Bank holiday Monday, and it was pretty chilly first thing. We wanted to go up to the Wedgwood estate, so had a relaxed start to the day as it doesn’t open until 10. Just over the canal bridge is another site where it looks as though houses are going, to join the big development on the Wedgwood site. Maybe there will soon be enough to warrant the re-opening on Wedgwood Station, which has a London North Western poster with lots of informative, but not that no trains stop there. At Wedgwood we looked around the shops, and although there were things we liked and things we could afford, they weren’t necessarily in the correct combination.
We set off just before 11. On the other side of Barlaston is the former boat yard, which is a house with a lovely couple of private moorings.
At Meaford Top Lock, we found ourselves in a queue. There was a boat coming up, one in front of us to go down, and then another to come up. We also had a boat behind us. It all took quite a while to get going, but there was plenty to entertain us. A multi-generational family outing had come to a halt by the lock, because granny’s bike had a puncture. The man on the boat in front of us provided her with a repair kit, while a couple of other cyclists stopped to help fix the inner tube. Meanwhile the grandsons were keep to push gates and wind paddles. With no-one else coming up the locks, we had to turn the remaining three, but still caught up with the boat ahead.
It was 1pm by now, so we decided we’d stop for lunch above the Stone locks, and probably call it a day. It means our unambitious schedule to get to Crick is already half a day behind! After lunch we walked down the canal and into Stone, to have a look at the town. Most of the shops were closed for the bank holiday, a hardware store I remembered didn’t seem to be there, and a cafe where we had oatcakes years ago is now a Wetherspoon. There have been lots of boats in both directions, I guess because of the bank holiday.
3 miles, 4 locks. (8 miles, 10 locks)
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