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: