Down the Trent Valley

We didn’t move yesterday; the canal was still pretty busy, Mags wasn’t 100%,  and anyway the final day of ceremonials for the jubilee was on the TV and she’d dropped hints about wanting to watch.

I mentioned it was busy, Meg and I had a walk back to Aston Lock first thing and boats were already queuing.

Aston Lock at 07:55 yesterday.
We had the ITV coverage on, it was good to see they had commentators on who knew what they were talking about (the very clever Dr David Starkey, for one), unlike the BBC’s celebrity presenters on Sunday…

I had a few pottering about jobs to do as well, so the day wasn’t wasted.

To make up for it though, we decided on an early start today, and were off by 08:20.
First Lock of the day was at Sandon, about an hour away.

The day started very pleasantly, dry and bright although not actually sunny.

The beautiful Trent Valley

Looks like a mixed bag of cattle breeds, but all of a common mind – it’s going to rain!

Or maybe not….

Sandon Lock was an enforced overnight stop way back in 2006 when our prop shaft partially seized in the stern tube.

No such problems today as we dropped down the lock

Another hour and we were at Weston Lock, meeting up with a short 1 boat queue, but were through pretty quickly. The next lock as we slowly dropped downhill alongside the river was at Hoo Mill, where we waited for NB Tia to come up. Graham and Carol have been selling environmentally-friendly products from their boat for some years, and have expanded their stock to include hand-made jewellery. They’re heading up to the Peak Forest, so if you need anything you’ll catch them heading north.

Lots of youngsters in the fields along the canal…

Mum, me legs are longer than me neck!

Wait for me, wait for meeee….

BW have been busy, putting temporary handrails on the tail bridges at Hoo Mill and Colwich Locks

This bridge is in two halves cantilevered out from either side, with a gap in the middle to allow the tow rope of a horse boat to pass through without having to unhitch. Or at least it could…

We were planning on filling with water and emptying a loo tank and the rubbish at the services at Great Haywood, but it was a little busy when we arrived so we dropped onto a mooring space on the other side of the junction bridge and I walked back over with the disposables.

A touch busy at Great Haywood services

Haywood Lock was unoccupied so we were straight through, but we caught up with all the traffic at Colwich

A passing shot of Shugborough Hall
It took us an hour to get down the lock, and there were just as many boats waiting to go up…

Queuing at Colwich Lock
I reckon Colwich Lock exists in a parallel universe. It doesn’t matter how few boats are about there’s always a queue here. In the depths of winter when you may only see a handful of boats in a week they’ll all be here at Colwich….

Thankfully this was the last lock today, and we’d only had one heavy shower up to this point. But that was to change as grey clouds rolled in from the west.

Cloud building over Cannock Chase
This is near Taft Bridge where we often stop overnight. If we had today we’d have saved getting quite so wet…

The canal crosses the Trent just outside Rugeley, then does a sharp left turn onto Brindley Bank, where it’s cut into the steep side of the river valley.

Around the bend onto Brindley Bank.
Nice curving wake… The railings are on the aqueduct over the river.

Coming into Rugeley and we got a taste of what was to come, a heavy shower, short in duration but long in intensity.

Rainy Rugeley

From this point on the showers were pretty well continuous, only brief respites between the spells of heavy rain. We pulled in at the end of the Spode House moorings to fill the water tank, then pushed on through Armitage “tunnel” and past the loo factory, finally mooring just past Bridge 56.

Armitage Tunnel, well, it used to be a tunnel, then got opened out, now is partially re-roofed by the widened A513 road bridge 

Armitage Shanks factory, more WCs than you can shake a stick at!

It’s been a long day, 8½ hours from start to finish. But it’s been enjoyable despite the weather.

We’ll try for another good start tomorrow, we’re 3 miles from Fradley and the locks and junction there are always busy.

Locks 5, miles 17. Yes, 17

Did you ever have one of those days….

…..where you wish you’d stayed in bed?

I suppose it started on Saturday night, when some young oick took a liking to the Union Flag attached to the swan’s neck. We were in bed and felt the boat move, then a figure running past the windows. At £2 for 5 flags it just wasn’t worth getting up for.

Today started well enough, Meg and I had a fine walk around the common land to the north of the town.

Stonefield.
The Duke of Cumberland camped here with his army on the way to meet Bonnie Prince Charlie at Derby. This was in 1745, during the second Jacobite Rebellion. It didn’t go any better than the first; Prince Charles Edward Stuart marched his army of wild Scots down into England in the hope that English Jacobites would join in his quest to regain the throne for the Stuarts.
They didn’t, and the Duke didn’t even need to draw his sword at this point, Charles was advised that he was over-exposed and lacking support so turned around at Derby and headed home. Pursued by the combined armies of Cumberland and General Wade (no relation), the drama came to a bloody conclusion at Culloden the following April.
The Stuart cause was lost and the spectre of civil war dispelled.

We returned back through the town and then along the towpath.

Crown and Anchor  
Not much bunting on the High Street.

Things started to go awry when we got back; one of our fender hangers had snapped, luckily the fender (a go-kart tyre) was still floating alongside.

Damn!
Then I went up to the Co-op for some basics before we left and had to wait 15 minutes for them to open.

Things were looking up as we set off down the locks through Stone, we got away just before a convoy of boats coming down from Meaford, so had the advantage of locks filled by a steady stream of boats coming up.

Lime Kiln Lock
Some of the boats that went up to Etruria for the weekend arrived in Stone last night and had moored near the lock.

Butty Ilford has a curvaceous bottom

Perch, Sweden, Ibex and an anonymous work boat in primer above the lock.

In the boatyard opposite is an Ovaltine boat.

We would have liked to use the services directly below Newcastle Road Lock but it was busy, with a queue waiting, either for water or for the lock, and that convoy was snapping at our heels….

Through Yard Lock and then into Star Lock, with just a short wait for a boat coming up.

In Star Lock
It was here that the next hitch occurred. Mags called me to the back - “we’ve got a red light on”. It was the charge warning light for the domestic alternator. Bugger.

Out of the lock and we thought we’d fill with water at the tap just below, while I had a look to see if it was just a drive belt failure or something more serious. There was a boat on the water point, so I lifted the engine covers to have a peek. Belts intact but a very hot domestic alternator. Bugger again.

Then the guy on the water point was taking forever to fill his tank, then a dozen plastic bottles, then coil his hose… Had enough, let’s get going before we get involved with the boats coming down behind.

The mile and a half to Aston Lock passed pleasantly enough, with an eye on the charge rate to make sure the engine alternator didn’t commit Hara-Kiri as well. At Aston we had our next episode in today’s catalogue of woe. Four boats were in front of us waiting for the lock! FOUR! Where did they all come from?

Shuffling up boat by boat and helping the earlier boats up or down, we got there in the end.
One advantage of having a queue is that you’re often told to get back on board, the following crews then look after the lock.

Unusual view for me, I‘m normally up there!
Cruising past the relatively new Aston Marina I started to think things were looking up. The queue at the last lock should have broken up the convoy, Sandon Lock should be quiet by comparison.

Aston Marina

We didn’t even get there! Either side of Carr House Bridge, No 89, BW had left workboats tied up for the weekend. I use the term “tied up” loosely, that’s just how they were, tied up loosely!
Through the bridge ‘ole we could see a push tug attached to the bank with just a fore-end rope, the stern across the cut. So Mags pulled in and I got off to pull it back round and sort out the bits of washing line used as mooring ropes.
That done, I looked back and saw a hopper with a couple of tons of puddle clay in it now drifting along behind us! As we’d passed (slowly) it must have been the last straw for the overburdened bits of string.
That took a bit of sorting out, getting onboard was a challenge, then I had to take a line ashore to pull it back to the bank. Meanwhile, a steady stream of boats were idling their way past. Remember those boats following us out of Stone? Well, we were now following them! As well as a few recently emerged from the marina!

Another of the boat moorings needed a bit of remedial work, and by the time I’d done that I‘d had enough. I didn’t look forward to another long wait in another long queue at Sandon, so we pulled in just past the BW boats, calling it quits for the day.

All neatly tied up again. CAUTION, indeed!


And the day started so well!

Still, it finished OK. I fitted our spare alternator, so that sorted the charging problem out, and then repacked the stern gland, a task I’d scheduled for when we’d stopped anyway.

We spent all yesterday afternoon glued to the TV, hoping for a glimpse of NB Indigo Dream and Sue in her greyhound costume in the Pageant. We were a bit disappointed that the narrowboats got so little airtime. But I suppose the same applied to all the groups represented. So many boats, so little time.
It could have been a better day, but it looked like fun was had by all. Have a look at Indigo Dream’s and Herbie’s blogs…

Not sure what we’re doing tomorrow, it’s supposed to be a bit grim again. We’ll see….

Locks 5, miles 2¾

I didn’t expect to be doing that today….

What, in June?
Today has been cold, damp and breezy, and we’ve more of the same due for tomorrow, with temperatures down to below 9°.

I could have put the heating on, but it takes a while to make a difference, costs around ¾ litre of fuel an hour to run, and uses 3 amps for the fan and the pump. The diesel is no problem, we filled yesterday, but if the boiler is on for any length of time then I’ll need to run the engine later to replace the power used from the batteries. And that will cost another litre an hour….

So all in all it’s cheaper and more efficient to light the stove, especially as we’ve foraged wood for fuel. I’d stripped it down last week for a thorough clean, replaced the fire bricks, door glass and rope seals, then blacked it so it was looking brand new. I was hoping it’d stay that way till Autumn. Some chance!
It didn’t get lit till we arrived in Stone, Mags wrapped herself up in a fleece blanket so I took the hint.

We got off a little later today, a bit after 10 o’clock. It’s a pleasant enough trip from Barlaston to Stone but nothing out of the ordinary.

Canal cottages outside Barlaston

And “The Boat Yard”
Now that is smart!

The canal and railway run side by side as we drop down in the Trent Valley, in fact it’s pretty much a constant presence till Lichfield. Above Meaford Locks a bridge carried the spur line in to the large Meaford Power Station, operating from 1947 to 1990. There’s very little to show that it was ever there, now.

Past the site of the power station, the Stoke to Lichfield railway on the left.

We joined another queue at the top of Meaford Locks. Two boats were ahead of us, waiting for a third to drop down the top lock. When our turn came a boat was heading up, so we brought them up first.

Meaford Top Lock
Dropping down the four Meaford Locks

At the bottom, just outside of Stone.
We’d met another couple of boats in the last two locks, so didn’t have to fill them for ourselves.

We motored into Stone, mooring on the 5 day visitor moorings above Lime Kiln Lock. Experience tells us that the more popular moorings nearer to the town centre and below Star Lock are likely to be full.

The beady-eyed amongst you may have noticed the Union Flag on the front of the cratch board. There’s another on the swan’s neck (tiller post) at the stern. This is our gesture of recognition of the Diamond Jubilee. I know that strictly speaking we’re not supposed to fly the Union Flag on a boat, it should be the Red Ensign, but this is a special occasion, isn’t it?

“Back in the 17th Century, wily seamen were using the flag to avoid paying harbour duties - a privilege restricted to naval ships at the time. So James' successor, Charles I, ordered it be restricted to His Majesty's ships "upon pain of Our high displeasure".
Those restrictions remain, and today it is a criminal offence to fly the union jack from a boat. “

I hope we don’t incur HM Elizabeth II’s “high displeasure”!

We’ll stay in Stone for a couple of days, there’re are things going on over the weekend.

Locks 4, miles 3.

Queues, queues.

Today was always going to be a long one; up from Red Bull, through Harecastle Tunnel and back down through the potteries to Barlaston. But with the Bankilee Holiday looming there were more boats about than I’d reckoned on.

We were in the last uphill lock by 08:30, leaving just as two boats came out under the bridge from the Hardings Wood Branch.

Lock 41 and the Canal Tavern.

The brick gable end beyond the pub was at the entrance to the local gasworks…


NB Alton swings out from under the junction bridge
It’s a tight turn for a 70 footer.

We were third in a convoy of four to go through the tunnel, but unfortunately I’d miscalculated again. The tunnel opens at 08:00, not 08:30 like I thought. A group of boats had already headed southbound, and there was another four waiting to come north, so we had around an hour to kill before we could enter the 2926 yard excavation under Harecastle Hill.

The pause did give me a chance to clear the prop of rubbish, then have a mooch about with the camera.

Queuing for the tunnel
James Brindley’s original tunnel, opened in 1777 after 11 years of toil.
Thomas Telford was commissioned to build a new one as the earlier tunnel was suffering from low headroom due to subsidence. Better engineering techniques and being able to use the existing tunnel to remove spoil saw this bore completed after less than 3 years, opening in 1827.
But this too suffered from settlement, the towpath sinking below water level and headroom reducing. An electric tug system was introduced in 1914  hauling a train of boats through to avoid having to use the waterlogged towpath. This service was discontinued in the 1950’s when the current extraction fan system was installed. The tunnel was built without ventilation shafts and would have been potentially lethal for crews of powered boats without forced extraction of foul air.
The towpath was removed to give more width to the passage, but there are still  several abrupt changes in the ceiling profile to watch out for.

Looking back to the lay-by from above the earlier tunnel.
The entrance channel ran under the paved area in front of the tunnel keepers hut. The narrow culvert below centre is merely for drainage.

NB Water Lily, the first of the northbound convoy, arrives at half past nine.

Following the convoy into the gloom
It’s an awkward turn in, the entrance to the older one would have been easier to negotiate!

I took a few pictures as we went through….

Passing places in the walls allowed pedestrians to get out of the way of boat horses.

Changes in profile are highlighted….

…which is just as well!

Moisture seeps continually through the brickwork from the hill above, forming stalactites and flowstone curtains as the solids separate out.

Some are brilliant white….

….and some are stained with iron.

Straw stalactites hang from the ceiling. 

Distance markers tiles were set into the walls, but have been backed up by painted numbers.

After about 35 minutes we emerged once more into daylight.

I’d told Brian and Ann-Marie on Alton that I was after diesel, so they pulled over just out of the tunnel for us to come alongside. Topped up at 87p per litre, we set off again through the remains of the pottery industry in Longport and Middleport.

Leaving the tunnel after filling the diesel tank.

Westport Lake with it’s hull-shaped visitor centre

Decaying factory buildings in Longport, but one of the few surviving bottle kilns.

Chimney repairs at Middleport Pottery

There’s a hiatus between Middleport and Stoke, a wasteland of scrub where the huge Shelton Ironworks once stood. Here also was the entrance to the Burslem Branch Canal, leading to wharves, warehousing and boatbuilders at the edge of the town. Burslem was considered the most important of the “Five Towns”, and the ½-mile canal was built in 1805 to service it’s needs.
  


There was a major breach in December 1961, causing the branch to close and it has since been filled in. However, there’s a scheme afoot to reopen the line as a regeneration project.




The quiet pause ends on the arrival at Etruria and the junction with the Caldon Canal. It was always going to be busy here, with the canal festival this weekend, but I was disappointed to see three boats in front of us waiting to go down the deep Etruria Lock, the first on the canal’s downhill journey to Shardlow.

Busy at Etruria

We got there in the end, dropping down the first two locks to pass the Etruscan Bone and Flint Mill, now a museum.

Bone and Flint Mill, built by Jesse Shirley in 1857. It’s products went into china production.

 

















Three more locks drop the canal down and out of the built up area, the last one being a concrete monstrosity with steel gates and very slow to fill and empty.

Stoke Bottom Lock

The lock was rebuilt during road improvements in the 1970’s. It’s a pity they didn’t consult a canal engineer….

There’s four miles of fairly open country to Trentham, with odd reminders of past industry, before we got to the last lock for today.

A significant landmark, the Hanford Waste Incinerator sits beside the canal and the A50. Burning householder waste it generates electricity for the National Grid.

Rubbish power.

Trentham Lock

We’d been told to look out for several work boats coming up the locks, heading for Etruria for the weekend. The first pair were NB Sweden towing NB Skylark as we headed towards Trentham.

NBs Sweden and Skylark
Sweden is in Anderton Carrying Company livery, Skylark is an ex- WH Cowburn and Cowpar boat. Both are motors, I wonder if Skylark has a problem?

The next pair, motor and butty this time, took Trentham Lock as we left it.

Motor Ibex and butty Ilford coming round the corner as Mags keeps out of the way
As these are narrow locks (one boat width), Ibex had to drop the tow and allow Ilford to drift into the bank.

Ibex into the lock, Ilford drifts
There’s a boat waiting to come down, after which Ilford will be bowhauled into the lock.

We pulled in after Bridge 104, beyond the Wedgwood Pottery factory, at just before 4 o’clock. It’s felt like a long day, but taking into account the two hours “waiting” time, we didn’t do too badly, actually under way for 5½ hours.

Locks 7, miles 11¼