Up and Over

 After the night at Rode Heath we pushed on, still climbing steadily up to the summit level.

Lawton Treble Locks were the first, just a half-hour up the canal. There's actually 4 here in close proximity, the top one is Hall's Lock. The name for the lower three is a hang over from when there was a triple staircase here before it was replaced by individual locks.

Below the bottom lock a widening of the channel indicates where the cut from the staircase emerged.

An embankment and dip in the field show where the staircase once sat...

And the entrance channel is merely another wide section below Hall's Lock.

There's little evidence of the staircase on the ground now, but from overhead the line curving to the north of the current locks, is easily visible.

After the first four Church Locks come next, two chambers with a very short pound between. The offside locks of both are derelict and overgrown.

We pulled in shortly after these. Amber and I had a couple of lovely walks up in the bluebell-festooned woods nearby.

Friday morning saw us away around half-nine. It's never far between locks up here and our first for then day was just around the corner, past the impressively flowering cherry trees.

There's a straight run of three paired chambers to Red Bull Wharf where we filled with water and disposed of rubbish and recycling.

Red Bull Lock, alongside the pub, has long since lost it's partner chamber, but Limekiln, the next one up, is still paired.

The crossing below the lock is the aqueduct carrying the Harding's Wood Branch over to join the Macclesfield Canal at Hall Green Lock.

We pulled in after another short day a couple of hundred yards above this one.

I let the stove out overnight, Saturday was the day for Harecastle Tunnel and having a lit stove in a tunnel without air shafts isn't recommended... At least it's fairly mild at this time of year.

Leaving Plants Lock, the summit lock on the northwest end of the T&M.

Harding's Wood Junction is where the branch we came under on Friday leaves/joins the T&M. It links here on the summit level, then turns back to cross over Poole's Aqueduct before heading north.

We arrived at the tunnel to find one boat ahead of us and with a wait of about 45 minutes before a couple of north-bound boats appeared. It's only one-way, organised by permanent CRT staff.

There are two tunnels, the oldest built during the initial construction of the canal in 1777 and now derelict, and the later one under the white-painted arch to the left, opened 50 years later.

And we're off, with about 40 minutes of darkness and noise to deal with. Amber wasn't happy, she spent the whole time sat on my feet on the back step.

We emerged at around 11:15 and I pulled in immediately to light the stove. The cold and damp had sucked the remaining warmth out of the cabin.

Then we toddled on for another 20 minutes to pull in on the moorings at Westport Lake.

Having moved for several, albeit short, days on the trot we took a day off at the lake. Amber had great fun chasing the Canada geese, but I had to curb her enjoyment as there were a lot of people about.

So this morning we set off along the long pond to Etruria. I had to make a brief stop at Stoke Boats to pick up a pipe fitting for the remote greaser on the stern gland. I don't want to go into why one was needed; it's too embarassing...

I had to breast up for 5 minutes as it was so busy.

I always find it a bit sad to cruise this stretch. The once prosperous potteries are mostly gone or in a state of imminent collapse. 

There are some survivors, though.

Middleport Pottery was built by Burgess and Leigh in 1889. It continued to ride the uneven economic waves until, under threat of closure due to the poor condition of the buildings, it was significantly restored in 2010 and opened to the public as a working pottery in 2014. It's a popular visitor attraction.

The site of the famous Shelton Ironworks, once employing upwards of 10,000 men in the steelworks and associated mines, is finally getting redeveloped.

  It looks like warehousing and distribution centres...

I'd intended to moor just inside the entrance to the Caldon Canal at Etruria but the moorings were all full. So I came back out and we finished up just above the lock moorings. It's all downhill from here.

 We'll be heading off down tomorrow.

Locks 12, miles 9