Northern Exposure: Day 8

It was cool and damp when we set off this morning at 8am.  Trentham Lock is just around the corner, then there’s a suburban stretch through Hem Heath, then past distribution centres, and the post industrial outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent.  There are five locks in the Stoke flight, all of them quite deep.  The second one is approached from under the railway line.

Towards the top, there’s the old bone mill works, which has a little arm off the canal.

At the top of the flight we stopped at Capital Gas to change a gas bottle that ran out a week ago.  Their office has moved to the other side of the site since we last stopped here several years ago, and we had a job to get anyone to hear the bell.  But eventually we were served, and the gas is still a very good price.  Then we moved on the short distance to Middleport Pottery, where we moored up outside.  On the wall approaching the pottery, there are some very good murals.

We had online tickets for the Pottery Heritage Trail, which saved us a few pounds, and they had the steam engine running — making clouds of steam out the front, and regular toots on the whistle (they were selling toots for a £1 donation).

We had lunch of Staffordshire oat cakes in the cafe, then pushed over to the towpath side of the canal so Adrian could go to a nearby shop for some milk.  We carried on another mile or so to Westport Lake, where we’ve moored on the far end of the moorings.  There are only a couple of other boats here, but there are lots of walkers and the playground and the cafe look busy.

7 miles, 6 locks.  (116 miles, 60 locks)