We’ve not got so far, still leaving Bosley Locks till after the weekend. So we left moving on until 11:15, moving off the embankment and over the aqueduct over the old Biddulph Valley Railway.
A loop line of the North Staffordshire Railway, this was built in 1860 and ran from Stoke on Trent to Congleton, rejoining the main line just east of the town, near where we moored last night.
Abandoned in 1968 it’s now a cycleway and walking route from Congleton to Biddulph.
Over the railway aqueduct.
Just beyond the aqueduct is a short arm, originally built to offload stone for bridge building, then used as a transhipment wharf between the two forms of transport. One of the cargos was silk from Vaudrey’s Mill in Bath Vale, half a mile away. It’s known as Vaudrey’s Wharf for that reason.
Vaudrey’s Wharf.
I wonder how deep it is? It’d make a pleasant mooring spot….
Heading towards Buglawton I spotted some logs on the offside, and it was a “do I don’t I” moment, dithering in the middle of the canal. My thrifty nature won (I’ve spent too much time in Yorkshire…), and I loaded 5 suitably sized lumps onto the back deck. We stopped for water at the tap on the offside next to Bridge 68 and transferred them to the roof.
We had a few spots of rain, but decided to push on and moored near Bridge 62.
Moored near Bridge 62
We’ve stopped here before, it’s nice and quiet with a good wide towpath. To the right rises The Cloud, 1100 feet high, and ahead is the 1300 foot Sutton Common with a transmitter mast on the top. It’s just over a mile to the bottom of the 12 Bosley Locks.
I unloaded the logs and unpacked my chainsaw just as a heavy shower blew over. In an hour it’d cleared again, so I got them sliced up and a box full chopped for the fire.
We’ll probably stay here for the weekend, tackling the locks on Monday.
I've given up on the Fuji camera, not having the LCD screen makes it pretty difficult. Todays pics were taken on my Sony Experia smartphone. Not bad, considering.
Locks 0, miles 2¼
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