to spend a penny.

It is a bit of a relief to get through this section and approach Armitage or Plum Pudding Tunnel. It is a bit of a misnomer to call it a tunnel as the roof of the original narrow bore through the sandstone ridge was removed in 1971. However the road that originally passed over the top of the tunnel has subsequently been improved and widened and, passing at an oblique angle across the canal, forms a “new tunnel”.

Armitage or Plum Pudding Tunnel

It is still very narrow and it is always best to get a member of crew off in advance to ensure the way is clear before signalling that all’s clear. Elaine performed admirably as always.   

     

The large ornate building on the offside is the former Hawkyard Priory, now an events and functions venue. It was built after a member of the Spode family (who lived at Spode House, someway behind the Priory) got religion and donated the land for the priory. You get the chance to take a good look at the Gothic styled buildings as there is a long line of moored boats here.

Hawkesyard Hall

We had thought about stopping at the waterpoint just beyond these moorings, but felt we had enough to last until we got to Great Haywood. Just as well, as a boat emerged from the bridge just beyond to pull in for water and we know from experience how slow that tap is.

Rugeley Power Station had been a feature of the horizon for some time, and again appeared, dominating the northern bank. At least it seemed to, but with the canal winding around a bit; it actually takes some time before you can actually say you are passing it!

We wanted to stop at Rugeley for shopping, but were dismayed to be told by a passing boater that the moorings were full and Rugeley was busy. However, after passing beneath the railway line we managed to find a space just big enough to the south of Bridge 66 to pull in and tie up.

The lady was right. Rugeley was bedlam, especially Morrison’s. However we gamely fought our way round and returned to the canal and the boat to recover.

Under way again we found ourselves in a procession of boats heading toward Great Haywood and being passed by a procession of boats going towards Fradley. The channel through Rugeley is not the widest, and, with all the moored boats, it all made things a bit fraught at times. One boat we passed was also called ‘Patience’ and lo and behold, one of the moored boats also sported our name.

The canal takes its time to shake off Rugeley’s residential suburbs, house and back gardens lining one side of the canal whilst the other bank falls away to the river.

Eventually you realise when Brindley (the canal’s engineer) had gathered up the courage to cross the river as there is a sharp right hand bend and the canal strides across the Trent on Brindley Bank Aqueduct. It is not a vast structure and it is not particularly high above the river, but Brindley didn’t really do aqueducts, and those that he did build are low slung heavy looking affairs.

Mooring near bridge 69

The canal now returns to a north westerly direction as it starts to run under the northern flank of Cannock Chase. We have stopped here several times before near the pig farm, but with glorious views all around. We tied up with lovely blue skies and bright sunshine around us. It has been good to be cruising again.

Sunday April 8th, Hopwas to Fradley Junction

A pleasant day yesterday doing not very much, and watching everybody else go by in the morning and getting wet, but were pleasantly surprised to see a bit of blue sky and feel a bit of warmth as we set off. Can the weather have got it wrong, we asked ourselves? After all, it is Easter Sunday!

The section through Hopwas Woods was most pleasant with the River Tame chuckling away below the towpath. More pill boxes appeared, one by Hopwas Wood Bridge and another out in the open fields. The Civil Defence boys for this area in WW2 certainly took their responsibilities seriously. Mind you, would the Germans really have attacked a load of woods and fields across the River Tame?

By the time we got to the farm bridges around Tamhorn, we realised the weather was just fooling us as a huge black cloud was building up to the north west, and, sure enough, the wet stuff soon started falling from the sky.

It wasn’t the heavy rain that the black cloud seemed to indicate, but that annoying mizzly stuff that doesn’t seem much but soon soaks everything in sight. I do wish spectacle makers would invent a lightweight device to fit to glasses like windscreen wipers on a car. Perhaps with intermittent speeds and a built in glasses-screen wash!

The open fields by Tamhorn House and beyond are dominated by acres of crops under big plastic hoops. The first lot seemed to be protecting ridged-up early potatoes, but the longer section opposite Fisherwick had their closed end to the canal.

As we came out of Whittington and the long line of moorings, we passed Brenda and Brian on ‘Colehurst’. Brenda popped her head out to see how we were and where we were heading for.

Huddlesford Junction

At Huddlesford, we passed the junction with the Wyrley & Essington Canal where it completes its 30 lock fall from Ogley. The joint restoration of this canal and the Hatherton Branch between Pelsall and the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal by The Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Restoration Society is one of the schemes we support. A bit further on, the ex-working boat ‘Hawkesbury’ was tied up right beneath the main line railway bridge. Just as well we didn’t meet another boat there!

Yet another new marina is under construction between Huddlesford and Streethay Wharf. At least it has its priorities right, not like the still uncompleted one at Barby; they have their facilities building built already. Is there the need for yet another marina in this area? Aren’t the empty spaces at Mercia, Barton Turns and King’s Bromley enough? It’s getting as bad as the Braunston area!

At Streethay Wharf we re-passed Geoff & Pat on ‘Shannen’ who were having a pump out done. They had come past us at Hopwas yesterday afternoon.

The next couple of miles are blighted by the A38 dual carriageway, its straight course belying its origins in the Roman Ryknield Street. The noise is deafening as the canal always busy road at Bridge 89, Bell Bridge. This is a very low bridge causing the steerer to crouch Quasimodo style under the wide semi-flat and semi-arched deck.

On the last lap now and we were soon past the modern housing that has built up on the outskirts of Fradley village and on the site of the old airfield. Woods then cloak the canal as it approaches Fradley Junction. We were fortunate to find a space today just long enough for us to fit in. Judging by the number of boats already tied up or passing and the number of day-trippers walking around the junction and locks area, the Easter weekend is perhaps not the right time to get here. We have been very lucky to get a space.
      
At least we could empty the loo! I walked round to the sanitary station between the middle and second lock in the Alrewas direction to empty it. On the way back I timed it just right to open the swing bridge for Geoff & Pat who had by now caught us up! They were going on a bit further today. No doubt we will meet them again.