Caldon Cruise: Day 8

We really liked the mooring at Hazlehurst Aqueduct; last night as we were going to bed we could hear a tawny owl calling repeatedly.  This morning was sunny and bright again, and we set off at 9.15.  After a few minutes we were turning from the Leek Branch back onto the main line of the Caldon, with the Hazlehurst locks to our right.  I really like the Leek Branch — it’s only three miles long but is very pretty, has plenty of interest, and some lovely moorings.  We turned left, which is almost straight on from this direction.

We stopped at the Park Lane services for water, and to get rid of quite a bit of rubbish and recycling that’s built up since we were last here.  Apart from those back at Etruria Junction, these are the only bins on this canal.  While we were there a boat went past us.  When we set off again we negotiated the obstruction at Endon, and then there’s a long straight section with views up to the hills.  It seems odd that the locks at the end of this straight go down; by the lay of the land, up would seem more likely!

When we got to the Stockton Brook locks, the boat that had past us was going down, and said CRT had been there when he arrived, running some water down.  The lock landing is before the bridge ahead of the first lock, and from there you can only see the end of the balance beam.  It’s a nice setting though.

The boat ahead kindly lifted a paddle to refill the locks for us as we went down.  In the second lock, forward and reverse of the engine seemed to have very little effect on the boat so I feared there was something round the prop.  Then as I engaged forward to leave, there was quite a loud banging.  I crept forward, and we decided that the easiest place to check the prop was the next lock.  Once in there, I went down the weedhatch and found a large piece of clear plastic that was all round the blades of the prop.  It took a bit of effort to get it off; it also looked so new that it’s unlikely to have been in the water very long.  After that it was plain sailing down the remaining locks.  The bottom one is accompanied by a huge pumping station that would make a superb Grand Design for someone.  In fact it looks as though some work is being done on it.

Two boats were arriving at the bottom of the locks as we went down, so we could leave the gates open.  Adrian then walked on to the windlass-operated lift bridge.  He found, as I did last week, that it’s easy to wind up but surprisingly much more difficult to wind down again.

I was only thinking the other day that the Canada geese we’ve seen don’t appear to be sitting on eggs, which seems odd given the number of goslings that usually emerge.  Of course today we’ve seen half a dozen nesting.

We went through the next lift bridge, which is electric, and decided to drop down Engine Lock.  A single hander was about to come up so was grateful when Adrian worked him through.  When we came the other way last week we stopped above the lock, but there are also nice moorings below, with piling and a nice view.

After lunch we walked into Milton as Adrian wanted to get a hair cut.  I’ve spent the rest of the afternoon finishing writing a boat test, and Adrian is working on the accounts of the charity he’s treasurer of.

5 miles, 6 locks.  (33 miles, 31 locks)

Caldon Cruise: Day 1

A bright sunny morning, and we were ready to leave our moorings outside the pub at Festival Park at 8.30.  Now we’re not on a schedule, we are planning much shorter days than when we always needed to get back somewhere — but the habit of setting off fairly early might be hard to break!  Just a little further south, we turned onto the Caldon Canal at Etruria Junction.

The last time we cruised the Caldon was in September 2017; the time before that was on our share boat, Debdale, in 2009.  We joked that we do the Caldon every eight years whether we need to or not!  The difference will be that on both previous occasions we spent only around 72 hours on it, whereas now we’ll have much more time to explore.

The first major obstacle are the Bedford Street Locks, a staircase pair.  But they were already set with the bottom lock empty and the top lock full, so we could go straight up.

The sun was in our eyes as we went through Hanley Park, with its elaborate bridges.

The housing which was new the last time we were here now looks a bit more established, but still a bit incongruous with the preserved bottle kilns.

Just before the lift bridge, there’s a massive factory or warehouse with its roof covered in solar panels.  A bit of land between it and the canal is now also having a solar farm installed.

At the bridge, Adrian took the key of power and pressed the buttons.  No cars were stopped, although one did have to slow down a bit to allow the barriers to go back up.

Many of the bridges on this canal are on very sharp bends.  The piling before Bridge 13 has clearly been hit many times in quite a significant way, and at 14 I could see through the trees on the corner than a boat was coming the other way, seemingly at some speed.  I sounded my horn to let him know I was there, and he diverted, bumping the bridge with his bow fender.  It meant there was room for me to go through.  There are more sharp bends before Milton too.  One of the houses there was flying a Happy Easter flag.

When we got to Engine Lock, only the second boat we’d seen all day was waiting to go up; there was also one coming down.  Adrian went to help, and then emptied the lock for us.  It’s a deep one, at just over 12ft.

We stopped just off the lock landing above the lock, at before lunchtime.  Last time we came this way and stopped here, we’d started off that morning in Stone!  After lunch, we walked back to Milton, which turns out to have a good range of shops, including a very large and eclectic second hand book shop.

6 miles, 4 locks.

North West Passage: Day 10

We were up and about quite early, and set off at 7.30 in rather misty murky conditions. We had to turn the bottom two locks of the Stone flight, the third one was empty, and at the fourth one a boat was just going up; they'd moored in that pound overnight. Between locks 2 and 3 is the former Joule's brewery.

At the Meaford flight, the third lock has one paddle that doesn't work properly, so it takes an age to fill. The only way to get the gate open was to have assistance from the boat. At the top lock, Adrian said he though he felt something get stuck on the prop. Sure enough, once we were up the lock the vibration from the tiller was incredible. We stopped and went down the weedhatch, and I removed what looked like a fat bike tyre. Fortunately it came off a lot easier than I'd feared.

We went past Neil Morrisey's pub at Barlaston, past the Wedgwood factory, and up Trentham Lock. On the approach to Stoke is a huge incinerator -- and a noticed a guy working on a small scaffolding platform right near the top of the chimney.

At Stoke bottom lock we caught up with Karen and Ian on Serenity, who used to blog. There were several boats ahead of them, so it all took quite a while. It's an attractive enough flight though, especially the top couple of locks which are surrounded by old buildings.

After the very deep top lock, Adrian did the turn onto the Caldon Canal. You have to almost double right back on yourself. The boats ahead all seemed to have stopped for water there, so we took our chance and made for the Bedford Street staircase pair of locks. These are two locks joined together, which share a middle set of gates. Together they lift the canal over 19ft, so they look pretty daunting.

The last time we travelled the Caldon Canal was back in 2009, when we had a share in Debdale. There has been lots of building since then, with hundreds of new homes on former industrial land. Some of the typical Stoke bottle kilns have been preserved.

Adrian went to work the electric lift bridge, then we carried on for a few miles, through Milton. There are lots of very sharp bends and bridges which require a bit of thought. Some have been given extra protection because they get bashed so often. We've come up Engine Lock, another deep one at just over 12ft, and moored just off the lock landing. There was a grass snake swimming in the lock. The view from the galley window is rather nice.

15 miles, 18 locks. (119 miles, 64 locks)