 |
| Sign welcoming canal users to Stone - our home for the last two days |
As expected it poured with
rain from about midnight on Tuesday, but I’ve mentioned before that we like
listening to the rain when it’s coming down hard on the roof - we find it
soothing. We sleep at the front of the
boat and have one of the front doors open all night for fresh air, so we also
get the sound of rain falling on the canvas cratch – the same sound as if we’re
in a tent 😊
It was still pouring in
the morning and not due to stop until lunchtime, so we decided to stay in and
cruise in the afternoon. Writing this
blog entry and talking about the weather has reminded me how easy it is to get
obsessed by the weather; I seem to have mentioned it every day for weeks as it
has been so variable so please accept my apologies ☹
We had our usual salad for
lunch followed by fresh fruit salad.
When Karen was working I made her a packed lunch of salad and fruit
salad every day and had the same myself.
We have carried on with the tradition and for variety Karen generally
makes soup for weekend lunches.
The rain did stop during
lunch and we set off from our mid-town mooring at Stone at one. We were straight into Yard lock which, with
all the rain, had water flowing through it and over the bottom lock gates.
 |
Karen off to get Yard lock
set
|
It was windy, and I
struggled to get the boat over to the lock landing but finally managed it
without embarrassment. Just above the
lock is the impressive looking bottle warehouse that used to house bottles of Joule’s
Stone ale prior to being shipped all over the world. This is the building depicted on the welcome
to Stone signs as you enter the town by canal – see picture at the top.
 |
The old Joule’s bottle
store
|
Before the next lock we
pulled in at the boatyard to fill up with diesel and buy the necessary
consumable for the next engine service.
Their pump out truck always brings a smile to our faces:
 |
We left the boatyard and
went straight into Newcastle Road lock which is unusual as it has separate
tunnels for the towpath and boats under the road.
 |
| Newcastle Road lock with separate tunnels under the road for boats and horses |
One more lock and we were
out of Stone and after a mile or so were going up the four locks on the Meaford
flight. The first three locks on the
flight were installed in 1831, 60 years after the canal was opened. They replaced a staircase of three locks, the
remains of which can still be found by lock 33 and parts of it act as an
overspill channel.
 |
All rather overgrown but the entrance to the staircase was on the right and yes, by pure coincidence, that’s another
stanking plank shelter 😉
|
 |
The overspill weir
|
The replacement locks were
built at a later date so are of a different style to others on the
T&M. For example, they have split
walkways like those on the Stratford canal that enabled the horses to lead
boats into the lock without having to be unhitched.
 |
Split bridge at lock 33
|
The towpath was closed
just before the top lock; clearly there had been a vehicle collision with the
bridge parapet. Judging by the state of
the fallen masonry it looked to be fairly recent. Also, the bricks and coping stones etc. are
usually tidied up pretty quickly so they can be reused:
 |
The towpath crossed to the
other side half way up the flight but crosses back again about a mile later at
bridge 100 which is called Turnover bridge.
Turnover bridges are fascinating as they’re designed to allow towing
horses to cross the bridge without being unhitched from the boat.
 |
If a horse was towing us
it would walk up the ramp on the right, cross the bridge, come down the spiral
path on the left to then go under the bridge – ingenious 😊
|
 |
The next village was
Barlaston but before getting there the canal runs as close to the railway line
as seems possible, probably only rivalled by the railway on the Caldon canal
where Consall station platform was built half over the canal (click here for our visit there in June 2015).
 |
The train driver tooted
and waved😊
|
After passing the Wedgwood
factory, at Wedgwood funnily enough, we approached Trentham lock, our last of
the day. This is on the outskirts of
Stoke on Trent and a 'welcome' sign appears by the lock:
 |
It was really rather windy
approaching the lock and as I thought it was emptying I hovered around rather
than mooring up and waiting (hovering is not a clever thing to do in the
wind). As it happened the lock was being
filled but the guy operating it hadn’t dropped one of the bottom paddles fully,
so some water was still coming through making me think the lock was
emptying. I decided to moor up rather
than fight the wind, but Karen caught me having a moment when the tail end got
caught in a sudden gust…
 |
…but I soon straightened
her up as if nothing had happened 😉
 |
After going through
Trentham, we moored up at the last bit of countryside before Stoke and enjoyed
wonderful sunshine for the rest of the evening.
 |
Moored up on Wednesday
evening
|
 |
Our view across the Trent
valley
|
We cruised six miles and up
eight locks during the day. Tomorrow we
will go into Stoke as we need to pick up some train tickets from the
station. If we have time we will then
carry on to Harecastle tunnel, and if we get there by three, we will go
through. You have to arrive by then to
be guaranteed passage as it’s a one way only tunnel. It doesn’t matter if we don’t make it as it’s
nice and quiet with plenty of mooring at the tunnel entrance.
 |
| Our journey since leaving Flecknoe ten days ago |
No comments:
Post a Comment