Monday July 30th, Barlaston - Stone

After recovering from the blowout at the Wedgwood Visitor Centre Restaurant’s carvery, we had a day full of meeting boats. Usually by this time of the year we are cruising a more remote part of the network and we had forgotten just how manic the main routes can be in the summer holidays.

Today’s journey is not one of the most memorable scenic sections on the Trent & Mersey, passing as it does though Barlaston’s seemingly endless back gardens and then through the remains of Meaford Power Station, sub-station and former colliery site.

Eventually, however, you arrive at Meaford Top Lock and start the descent of over 70’ to Stone. Once again the locks are a delight to work, filling and emptying quickly and with bridges at the tail and top gate plank at the top, saving one having to walk to one end, cross and retrace your steps to work the other side.

Boat roller under railway bridge below Lime Kiln Lock

We met one boat climbing up the little flight of four locks before exiting at the bottom before we reached the unmitigated chaos that was Stone locks. At Lime Kiln Lock we had to wait for a hireboat to come in and ascend, and the same happened at the next lock – Newcastle Road Lock. Here Elaine startled a single handed boater who was in the bottom of the lock on his mobile phone. After she had shut the bottom gates for him, he explained that his son worked in Dubai and invariably phoned him when he was in a lock!

Once we had worked through the lock we wanted to stop at the sanitary station to empty the loo. It turned out to be unmitigated chaos. One boat was already filling up with water, another was hovering, waiting to take over, and a partly built boat had been parked by Stone Boatbuilders on the remaining section of mooring. Just as we joined the party, another boat appeared, also wanting to use the facilities!

We ended up breasting up against the new boat, and emptied the loo as quickly, untied and moved off as quickly as we could!

The old workhouse/hospital at Stone, now apartments

Things were not really any better at Yard Lock as we waited for another hireboat to ascend. At least the surroundings are of some interest, the old boatsheds belonging to Canal Cruising Company are amongst the oldest anywhere on the network, and the old workhouse opposite is now apartments having been a hospital in between.

Once through this lock we found three more boats waiting to ascend!

At the bottom lock, Star Lock there were no boats at all, but the combination of moored boats on either side and a stiff breeze caused a momentary worry or two as I waited in mid channel for Elaine to fill the lock.

One of the ascending boats had assured us that there were plenty of moorings below Star Lock, which is where we usually moor. I don’t know which section of moorings she was on about, as they were chock-a-block! We managed to pull in in a slightly illegal position; about 2’ of the back end was sticking into the no mooring section for the winding hole.

After doing the shopping at Morrisons, we were delighted to see that the boat in front of us was untying and we were able to fully legalise our position and move up.

Mooring at Stone

We had intended to stay here a couple of days, using the second day to use a laundrette, but it seems to have transformed itself into a dry cleaners! So we shall move on tomorrow.