Stone Common Plott

No, not a typo, that’s what it says on the sign…

The common is an area of rising ground north of the railway and east of the town. There are good views from the higher areas…

South-west

North-west

Even at this low elevation there are 2-3 foot drifts against the hedges.

Ann in Bonnington mode

The dogs loved it, chasing around like a pair of spring lambs. Molly has a bit of a sore paw, but it didn’t slow her down this afternoon!

Meg looks on from the top of Mudley Pits, believed to be earthworks erected by the Duke of Cumberland to protect his artillery from Bonnie Prince Charlie’s advance in 1745.

We’re definitely moving tomorrow…

Just picked this up on NB No Direction’s blog, well spotted Ray or Jayne…. You couldn’t make it up, could you.

Just a Stone’s throw…

Saturday and yesterday we came up through Stone, moving from below Star Lock to the straight below Meaford Locks.
It turned into two days because we needed water on Saturday morning, or we would probably stayed put and done the whole 1¼ miles in one go!

Above Star Lock, we moored overnight on the right, next to the car park

Handy for the shops, but no grass for the dogs.

Yesterday we steadily moved the rest of the way, taking it carefully on the locksides with ice and snow making footing treacherous.

In Limekiln Lock







Above the lock is the basin that The Canal Cruising Company calls home. Established over 60 years ago, the company is still family owned, and has been operating longer than any other hire fleet.

Those who know Mags will also know why we never hired a boat from this yard; she hates green!

Newcastle Road Lock lies right alongside the road, there’s a hole under the road for the lock, and another alongside for the boatman and his horse.

Newcastle Road

Icicle sculptures under the railway bridge

We joined Ann and Chas on board NB Moore2Life for an excellent Sunday lunch, then settled down to watch an eventful Malaysian Grand Prix.

Ann dishing up, Chas warming up the wine…

Stone has always had a close association with the Trent and Mersey Canal, the company headquarters were here and the opening ceremony was held here in 1777, amid much celebration and the firing of a cannon volley which resulted in damage to one of the locks!

A more tragic association involved the death of a young woman in 1839. Christina Collins was a passenger on a Pickfords boat travelling from Preston Brook to join her husband in London. Apart from cargo, some boats had limited passenger accommodation and this was a cheaper alternative to the coach.



On arrival at Stone she spoke to the company agent, concerned about the behaviour of the boat crew. Often drunk, she was afraid of their attentions. The agent told her to report their behaviour at London when she completed her journey. But she didn’t make it, her body was found in the canal near Brindley Bank just this side of Rugeley. She’d been raped and murdered.
The two adult boatmen were hanged in Stafford, the boy transported.




Alongside Workhouse Bridge in Stone there’s a wooden sculpture dedicated to the memory of the unfortunate woman.

“Chistina”, by Simon Jones

Not sure what we’re doing today; it’s still bloody cold out there even though there is the odd splash of sunshine!

Locks 4, miles 1¼

Not going anywhere…

I don’t envy any boaters who have to move today!

It’s not just the snow, there’s a bitterly cold easterly that’s driving it.



It started snowing around ten last night, but it wasn’t settling then.

Still, there’s one individual who enjoys it…

We were thinking of moving up a bit, there’s a space on the offside moorings above Star Lock, it’s easier access to the town centre from there for Mags, and it’s market day today. But this has put us off a bit, and probably a lot of the stall-holders too!

There’s always tomorrow; market days are Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. There’s a Farmers Market first Saturday in the month, Craft Market second Saturday.

A boat has just gone past, a hire craft form Canal Cruising here in Stone. I imagine he’s got to get the boat back today. Not too far to go then. Not had the best of weather, though.

Locks 0, miles 0

First day of Spring? Yeah, right!

That’s it, it’s the Vernal Equinox, it’s officially Spring. Not that it feels like it, and the forecast for the next few days is worse, with snow, freezing nights and strong easterly winds.
I was tempted to misquote Robert Browning – “Oh to be in England now that Spring is here” – Home thoughts, from Abroad, written in Italy in 1845. The actual quote is “….now that April’s there”

I just hope that I’m not going to ironically use the line in a 12 day’s time….

A glimpse of spring, dwarf daffs near Stone

We left our mooring near Bridge 85 this morning over half an hour after Chas and Ann on Moore2Life. It takes us a little longer to get organised these days.
And I was chatting on the towpath with blog readers Roland and Bev who’ve just finished their winter lay-over in Aston Marina. Good to meet you, have a good summer (if we get one).
I didn’t have my camera to hand, so didn’t get a picture, but as a consolation prize here’s one of your boat…

Fine looking NB Klara

We had just one lock today, Aston Lock just beyond the marina.

Tinwork dragon at Aston Marina

Looking back at Aston Lock

These next handful of locks are deeper than those further down the valley, around 8 or 10 feet as the gradient increases up to Stoke.

We pulled up behind M2L on the 5 day moorings below Star Lock.
Tomorrow, before the forecast snow arrives, we’ll maybe move up through the locks and wait out the weather below Meaford.

Our hearts go out to the family of six year old Imie, drowned in the Staffs and Worcs Canal near Kidderminster yesterday. We often moor near to where the tragedy occurred, at Wolverley Court Lock. Unsupervised kids and water, a dangerous combination.

Locks 1, miles 3½

All together….

…Arrr!

This afternoon’s stroll took us up into Burston village, which has a picturesque village pond.

Burston Pond
It’ll look great in a couple of weeks when the surrounding daffodils come out.

Locks 0, miles 0

A Good Haul

Did well for freebies today. First off someone had left a piling hook at the water point, then, as we pulled off after using the facilities, we picked up something on the prop. I persevered till we got up Hoo Mill Lock, hoping it would clear on it’s own, but had to delve in the dingy recesses of the weed hatch when we were out.
A length of rope was around the shaft, pulling it up revealed a shackle, followed by a rubber fender.

I wish every trip “down under” was as productive!

Getting onto the facilities wharf was as difficult as usual, with a three-way junction and a hire base here, there tends to be boats milling about, even on an off-season Monday morning.

Traffic Jam…

The hedge has been cut back and layed alongside Hoo Mill Lock, revealing an old steam engine in the remains of a shed.

Pump, maybe? Certainly 19thC portable power.

The gloomy start to the day cleared, leaving us with a fine sunny cruise. Still cool in that north-easterly, though.

Cruising the Trent valley

If I was forced to choose, I think Weston Lock would be my favourite on this stretch of waterway. It’s away from the village, and is on the middle of an “S” bend so you come across it unexpectedly.

Weston Lock
There is room for just one boat above and below the lock at the end of the landings, and with no roads anywhere near it’s very peaceful for an overnight mooring.

Salt Bridge, No. 82

If you’ve got to build a brick arch, why not make it decorative as well as functional?

It’s that time of year again….

We pulled in above Sandon Lock, between Bridges 84 and 85. There’s good length of piling here, and the grassy towpath is pretty dry.

Moored behind Moore2Life between 84 and 85

Ann and I took the dogs for a circular walk along the towpath, across the fields, along a path ankle deep in sheep poo and back along the road to the canal.

Just right for lamb chess…
White ones….

…And black ones!

Keep looking guys, I’m sure I dropped it here!

It looks like tomorrow could be much the same as today, but a little cooler. We’ll probably move up to Stone in the morning.

And John Sage has acquired another puncture! Although it could be my repair from the other day. It’s in the same area…


Locks 3, miles 6

A bit of Shugborough

Meg and I had a walk around this end of the parkland around Shugborough Hall. It’s right alongside the canal, so easily accessible.

The crossing of the Trent pre-dates the current hall by nearly 150 years, built in 1550 by the Earl of Essex. The oldest part of the hall dates from around 1693. A manor house, previously owned by the Bishops of Lichfield, was demolished to make way for William Anson’s new residence.

Essex Bridge 

Only 14 of the original 40 arches remain.
Just upstream of the bridge the River Sow swells the waters of the Trent.

Confluence of Sow (middle) and Trent.On the left is a stream coming in from an ornamental lake in the park.

We followed the coach road from the lodge through a short yew-tree avenue, to where it used to cross the river.

Wonderfully gnarly yews

And a magnificent cedar

The river bridge is long gone, washed away in one of the regular floods that inundate the river valley. All that’s left is some cast iron railings on the approach and a dressed stone abutment.

We walked along the west bank of the river, then swung right into the estate, past the working home farm.

Fine animals, itchy Angus on the left, Charolais on the right.

Now that's just rude!

Our circular route took us back to the lodge, where the gates to the coach road are being restored.

Splendid cast iron finials

Did you think I’d let you get away without the obligatory shot of Shugborough Hall?

It was a bit dull this morning, but brightened up to give us a mainly sunny afternoon. Wasted really, I watched the Australian GP.
A good solid drive by Kimi Raikkonen in his Lotus Renault gave him a victory ahead of the more favoured Ferrari and Red Bull cars. McLaren struggled with performance all weekend, and Lewis Hamilton’s debut with Mercedes gave him a moderate 5th. They’ve time for a quick breather before Malaysia next Sunday.

Meanwhile we’ll be toddling on a bit further, maybe aiming to get to Weston tomorrow.

Locks 0, miles 0

Friends at Great Haywood

We moved up to Great Haywood today, with Chas and Ann off NB Moore2Life meeting us at Colwich Lock.

Lock gate heaving at Colwich

They joined us aboard for the second half of the trip to Haywood Lock, recently reopened after winter maintenance.

Chas inspecting the repairs at Haywood Lock As a listed structure the lock chamber has to be repaired using the original methods. The lime mortar used for pointing is still soft, though. Maybe the mix was a bit wrong. This is a problem when repairing these old, preserved chambers.
English Heritage insist that original materials and techniques are used, but sometimes the skills are no longer available. In certain circumstances the use of modern materials should be permissible, after all the coping stones here are being bashed around in the 21stC, not the 18th.

Chas and Ann came round for a cup of tea and a chat this afternoon, then Ann and I took the pooches out for a good walk.
We’ll be seeing quite a bit of them in the coming weeks, both boats are heading in the same direction till early May.

After a very wet night and damp early morning, the mid part of the day was fine and mild. The wind that plagued us yesterday has moved elsewhere, for a bit.

I settled down to watch the qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix this afternoon, the first race of the 2013 Formula 1 calendar. It was cut short, though. Heavy rain made conditions treacherous and several cars were damaged before the session was postponed. Now the second and third phases will be run before the race tomorrow. Could be a long day for those drivers.

Locks 2, miles 3

“Beware the Ides of March!”

Said the soothsayer to Julius Caesar. At least according to Shakespeare’s version of events. This was 44BC, 2027 years before Mags and I married, with no such dire prediction. It wasn’t an auspicious day for Julius, but it worked out well for us.

30 years on and she’s not lost that twinkle in her eye…

To celebrate we had our longest cruise of the year so far, 8½ miles in 3¼ hours.




The weather wasn’t as bad as the weatherman predicted, a bit damp at times, and breezy, but nothing exceptional.

We had a late start, though, not getting going till 11:30, heading along the long straight through Ravenshaw Wood.

Ravenshaw Wood

Alongside the canal through this and Fradley Wood there are dozens of these boxey containers fixed in the trees, and marked by a piece of plastic tape. I’m guessing it’s some sort of monitoring project, they are far to numerous to be nest boxes. Maybe something to do with the imminent arrival of HS2?

One business that still seems to be doing well is the euphemistically named “sanitary ware”. Lots of loos outside Armitage’s, in the town of the same name.

Between Armitage and Rugeley there used to be a short tunnel through a sandstone ridge, but this was opened out fairly quickly when the unstable nature of the rock was recognised. Since then the widening of the A38 has led to it being partially “tunnelised” again.

Armitage “Tunnel”

Just beyond are permanent moorings alongside Hawksyard Priory. Wee Willie Winkie still keeps an eye on things, though the traditional candle has been replaced by an LED lantern…
The Dutch barge in the foreground, and the narrowboat next along, are both for sale.


£52,000 and £40,000 respectively.

Rugeley was busy with boats on the unregulated stretch prior to Bridge 66, quiet on the 48 hour moorings.  A lot of folk still in winter (hanging about) mode, I guess.

Leaving the town the canal does a sharp right turn at Brindley Bank, and immediately over an aqueduct over the Trent.

From here until Stoke on Trent the river will be a close companion.

We pulled in at a regular stop, opposite the pig farm (downwind!) just before Bridge 69. In the summer it’s popular here, tonight we’re on our own.

Mooring near Bridge 69.½

An hour and a half should see us in Great Haywood tomorrow.

Locks 0, miles 8½