We woke to a beautiful sunny cold day on Tuesday. There was no wind as can be seen in this
almost upside down picture of a slim bottle kiln taken as we left our overnight
moorings at Middleport pottery.
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| We awoke to a still spring-like day on Tuesday |
After a mile or so we hit our first lock of the day, Stoke
Top Lock. I have included this picture
as it proves I do operate locks sometimes.
Also it was our first descent this year signifying that we are now on
the southern part of the Trent & Mersey that descends all the way to Derwent Mouth where
the canal meets the River Trent near Nottingham.
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| Proving I can operate a lock |
Just before the first lock was the junction with the Caldon canal which is one of our favourite canals. We'll definitely be back there with the new boat as it will be easier to navigate the narrow twisty turns with a shorter boat. At the second lock was a party of schoolchildren who were
learning about cogs and also how locks work.
Unfortunately, due to Health & Safety, they were not allowed to help
us at the lock even though there were some willing hands.
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| Schoolchildren learning about locks and cogs |
This cheeky trainspotter was standing on the lock balance beam when Karen arrived at the third lock.
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| Man waiting to take a picture of a freight train |
We had to remove some things from the roof to get through
this low bridge in Stoke city centre.
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| Low bridge at Etruria, Stoke-On-Trent |
Hanley cemetery is practically in the middle of Stoke but
covers a really wide area with the older graves set well apart from each other –
rather a pleasing sight.
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| Hanley cemetery |
As we left Stoke we passed the Wedgwood factory (I always
forget that there is no ‘e’ in Wedgwood)…
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| The Wedgwood factory |
… and headed for open country again, stopping at the next
village, Barlaston, to use the post office.
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| Between Wedgwood and Burlaston |
More daffs are out on the back deck now and some of the
pansies are blooming. It felt really
spring-like in the sun and we kept a constant look out for butterflies but didn’t
manage to see any.
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| Our colourful deck |
We moored for the day at Meaford after covering 10 miles and
going down 10 locks.
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| Our mooring for the night opposite a new housing estate at Meaford |
Here are the locks not shown above.
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