Onto the Caldon

Wednesday 21^st August; Barlaston to Caldon canal, bridge 14

Another sunny morning but that strong wind was still blowing, though today it helped us leaving the mooring.  It did make it rather chilly though.  After an initial flurry of boats in both directions while we were still having breakfast, we passed hardly any moving boats for the first couple of hours.  Trentham lock was against us, and it’s a deep one, so it took a while to get through.  We paused for a while at Hem Heath bridge while I nipped up to the garage over the bridge for the paper (and some naughty chocolate hob-nobs), then on we went.  The sun was out, and the wind didn’t cause any problems, so it was pleasant cruising for a while.

Sound-baffling fence between the railway and a new housing estate.  The height of the fence dwarfs the builders’ fencing leaning against it.

There was some interesting graffiti around the area of the Stoke City football ground.

Hands

Alan Hudson played for Stoke City (among other teams) and England.  He was hit by a car in 1997 (well past his playing days) and doctors feared he might never walk again – but he did, albeit with crutches.  Considering this was many years ago, the graffiti looks remarkably fresh.

We passed the bogie storage facility/graveyard, with lots of bogies sitting on railway lines but all largely hidden by trees, then the shooting range where someone was having a fine old time with their gun, and crossed the Trent aqueduct.

That’s the Trent down there somewhere

To the increasing racket of the Stoke road network we at last approached the bottom lock of the Stoke flight.  We could see a boat had come down, but the lock was clearly being filled again.  It’s a very deep lock so it took a while.  At last it was our turn, and as we slowly rose up I chatted to the boater waiting to come down.  He knows the alcoholic chap who used to help here, whose name is Rob – he didn’t die, as we had been told, but managed to kick the alcohol and turn his life around.  That was good to hear, as was the news that he had got married and moved to Chesterfield.  We hope he continues to do well!  The next   three locks were in our favour, as there were several boats coming down.

I think this must have been lock 38, Twyford lock.  I was so pleased to get the boat framed in the circle on the bridge parapet I quite forgot about Dave!

We rounded the junction onto the Caldon and moored for lunch just past the services.  Then it was off up the staircase,

It’s an awfully long way down

along to Planet lock (which used to have anti-vandal locks on it) and into Hanley Park, where we moored.

Planet lock is in a pretty ropey condition.  This is the top gate, and the bottom gates aren't much better

The park extends quite a way either side of the canal, and there were plenty of families enjoying what it had to offer.  We took Jess off to explore and have a game with her frisbee.  We crossed the canal to look at the pavilion, which was built with flower-beds in the style of an English country house, very grand, with a view of the lake beyond.

The pavilion and its terraced gardens

The bandstand that is there now had been rebuilt with a much less fancy design than the original, though it is still impressive.

Detail of the bandstand

These were on the non-towpath side of the canal.  Interestingly, in the interpretation boards we saw, the canal doesn’t get a mention!  We returned to the boat.

Looks like a nice enough mooring, doesn’t it?

I put the kettle on while we had a think.  It looked nice enough here, but there were no other boats around ….  would we  be safe overnight?  Dave went online and found the police crime stats for the last month for Hanley Park, and we thought, hmm, maybe not.  It was 5 o’clock, with still plenty of light left, so we took our tea out onto the stern deck and off we went again, past more bottle kilns

Surrounded by new housing

towards Ivy House Lift Bridge.   I remember being unable to close the barriers, which had to be done by hand in those days, until a local factory worker showed me how.  Now it’s fully automated and a doddle to operate.  I let a cyclist go over, then I caught 4 cars.  Immediately after that is a stinky factory with several large tanks of industrial gases, and then finally we were almost out in the country.  There is still housing on one side, but the factories have been left behind and although there are quite a few towpath walkers and runners, we feel much safer here.  It’s just past bridge 14, on a stretch of Armco.

Quite a day.

8 miles, 9 locks including Bedford St staircase at Etruria, 1 lift bridge (automated)