North to Stoke on Trent and beyond

We've passed another couple of canal junctions in the last two days and we are now on the Macclesfield Canal. So here are photos and an account of an eventful few days:

This photo is taken at Hoo Mill Lock shortly after Great Haywood Junction. Why the split bridge? The answer lies in the time when boats were hauled by a horse walking along the towpath. The gap in the bridge allowed the rope joining horse to boat to pass through as the boat was pulled into the lock.

Sunset on Tuesday while moored at Burston

A typical milepost on the Trent & Mersey. This one at Aston Lock marks the half way point on this canal, being 46 miles from each end. We are heading towards Preston Brook which is near Runcorn.

Arriving in Stone we passed this fine building which was once the workhouse and is now converted into flats. The green flag is from the Environment Agency.

Coming through Stone took us past the old Joule's Brewery shown here. Actually the beer is now brewed in Market Drayton, but we were able to sample some which was very quaffable.

By Newcastle Road Lock in Stone this tunnel crosses under the road beside the lock. It was originally built to take the horses through to re-attach to the boat below the lock.

Leaving Stone we soon came to the four Meaford Locks.

Coming into Stoke on Trent we crossed this aqueduct where the canal narrows. This was our last encounter with the River Trent which comes in from the east at this point from its source a few miles away. It is little more than a stream here.

I couldn't resist the name!

So who is this dancing gent? This is 'Rob The Lock' who makes it his job to help boaters through the locks round here. We had earlier met Rob at Trentham Lock where he was waiting for his single boater to help up the Stoke Locks. You are very likely to meet him if you are going through locks in this part of the world, as we have done in previous years. He uses a bike to get between the locks and this photo shows where we met him again at Stoke Bottom Lock. For those that know Rob the big news is that he got married in February and he was proud to show off his wedding ring and a picture of his bride. Good to see you again, Rob!

Lock 2 in this flight of 5 deep locks passes under the railway shown here and then rises above it.

Near the top is the Etruria Bone and Flint Mill shown here. On a few days a year the steam engine that powers this is going, but not when we passed.

And this is Etruria Junction shown looking back from near where we moored having arrived in Stoke. To the right is the top lock of the Stoke flight which is extremely deep (perhaps 12 or 13 feet). To the left the Caldon Canal branches off and runs for 17 miles to Froghall in the Churnet valley with a short branch to the town of Leek. We stayed straight ahead this time on the Trent & Mersey.

This morning we carried on through Stoke passing the Middleport Pottery. For TV addicts, this is where the Great Pottery Throwdown has been filmed.

Only a few pottery kilns remain from the hundreds that used to characterise Stoke.

A few miles north of Stoke we came to the Hardcastle Tunnel shown here. We had to wait our turn as boats only pass through in one direction at a time. The tunnel does not have any ventilation shafts so, once you get into the tunnel, a door is closed and powerful fans drive a flow of air from north to south. This made the passage through pretty chilly. The tunnel is more than a mile and a half long and takes over half an hour to get through. When we got to the north end the sun was shining!

Water flows into the tunnel bore from drains that take it around the structure. The water becomes stained this orange colour by iron ore deposits. And yes, some water did fall on our heads from drips coming through the roof.

And here is our last junction for today - Hardingswood Junction where the Macclesfield Canal heads left under the bridge to leave the Trent & Mersey. Straight ahead you can see the top locks that start the long descent from here on the Trent and Mersey towards Middlewich and Runcorn. We turned left here onto the 'Macc'.

Here is the sign at the junction. This shows that we have come from Stone and are heading towards Congleton and Macclesfield and ultimately to Manchester, 43 miles away. Hardingswood Junction resembles modern motorway junctions though it is obviously much older. Having turned left at the junction by this sign, the canal swings right to cross the Trent & Mersey on an aqueduct, the latter having dropped down 2 locks by this point.