Heading Down to the Severn

We've revisited our plans and have now decided to continue down the Staffs and Worcs Canal to Stourport and join the River Severn there.  Since the last posting we have crossed the summit level of this canal at 294 feet above sea level and we are now going down.

On Sunday we left Tixall Wide and climbed five locks to Penkridge.

 This fibreglass narrowboat is called 'True Blue' and we came up the Fradley Locks at the same time a couple of weeks ago.  We were interested to see her out of the water with her owner working on antifouling her.

 Penkridge is a small town with some interesting old buildings, like this one, called "The Old Cottage".

And this is the town jail.















From Penkridge yesterday we climbed the final locks to Gailey after which there follows 10 miles of canal across the summit level before 31 locks will take us down to the Severn at Stourport.

 This is Gailey Lock with Leo coming up.  The round tower was built for the toll keeper on the canal to see boats coming in both directions to ensure that the right tolls were imposed.  The tower now contains a delightful small shop selling canal memorabilia.  We bought a canal plaque of which this shop has a comprehensive stock.

Monday evening we moored close to Hatherton Junction.  The photo shows the canal which used to turn off here heading for Lichfield and Birmingham.  Today the branch goes nowhere but provides mooring for a few boats.

Today we've crossed the summit level to Compton where the first lock going down is reached.  Pas Mèche unfortunately picked up a sleeping bag on the prop coming into the lock.  It took David half an hour to remove it.  This is our worst prop incident yet this year.

This narrow section of canal is called 'Pendeford Rockin'.  Apart from a few passing bays it is only wide enough for one boat at a time.  You can see that this channel is cut down through solid rock.

We passed two junctions today.  This is Autherley Junction where the Shropshire Union Canal goes right under the bridge and takes boats all the way to Chester and Ellesmere Port.  We went that way in 2012.

In the half mile between Autherley and the next junction, Aldersley, there are several pipe bridges and the high railway bridge you can see.  We have read that the pipes are carrying water from Wales to Birmingham.

At Aldersley Junction a canal turns left and climbs 21 locks to the centre of Wolverhampton and leads on to Birmingham.  You can see the first of these locks under the bridge.

These intriguing circular weirs are characteristic of this canal.  This one is at Wightwick Mill Lock.

We passed this swan family this afternoon.  The cygnets must be only a day or two old.

And here we are moored at Dimmingsdale.  You can see from the state of the towpath that it has been a bit wet lately.  We've had a succession of heavy showers both yesterday and today.  We are looking forward to drier weather promised for later this week.

We have the delights of Kinver and Stourport to look forward to before we join the Severn.  Depending on how much sightseeing we do we will be on the big river sometime this coming weekend.

Heading South now

We really enjoyed our few days cruising the Caldon Canal.  This must surely be among our favourite canals.  It is challenging to cruise with narrow bridges, tight turns and has superb scenery.  And of course this time we managed to get Leo through the very low Froghall Tunnel having decided against such an attempt last time we came this way.

But all good things come to an end so we have now come back to Etruria and returned South down the Trent and Mersey Canal to Great Haywood.

Coming back along the Caldon Canal above Stockton Brook Locks we met these working boats and had to wait for a little while before we could pass.  Canals and Rivers Trust are improving the towpath.

And here is the queue of boats behind us, also waiting.  It is not common to find traffic jams on the waterways, but here is one.  Pas Mèche is the first boat behind with Wagtail behind them.

Here we are moored for Wednesday night at Etruria.  You can just make out the double staircase lock behind on the right.

This ginger cat lived on the boat moored behind us and came to spy out Leo.












On Thursday we returned to the Trent and Mersey and went down the Stoke Locks and a few miles further, stopping around lunchtime at Barlaston.

We passed this swan family on our way.  Never seen so many cygnets in one brood.

The main reason for mooring at Barlaston was to visit the Wedgwood Factory, where the famous pottery is made.  We particularly enjoyed the factory tour.  The quality of craftsmanship was very impressive, particularly the moulding and attachment of the white reliefs onto the blue jasper ware that we all think of as the hallmark of Wedgwood.  The machinery used today is pretty much the same as in Josiah Wedgwood's day in the 18th century.  The restaurant was also pretty good too and we had lunch there.

On Friday we carried on to moor at one of David's favourite spots in Stone.

How about this - your own dock for your narrowboat in the garden!  This is at Barlaston.  You might also be able to make out the set of balance beams for lock gates positioned in the grass to the right of the boat.

David was right - it is a very nice mooring in Stone just above the bottom of four locks through the town.  This picture was taken from one of the bridges over the canal and you can see Pas Mèche with its green 'pram hood' and Leo moored just in front.  David and Ian are probably talking boats or engines.

While Ian was doing some touching up of the paint scratched in the Froghall Tunnel, Helen went for a walk down to the River Trent.  Here you can see the bridge over the river with canoe slalom gates below.

And here is a canoeist having a go.













We had a drink last night in the Star just below the boats.  This pub has the distinction of an entry in the Guiness Book of Records for all its rooms being on a different level.

Today in somewhat stormy weather we've come down to Great Haywood and turned onto the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal heading for Wolverhampton.

I did say stormy and this was the sky behind us at one point.

We do like the signs at canal junctions and this is a particularly fine one at Great Haywood.  We had come from the Potteries and are now heading to Wolverhampton.

This bridge which is only wide enough for horses and pedestrians has 14 arches and crosses the River Trent to give access to Shugborough Hall.

We were lucky enough to see this fuel boat and butty come up Haywood Lock and then turn left at the junction.  It was fascinating to see the experts handling two 70 foot boats with each having to go through the lock separately.  And we reckon that navigating a single 57 foot boat is a challenge!





Tonight we are again moored on Tixall Wide where we were about 10 days ago.  It is a lovely spot only a mile or so from the junction.  In the next few days we will be climbing gradually to the foot of the huge lock flight up to Wolverhampton and then on into Birmingham.  It is a well known canalling fact that Birmingham is at the top of the hill.

Enjoying the Caldon Canal, including Froghall Tunnel

 Since our last posting we have met David and Victoria on their boat Pas Mèche and we are now exploring the Caldon Canal with them. I would have done a posting before but the Caldon Canal is out in the wilds and we have had very little mobile signal.

On Thursday we carried on climbing up the locks on the Trent and Mersey, arriving in Stoke on Trent in late morning. The five deep locks in Stoke are tucked away among modern roads and railways, sometimes being approached by narrow tunnels under main roads.

Here we are just coming to the first of the five Stoke locks.  This one appears to have been entirely reconstructed, presumably as a result of later developments.

This lock brings you up level with the railway that Leo had just passed underneath to get into the lock.  Shame about the graffiti.

This is looking back to the top lock on the right.  This is Etruria Junction where the Caldon canal leaves the Trent and Mersey.

There are still a few of the old pottery kilns by the canal that tell you without doubt that you have arrived in the Potteries.

 This pottery seems to be still involved with the industry.

Here is one of the characteristic bottle kilns.  There are still a few left.

Though it was not the way we would be travelling, we carried on for 3 miles beyond Etruria Junction to Westport Lake where we had arranged to meet David and Victoria. Rounding the corner we looked to moor and then spotted David waving from the top of their boat.

Here you can see David standing on their roof taking a picture of me taking a picture of him!  Fortunately there was a space for us just behind them.

And here are the two crews united after three weeks travelling.

We were delighted to finally meet with David and Victoria on the exact day we had planned! On Friday we first had to turn round so we had to go a further mile to the Harecastle Tunnel where there was a winding hole, albeit a very tight one.

In the middle of the square building is the entrance to the tunnel.  Underneath the house is the entrance to the original tunnel built by James Brindley.  This has now been abandoned because of mining subsidence.

We then returned to Etruria where we turned left at the junction to explore the Caldon Canal. 

Around the first corner after the junction is this double staircase lock.  Interestingly the top lock is deeper than the bottom one which has a cunning overspill weir in its side to get rid of the extra water.

There are a couple of lifting bridges on the Caldon.

That night we moored at Stanley Moss near the Stoke Boat Club.  Here is Leo looking out at the views.

 We were invited for tea on Pas Mèche and were surprised to see this wonderful spread of gifts to thank us for helping them on various jobs recently.  The strange blue gloves are for going down the weed hatch and jolly good they are too.  We were very touched by the generosity and the surprise presents.

Just before we moored there is this curious obstruction in the canal.  It was in fact the pivot of a railway swing bridge which has long disappeared.

Having moored at Stanley Moor out in the country beyond the suburbs of Stoke on Trent we carried on Saturday to Hazelhurst Junction and took the right turn onto the Leek Branch. This is like a motorway junction where you turn right to go left. Half a mile beyond the turn the Leek Branch crosses an aqueduct over the other branch which by this point has descended three locks. It was very slow going as the canal is very narrow, windy and shallow. The scenery however is spectacular as we cruised up the narrow unspoilt valley of the River Churnet. We arrived at the end of the Leek Branch of the Canal at lunchtime and wandered into Leek in the afternoon.

This is Hazelhurst Junction.  The branch to Leek goes under the bridge to the right.  The Froghall branch goes into the lock you can just see under the bridge on the left.

This is the view down from the aqueduct to the Froghall branch below us.

There were spreads of bluebells under the trees.

Towards the end of the Leek branch is a short (130 yards) tunnel.  It is definitely only wide enough for one boat at a time.

In the window of a cake shop in Leek we saw this fantastic panda cake with a collection of reclining pandas among bamboo sticks.

This is the main square in Leek.  The extensive market was drawing to a close when we arrived.  There is another covered market too.  Though a mile away from the canal up quite a hill, the town is quite pretty.

On Sunday we returned to Hazelhurst Junction and took the other branch towards Froghall. From the junction the canal falls through 3 locks and then goes under the Leek Branch. A chap at the top lock told us that the markers for the Froghall Tunnel are about 4 or 5 inches too pessimistic. So an idea took root to see if Leo would go through.

Here we are about to pass under the aqueduct you saw from above earlier in this posting.

Because it was a Bank Holiday weekend the steam trains were running on the preserved railway down the valley of the Churnet.  This train is just about to pass over a very low and narrow bridge on the canal.

We spent Sunday evening at Consall Forge on part of the Canal that uses the River Churnet rather than a separate channel. A drink at the Black Lion right by the canal and the railway was a must. Helen and Ian went for a lovely walk here high up the steep valley sides above the canal. The land round here is a series of isolated, wooded valleys and very beautiful.

On Monday we made preparations for Leo to pass through the Froghall Tunnel (Pas Mèche is unfortunately too tall to fit through). We took the canvas off the corners of the front of the cabin and padded them with an old inner tube.  We put the anchor on the front deck to weight it down. Froghall Tunnel is extremely low, though only 60 yards long. Many boats will simply not fit through it. 

As you come out of Flint Mill Lock, the last before the tunnel, there is this gauge which allows you to assess whether your boat will fit through the tunnel.  It was this gauge that our friend had told us was unduly pessimistic and Leo nearly went under this.  So the omens were good.

 Here we are in the tunnel.  Having lined the boat up with the engine, we then turned the power off and pushed the boat through by hands on the roof of the tunnel.  David crouched in the middle at the front with Helen and Victoria watching the edges of the cabin roof at the front.  Ian watched both sides of the back of the roof.  The clearance was an inch or less in places.  It is the width and height of the cabin roof that is crucial.

 

Beyond the tunnel is a couple of hundred yards of canal and then a lock which lets the boat down into a lovely mooring basin where you can see Leo moored.  Sadly it is little used because of the difficult tunnel.  The canal used to continue to Uttoxeter, but now this is as far as you can go.

After celebrating our success in passing through the tunnel (albeit only with coffee), we welcomed Victoria's Mum and Dad onboard for the return trip through the tunnel. Going back was marginally easier, though it would be offensive to mention the effect of the two extra bodies on the front.

We moored just short of Cheddleton and had a drink in the Boat Inn, which was very friendly and served excellently kept Marstons bitter.  Today we've had a pretty easy day after all the excitement of Monday.  We had lunch at the Holly Bush at Denford and moored back on the summit level at Park Lane.

Cheddleton Mill is well worth a visit.  One of the volunteers showed us round.  There are two water mills side by side which were used for grinding flint used in making pottery.  The cottage on the right is occupied by the daughter of the last miller and she is now 98 years old.  Her husband turned 100 a few weeks ago.

This is just past the Holly Bush before passing under the aqueduct carrying the Leek branch and ascending the three locks back to Hazelhurst junction.

Tomorrow we plan to retrace our steps back to Etruria and then we shall be travelling South down the Trent and Mersey to Great Haywood.