On to the Macclesfield Canal

On Monday I went to visit Rode Hall. I was moored about a mile from the hall so was able to walk up to it. The garden (and tea room) opened at 12 noon and the house at 2pm. Although the day was dry to start with, there was a chilly wind. It was pleasant enough wandering around the garden which has a one mile long "pond", a kitchen garden, a grotto and some woodland. The Baker-Wilbraham family still live in the house which has been in their family for over 300 years. Sir Richard himself was manning the door and trying to come to terms with all the different rates - I am a concession AND an Art Pass holder, which complicates things at several venues. The house itself was full of family portraits, one by Joshua Reynolds. and very fine furniture and artefacts, such as local pottery. I went on a guided tour and learnt all about the family history. An ancestor had the folly Mow Cop built as the family's summerhouse; another had the village church at Odd Rode built as their journey to the existing church was too onerous. (I expect it took too long to get home for tiffin). About 3pm it started to rain and rain it did for the next 30ish hours! However, I needed to press on so did some cruising in the rain. Actually it was quite fine rain and I had no locks or lift bridges to contend with so it was okay. Arriving at Congleton about midday, I went for a mooch round the town. It has lots of independent shops and is making an effort to find a selling point - so quite a few interiors type shops. It also has a mill building which houses craft units, etc. I had a look around the tiny museum but they had managed to pack a lot into it and I was there for a good hour. Lots of information about the silk industry, fustian cutting, the civil war and World War Two as there is a connection with Dutch soldiers who came to Congleton when Holland was occupied.(Many married local girls and stayed after the war). There are no new photos as the inclement weather put me off getting the camera out. However, I am going back to some of my earlier posts to add the photos that I took earlier, so do have a flick back over the last two or three posts to see what I have added.

Leaving the Caldon

When the wind finally abated I felt able to handle the next lift bridge. I cruised, in beautiful warmth, to Etruria at the junction of the Caldon & Trent & Mersey canals. Today I faced what I think of as the "scary" tunnel. I will only do Harecastle tunnel from south to North because they close gates at the south portal and switch on giant fans. I like to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was very cool in the tunnel so the sun felt really warm when I emerged. Think I'm having a day off tomorrow to visit Rode Hall.

The old and the new around Etruria, Stoke on Trent:

The old Flint and Bone Mill, Etruria:

Wind stops play

Yesterday I started off reasonably early and made my way through the five locks. No other boats seemed to be about so had to keep stopping to close the gates for each one. By the time I reached the first lift bridge the wind was up so as fast as I hauled Olivia through on ropes the wind was blowing her back! I did manage to get her through but decided to call it a day and moor up before the second lift bridge. I'm only a short walk from a Co-op for supplies and the buses into Hanley. While I was in the Co-op a lad helped himself to a carrier bag full of meat and walked out without paying, cool as you like. It was such a surprise that no-one yelled out and he has seemingly got away with it. In fact, the staff said the same thing had happened twice more recently.

I took this picture on Friday on my way up and you might just spot a goose sitting on her nest in the middle:

Sadly when I came through yesterday she had gone and had left six massive eggs. Shame.

Today was both raining and windy so I abandoned cruising for the day and instead I walked down to Ford Green Hall, a former farmstead built in 1624. It was furnished in the style of a 17th century house and was an interesting way to spend an hour. Then I hopped on a bus into the city again to get one or two items that I needed for the boat. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day and I can make some progress.

It has been so cold that I am still lighting a fire at night. I ran out of kindling and went off in search of some. I enquired at a local garage that was selling coal and logs whether they had any or knew where I could get some. The lady on the till called her colleague over and asked her whether she still has the crates that the fruit and veg came in. She did and she went and fetched them and here is my next couple of days kindling! Kindling from kind people :-).

About turn

It was drizzling this morning but very fine so not too bad. I turned the boat ready to go back on the mainline in a day or two. Cruised through 3 locks and moored close to a bus route so that I could bus into Hanley (Stoke on Trent city centre) and visit the Potteries Museum. It is packed with stuff including the Staffordshire Hoard (much better pieces than in the Birmingham museum), some archaeological artefacts and loads and loads of pottery from ancient history through to all the modern pieces from the local potteries - Minton, Wedgwood, Moorcroft, etc. I could have spent much longer there than I had time for. There was some sort of bike race in the city centre this evening and all the roads were cordoned off. I watched a bit of it while I had a coffee but I hadn't a clue what was going on so it didn't hold much interest for me. That's it for today.

Which way?

Old waterworks on the Caldon. Would it make desirable apartments?

Steaming to Froghall basin

I cruised up to Cheddleton on Saturday and found a lovely quiet spot to moor close to Deep Hayes Country Park. I walked down to the station to find out the details of Sunday's steam trains and to get the lie of the land.

On Sunday I had an early start for me as I had to walk the two miles to the station from my mooring and get the first puffer out of Cheddleton. I love those old trains. I sat in first class and it was like sitting in an armchair. The trip is only 20 minutes and covers five miles but it is a worthwhile thing to do. I used to think people who were "into" steam trains were nerds but now I can see how they get into them. The stations looked fantastic painted up in the original livery and the staff all in waistcoats and caps and shiny buttons. They obviously love all that whistle blowing and flag waving. There were lots of model railway enthusiasts showing off their layouts at the stations at both termini and there were classic cars and a meeting of bikers at the Froghall end. Pleased to see that some of the bikers, all dressed up in their leathers, were of an age more advanced than mine :-). As I am now officially "up north" I had pie, mushy peas and gravy for lunch at the station and they charged a mere £2.65! While I was at Froghall I decided to do one of the recommended walks which was purported to be 2.5 miles long. Well I was walking for two hours with hardly a stop and that would normally be six miles at my average speed, I know I got lost a couple of times but reckon I must have walked at least four miles to add to the two I did earlier. When I got back to Cheddleton locks, the boat that had been my "neighbour" had been out for a daytrip and were on there way back so they offered me a lift. I have to say it was a really enjoyable experience as I could sit at the front and enjoy the canal from a totally different viewpoint to normal. Lovely.

Today I walked in to Leek (another 3 miles) and have been enjoying the arts centre and the heritage. The arts centre is a truly wondeful place, so cosy and welcoming. They have lots of bands visiting (mainly folk oriented) but only charge £12 entrance. I'd like to come back on Thursday to see the Urban Folk Quartet but think I might miss the last bus home!Right now I'm in the Library making use of the free internet access as it is much quicker than my dongle based system on the boat. Unfortunately I can't put up any photos from here but do revisit this post as I will add photos of the train, etc. when I can.

My steam train:

One of the railway buildings:

The Caldon Canal

I am now spending some time on the Caldon Canal which runs from Stoke on Trent to Leek along one branch and Froghall along the other. It is deceptive when you first enter the canal as the first five miles are very industrial and there are no decent places to moor. The canal guide suggests mooring at Hanley Park (a really good resource for the Stokies) but there were many groups of guys sitting on the wall drinking from cans. However, once you leave the urban area behind, the canal is very peaceful and pretty while still showing signs of its industrial past, such as the flint mill at Cheddleton. I last left you after my day at the Wedgwood Factory and to get here I had to cruise up to Stoke and then hang a right onto the Caldon. On Thursday I covered 9 locks, an automated lift bridge and 10 miles - that's quite a lot for me but was due to the sparsity of good moorings through the urban areas. A guy claiming to be a lock keeper was helping us through the locks but I was wary as he had no CaRT logo on his hi-vis vest and was not wearing a life jacket. Anyway he was obviously enjoying himself and he helped speed me through the locks. Today started with two very helpful chaps from the boat moored in front of me (nb Artful Dodger)very kindly fixing up my front fender which had broken loose (not for the first time. It is past its best and I have bodged a few fixes with it over the last couple of years). Note to self: get a new one! This camaraderie is what I love about the canals. They just offered to help.

I cruised about 3 miles today but that included 6 locks and 2 lift bridges. Now the locks are a doddle compared to single-handing lift bridges. I have to take the bowline over the bridge with me, lift the bridge, pull Olivia through and then find a way of passing the bowline under the bridge while trying to grab the stern line so that I can keep hold of the boat enabling me to get back on once the bridge has been lowered again. Great fun and games but keeps the grey matter ticking over with the problem solving. I have had walks on both days, doing four and a half miles yesterday and 7 miles today :-).

Olivia in a lock:

The Leek branch goes over the Froghall branch:

Quaint

Phase 2 begins

I'd a had a busy and very enjoyable sojourn back at the homestead. I went to see "War of the Worlds" on the Friday, Birds of a Feather on Saturday, went to London for my granddaughter's birthday on the Sunday/Monday, joined a friend to watch "A song for Marion" on Tuesday, had car MOT'd on Wednesday and Tai Chi session on Thursday before returning to London to see "The Tempest" at The Globe (my first visit to that establishment).

I travelled back on Saturday using public transport. It took 6 hours using bus to Kettering, train to Leicester and then another to Nuneaton before returning to buses: the first to Lichfield and the next to my final destination. I wanted to make the most of my brand new bus pass :-). The next day I went to visit Phil and Jackie on their boat, Longfellow (I love that name). After that I needed to get provisions from the lovely farm shop at Great Haywood junction. I could have spent a fortune there as the produce all looked rather good and there were many unusual items. By the time I got back on board it was raining so I gave up on the day and decided to leave cruising until Monday. I cruised to Stone and booked Olivia in at the boatyard for an engineer to look at the V(fan)belt.It was a reasonable day and I covered 5 locks and about 9 miles. Tuesday I needed to go through the two locks up to the boatyard. They took one look at the belt and showed me how worn out it was. Luckily I always carry a spare one which they fitted in five minutes. That's a relief as I was concerned that it might let me down. The weather remained fine (despite the BBC forecasting gales and persistent rain) so I carried on up to Barlaston through another 6 locks and 3 miles. It started raining shortly after I moored up yesterday and it rained for well over twenty four hours. However, I lit a nice warm fire and could sit safe and snug and moored close to the Wedgewood Centre and muse that I had very little rain while cruising.

Partly due to the wet weather but also part of my loose plan, I visited the Wedgewood Centre today. It was far better than I was expecting with a tour of the factory where you can see all the various processes being carried out, a museum, craft demonstrations, a factory outlet, restaurant and shop.

Giant Wedgwood

The man himself, Josiah Wedgwood

Here are a couple of pictures from my moorings.

This one is a sculpture of Christine Collins which is at one of the Stone locks. She suffered at the hands of a boat crew when she was being transported by boat down to London. Unfortunately the crew got drunk, one thing led to another and she was found in the canal at Rugeley.