Tuesday 19th March

We were up early to try and beat Canal Plan. Yesterday we'd gained on it by a couple of hours, but we wanted to try and get a day ahead of ourselves. So we set off with only a cup of tea in our bellies and up the first lock at Gailey by 8.45am. Then I set about making porridge to be eaten on the go meandering our way to Aldersley Junction. We  passed a huge crane erecting a chimney and moored boats with their vents painted as toad stools. The ducks were very lucky on this stretch as we had a full bag of bread for them. At the junction with the Shropshire Union there was a hire boat being reversed out of the stop lock, winding and reversing back in. We slowed and moored for an early lunch as breakfast had been some time ago and there was a lot of work ahead of us.

At 1pm we entered lock 21 of the Wolverhampton 21. It was empty! This should mean that they all would be empty unless two boats had passed each other part way up, but the walls of the lock seemed dry. So maybe luck was going to be on our side. As I closed the bottom gates a chap appeared from nowhere had a little chat with Mick and then came and chatted to me. Now out in the wilds of nowhere you are very relaxed about such things, but for some reason this was a bit different, urban canals! But he chatted away quite happily and then opened up the gate and offering to close it for me. He then followed up to the next lock closed a gate and continued to do so for a little while. The he said that was his lot and was off. Very nice of him to help we thought, I turned round to notice that he was opening the gates on the lock above. Nice chap. Obviously the locks were all empty and didn't have leaking top gates so he could do this for us. On we continued with every lock just sat waiting for Mick to drive into, bliss!

The locks wind up through industrial areas over a distance of nearly 2 miles, under roads, past parks etc. Not much wild life other than a few bobbing coconuts in locks. At the sixth lock Mick pointed out another dalek outpost, a more minor one that before. They must be solar powered monitoring stations for water levels we decided. About two thirds up by a park the gates of the next lock were firmly shut in front of us. Did this mean that every lock from now on was full? Or did the very nice man just live across the park and therefore had headed home. It was the later. So the normal routine returned. 

At one lock there was a rather self assured Mallard who stood and watch my every move, opening gates, closing gates, lifting paddles. He seemed to have a little something to say occasionally too. When Mick had taken the boat out of the lock and I closed the gate it was as if the duck said "About time!" as it jumped in for a swim. At the last lock (or Lock 1) there is a little row of cottages, very well preserved before a patch of grass and then the traffic that is Wolverhampton takes over. Flight completed at 3.55 PM.

 We had various options for mooring, or so we thought! At the top of the locks off side, but right next to a major road junction or continue further on towards  Dudley. Some of the moorings shown in Nicholsons don't exist or are so overgrown you'd have difficulty pulling in. So on we pootled along the Main Line, at Factory Junction we turned right onto the old Main Line and headed to Tipton. At the first moorings marked on the map there were old working boats tied up, so we decided that WD should have some company for the night, and we'd achieved our goal of being a day ahead of Canal plan so it was time to stop.

We'd kept warm doing the locks all afternoon but the last hour or so on the flat had chilled us to the bone. A cuppa and a slice of cake started to thaw us out, but Fish and Chips finished the job later on. Ever heard of battered chips? Well they do them here in Tipton!

16 miles 22 locks

Monday 18th March

We awoke to find thick fog outside. So we delayed the start for a bit. I did some hoovering, Pip did some tidying and we got a washing machine load together and set it going. By then the fog had cleared a bit and further pictures of Tixall Wide and the gatehouse were taken.

We set off and soon came across Tixall lock where there was further evidence of Dalek activity. After the lock Pip went down below to put tonight's tea into the slow cooker. We carried on along the River Sow valley, past Stafford. 

After bridge 89 we went past an idyllic little country cottage. It was a lovely house  with a large pretty garden and a gateway onto the canal towpath. 

It was an almost perfect setting except for one thing: 

The M6 was about 15 metres away!

We then made our way onto Penkridge where we tied up and headed off into the village to get some supplies.Then up through Penkridge lock and we made use of the water point above it to fill our tank. There followed a couple more locks that are sited hard by the the M6. Lots of real world people being busy and quick are very noisily speeding by. A couple more locks took us about a mile away from the motorway and we deemed it quiet enough to moor up for the night. 
Some jacket potatoes got put in the oven and an hour or so later the previously prepared pork stew came out of the slow cooker. Yummy.

Sunday 17th March

We had a slightly leisurely breakfast, unfortunately watching boats heading south which meant that the locks would be against us, but hey that's this trip! The chap on the boat that we'd helped through several locks yesterday headed off into the distance too.

Pooteling along through Little Stoke past all the very new houses there was a dog who was having such a great time on his walk that his tail was about to lift him off the ground it was going round so fast. At Aston Lock we came across a share boat heading up, so we leant a hand. It seemed like they'd not been boating much before. But everyone has to learn. Down the lock and a sharp turn into Aston Marina. It took us a little while to find the pump out and diesel which are located under a bridge in the middle of the marina miles away from the office.

So off Mick went to get a token for the pooh sucky machine and to get someone to fill us up with diesel. When he returned I decided that it was all mens work this, so headed off to investigate the farm shop and butchers. The shop is very lovely and I was tempted by many things yummy to eat, but managed to restrain myself into only buying some Staffordshire cheese and some pork and black pudding sausages. These weren't the cheapest but looked very nice. Quite glad that the syndicate decided not to move there as all our pockets would have been much lighter!

After Mick had filled and emptied WD, he then had to go out back onto the canal to then come back in to get to the shop and pick up coal. Snow looks like it's forcast and we've already got through a bag and a half in a week. As we left there was a boat at the pump out which we managed to squeeze past at the bridge, they were filling their water tank with the rinse out hose from the pump out, Eewww! 

Back out on the canal heading south we passed quite a few very smart houses, they seem to really like their tall chimneys round here.We passed a hire boat that had got stuck on the side, three chaps pushing on their barge pole, we offered to tow them off, but they declined. At the next lock they caught us up and helped closing the gates and paddles. The hire boat we'd seen training yesterday in Stone was having it's cruiser stern mopped as we went past. One of their dogs was sea sick! It did look miserable! Wonder if that'll have any bearings on whether they buy a live aboard? We stopped shortly after for some lunch, it had been a while since breakfast and it seemed that all the locks would be against us anyway. The hire boat and a couple more passed us whilst we tucked into the Staffordshire cheese.

The afternoon was really quite sunny and the threat of rain earlier on in the day hadn't materialised. We pootled on through Weston upon Trent and passed the hire boaters returning from a pint at the Saracen's Head. At Weston Lock I started to fill it when another boat appeared behind us followed by the hire boat and then shortly after that another boat. Queue! At least we were at the front of it! Now even though there were all of a sudden an awful lot of people at the lock it seemed like Mick and I were going to be doing it by ourselves. So I started to walk back to close the gate behind WD with Mick saying in a loud voice "Don't worry I'll close the gate". this seemed to work and a lady from the next boat in the queue came to help close it for us. She seemed knowledgeable, but then asked some very strange questions like " Oh are the paddles down already?" when they obviously were. "What's this? Does it make it quicker if you use this?" referring to a ground paddle (there was also a gate paddle at this lock). On we went and at Hoo Mill Lock they only just caught us up to help close the bottom gates.


At one point we passed a field that looked like it had travellers ponys in it and sure enough they must have been as there was a traditional caravan just by the canal. From Stone southwards I hadn't done before. A few years ago we had done the Four Counties Ring, but I had had to go to Hull for one day to work and had missed this stretch. Mick had Tixel Wide in mind for tonights mooring so we turned onto the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal and pootled until it obviously came into view. We moored up shortly before the sun was  going to set, made a cuppa and wondered at how we would cope with no fair at our side for the night. All this peace and quiet.



There is a rather wonderful Elizabethan Gate House across from the canal which apparently you can rent out for a night or four. The original house really must have been something if this was just the gate house. As the sunset a swan came pecking at the boat demanding food, so I obliged. It really is a beautiful spot, we'll have to come back in the summer sometime.
Sausage and Roast Veg finished off a rather lovely evening.

10 miles 4 locks

Saturday 16th March

We survived the night in the metropolis of Stoke on Trent. Last night's "do" at the Etruia Industrial Museum didn't amount to much and all was quiet.
I went off for a newspaper before breakfast but came back empty handed. I had found two newsagents thanks to Google Maps but neither of them had a Guardian. After breakfast Pip sent me out for the paper on the fold up bicycle and I ended up at Stoke on Trent railway station. There was a woman in front of me in the queue at the station buffet / paper shop who asked for three coffees and could the chap be quick because her train was at the platform outside. I heard a whistle blowing and thought to myself that she should hurry up. However she didn't seem bothered that much. That was until the train started moving then she ran off without paying for the three coffees. I hope she got reunited with her two fellow travellers. 
I cycled back to the boat, we then filled up with water and set off southbound down the Trent & Mersey. The top lock of the Stoke flight requires a handcuff key. We didn't know this so Pip had to wait for me to do the sharp left hand turn before she could get a key from our cupboard and fill the lock. 
We found that we were following a single hander down the Stoke locks so Pip found herself helping him finish off locks before she could fill them. But it didn't hold us up too much. Then the long drag under the main roads of Stoke and out the other side into the wastelands to the south.  We passed a boatyard that advertised "Bait, Tackle, Air Guns, Boats & Engines, Country & Western and Line Dancing". We didn't partake of any of these offerings.
There is a HUGE Sainsbury's distribution depot on the right.

Stoke City were playing at home so there were plenty of jovial supporters walking along the towpath on their way to the ground. 
Then on down through Barlaston where there is a Wedgewood factory and visitors centre but we elected to carry on. We continued to come across the single hander as we dropped down the Meaford flight of 4 locks so Pip helped him out here too. He promised us beers at the Star Inn in Stone that night. It was raining quite heavily by now and we got wet doing the locks through Stone. At lock 28, Yard Lock, a hire boat out of the Stone boatyard came out between us and the single hander. The yard staff were showing them the ropes so this held things up a bit. There was a boat coming up too and this was towing an old butty. So we helped them too. Here they are on their way with WD waiting patiently on the left:

 Then on down the last lock of the day and we start looking for a mooring for the night. There are good moorings here and there were plenty of boats already there. But we find a place and moor up at about ten to six. At six o'clock the local fair gets going up the bank directly next to our mooring. We'd sort of noticed it as we moored but thought it looked like a fair in winter storage. Never mind, we are off to the pub for something to eat and surely it will stop by eleven?
We had a very nice meal with a nice pint (or three) of Banks's Bitter in The Star, there was no sign of the single hander who had promised us beer earlier in the day although he was moored up nearby.
When we got back to the boat at about 9.30 the fair was all finished and silent. Result!

9 miles 14 locks

Friday 15th March

Friday 15th March 2013

Well when we went to bed last night it had been raining for some time and with the help of a torch to see, all the ice had gone. So this morning it was a quick breakfast and off. We couldn't really have sausages two mornings in a row!

But first there was a job that needed to be done. WD got a red nose for the day! We had thought that should anyone notice and smile that we should ask them for a pound, but during the day we saw very few people as it was so wet. As ever on a canal holiday if it's going to rain it will do at locks, lift bridges or anywhere else that you have to spend time waiting or doing things! Today was no exception.

Through the Leek tunnel, there was no ice on the other side as we'd noticed last night. This was a relief it meant that we should be ice free for the rest of the day and we were. Turning left back off the Leek branch we headed for water. Not knowing how long we'd be iced in at Leek we'd started being very frugal with showers etc. At Bridge 28 we stopped and went in hunt of the Spar shop in Endon. Here they sell BW pumpout cards and we thought it might be handy to have one so that we would have more options to empty the pooh tank.A short walk into the village and we found a shop, but not an obvious spar sign in sight. so we carried on, no more shops. Mick got quite frustrated with his phone trying to find where we should be as the rain kept moving everything on the screen. Eventually we wondered back to the shop we'd seen before noticing behind it's security gate a very small Spar sign. Card bought we headed back for some beetroot soup. Then back on with the soggy waterproofs and gloves, approaching the next bridge on a corner what should happen? Yep the first boat we've seen for two days coming the other way! They said the same!On to Stockton Brook locks. The dalek outpost was in action again setting the lock the wrong way for us, all the others were with us!

 At the two lift bridges I got repetitive strain winding the hydraulic gears and only stopping one bike! At Engine lock Mick removed the chimney as we'd had a very very close shave at bridge 9 on the way out. When we reached Bridge 11 it was going home time for everyone, so I managed to stop 11 cars and 1 cat! After seeing next to no one on the tow path all day, we were asked by one of a group of lads if we had any spare toilet roll! Sorry! came our answer, thinking is this just a rouse to get on the boat. When we were going through the staircase lock back into Etruria we had people watching including a group of middle aged men. Whilst deciding where we could moor, they came up for a chat. I explained that it was a shareboat and how much we enjoyed it. Then we were told that if we had any problems that the main chap lived just around the corner. "Well Thank you!" This was then followed by " My friend here is just over from Pakistan could he have a look through your boat?" This was most probably genuine interest but we felt a bit uneasy about it and really wanted to get moored and dry so said sorry.
We've moored up outside Etruria Industrial Museum which seems to be having some sort of a do tonight. There are at least ten cars parked next to the tow path and as I'm writing this they are leaving, blasting their headlights in through our front window, a little unnerving.
Since dark there have been at least two boats up the locks just around the corner  on the Trent and Mersey, here's hoping our mooring quietens down soon. At least the geese have moved on!
Tuna Lasagna put in the oven before a very nice shower.

11.5 miles 9 locks 3 lift bridges

Thursday 14th March

The max / min thermometer last night got down to -8.5C. It made the canal look like this.

It made the inside look like this:

It's not quite as bad as it looks, the inside is really quite warm as the stove stays in all night.

Anyway, the ice was too thick for us to set off. We were in Leek and we had some pork and leek sausages in the fridge so, as we weren't going anywhere it seemed appropriate to have one of these.









We said goodbye to Frank. We were due to drop him off at Etruria in Stoke but there was no way we would make it there today so we found him a bus to Macclesfield where he could get a train to Manchester then Leeds to see his mate there.
We did a shop at Morrisons and lazed away the rest of the day. We decided to stay here in Leek another night tonight. The ice has melted quite a lot here but we weren't sure how things would be further down the cut in the shady woody bits. The forecast is better for tonight and due to stay on the plus side. So we hope to head off tomorrow. I hope we can as we could probably do with a fill up of water.

Zero miles, zero locks.

Wednesday 13th March

No ice this morning. Phew!

Frank went off for his morning stroll but came back without a newspaper. This is a bad thing!

We went for a wonder to Froghall Basin. We can't get there by boat as WD won't fit through. There's a very small tunnel in the way It's only 76 yards long but if prevents most boats from getting to the end of the Caldon Canal.

Froghall Basin is the current terminus of the Caldon Canal (although there was a long since closed extension down to Uttoxeter). 

Limestone got to here from the nearby mine on a tramway and was then processed in these kilns (there probably weren't mole hills around here in 1779). It was then loaded onto narrowboats and sent on its way.

It is a very tranquil place nowadays but in its heyday it must have been very noisy.
In some ways it is good that the tunnel bars the way for most modern day boats as it keeps it a quiet place. 

We set off back the way we came on a really beautiful stretch of canal alongside the Churnet Valley Railway. All the way along here there were smells of tea being cooked, Pip was putting a stew in the slow cooker.
When they built Consall Station I don't think there can have been enough room so they built it out over the canal. We had to make a sharp stop here otherwise we would have bumped into  a boat coming the other way. There was some ice around but it was quite thin and WD easily made its way through it. The blacking is still intact.
The wide river section came next and we were heading upstream. However the current was only slow and there was no problem.

Next came Cheddleton where Frank wondered off to get his daily fix of The Guardian. It was gone 2PM. I think he was getting withdrawal symptoms.

We moored up here and went to visit the Cheddleton Flint Mill. The mill was used to grind flint. It has two waterwheels both of which have been restored to working condition. As we wondered up to the door a woman came out and offered to start the mill up for us. She opened a sluice from the river and the wheel started to turn. Pretty soon it stopped turning and the museum woman couldn't work out why. But we had seen it turning. The other wheel requires two people to operate it so she couldn't start that one up. But we had a good look around. 

There is a steam engine there too.

And lots of snowdrops!

We went on our way, there was very little ice now. The canal twists and turns and is quite narrow in places and manoeuvring can be quite tricky. All the bridges are very narrow, they didn't build this one over gauge. Up the three very pretty Hazlehurst Locks then an extremely sharp left hander to get onto the Leek branch. We are now at the summit of the whole Trent & Mersey system. We pootled along a very manicured stretch of canal. The back gardens that reach down to the canal were all extremely well looked after. The canal clings to the hillside with good views over to the right of the Churnet Valley that we were cruising along a couple of hours ago. Then comes the Leek tunnel. It's only 130 Yards long. Soon we come to a winding hole where there is a sign saying that craft over 45ft long should turn here. We are 58 ft long so we wind and then reverse a few yards up the canal and moor up for the night. We are only a couple of hundred yards from the end of the canal, on the outskirts of Leek.
We ate baked potatoes and the earlier prepared stew and dumplings. Very yummy.
It was a very clear night and the forecast is for freezing temperatures. There was a very thin crescent moon.

 Frank was pleased that the new pope is named after him!

9 Miles, 8 locks.