Fellow bloggers and queues at the locks!

We'd set the alarm this morning to wake us at 8am, but I awoke before it went off.  We've a way to go now to get to Tamworth by the weekend, about 33 hours in total, though it'd probably be about an hour by car!

A very fine lock side sculpture depicting the potteries in Stoke-on-Trent ... 

  ... though sadly it looked like some of the pottery inserts had been vandalised

On our way to the end of the Caldon Canal, we passed two fellow UK Waterways Site boats - Waterway Routes and Waterway Walks and NB Debdale, and shouted quick hellos to each of them.  We also passed Don's boat again but there was no sign of life, but he then passed us when we were moored at Etruria Junction and we got to say farewell once more.

"I was looking back to see if he was looking back at me ..." Waterways Routes

Bit late for a proper shot of Debdale - sorry guys!

This colourful little fella entertained us at lunch time, zipping around amongst the other ducks chasing bread

Turning sharp left we emerged onto the Trent and Mersey Canal and a queue for the lock!  This was a novelty for us, we've been extremely lucky in that the route we chose hasn't been one that many hire boaters or even boat owners frequent - the Trent River, up the Ouse and the Leeds/Liverpool. So we missed most of the school summer holidays boat traffic.  Unfortunately the Shropshire Union Canal remains closed due to the breach a few weeks ago, so we were now on the main route north or south west, hence the busyness.  A fellow boater said that she'd been told that the Shroppie may now be closed until September 2010, but I find that difficult to believe - there'd be riots on the waterways!

 

More of Stoke-on-Trent's pottery attractions

It was rather like going onto the motorway having been on country roads, from isolation to civilisation!  Every lock we got to there were other boats going up and down, and out of thirteen locks throughout the day, only one was in our favour.

Can't escape the odd bit of graffiti

 

'Tackle & bait, air guns, archery, boats & engines, country & western, line dancing' - talk about diversifying your business interests!

 

The massive Sainsbury's distribution centre, not far out of Stoke - I couldn't fit it all in, this was about 2/3rds of it!

Lovely big sunflowers lining the canal

Now this is making the most of your canal garden

 

Barry helped this family gather some Damsons by using our boathook to pull down the branches, they must be a kind of plum, nice and sweet

More signs of Autumn

I think this family might have too many possessions, the poor garage door couldn't take any more

Approaching Stone in Stafford late afternoon, we were told that they'd been informed by another boater that it wasn't recommended to moor overnight there as we could get 'mobbed'.  Goodness me, talk about Chinese Whispers, it's possible that at sometime someone was unlucky and encountered some unruly teenagers who wreaked havoc on their boat, and ever since there's been this horror story that's been told to warn people away.  We wonder if some people should stick to land-living and lock themselves in their houses away from the scary world out there!  Realistically we believe that you're as likely to be mobbed in a posh place like Oxford as you are in the middle of Birmingham.  There are good and bad people all over, and sometimes one just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time ... Or maybe we've just been very lucky?

So of course we moored in Stone! 

 

By the time we approached Stone it was getting quite dark and moorings were scarce

 

'Joule's Stone Ales' building

 

The workshops are under the level of the canal, wouldn't want a breach here!

Terry Darlington's boat 'Phyllis May' (the man who wrote 'Narrow Dog to Carcassonne' & 'Indian River') is moored in Stone.  A friend lent it to us in NZ, and Barry devoured it's contents in a weekend I think!  I found it one of the most difficult books I've ever read due to the grammar and sentence structures, and, though determined to read it because it was about narrowboating, finally gave up after a few months.  I think it's like Marmite - you either love it or you hate it!  Interesting nonetheless, as they did take their boat across the English Channel (not recommended in a flat bottomed boat!).

Last lock for the day, yaay!!

Froghall basin - is it a joke or what?

It was so deathly silent at Consall Forge that we didn't wake up until 10 o'clock!  Emerging from the boat into daylight, Chris and Morgan next door were already up and about with their lines over the front of the boat catching American Signal Crayfish.

 

Pretty horrific looking creatures, all that was needed to catch them was some liver on a line

They'd told us about this phenomena yesterday evening; apparently these creatures were brought across the Atlantic to farm as gourmet food but never quite took off, they also escaped into the canals and are a real pest eating the British crayfish which are even smaller.  Crayfish in New Zealand are enormous in comparison with either variety, and we can get an excellent meal from them.  These American cousins have just a snippet of meat in their tales, and a morsel in their claws.  Yet another reason not to swim in the canals as they have a nasty nip! Though apparently you only find them in the Caldon, the Macclesfield and the Oxford canals.

  Might be just enough for a nibble or two

 Don, with Morgan and Chris on NB Dovedale, trying for more crayfish

 

 The Lime Kilns close to the mooring at Consall Forge

  Inside one of the chambers that's still leeching quicklime

 

Exit from the river back to the canal, where some clever dick has built the landing so tight that you scrape the side of the boat going through however careful you are!

  The steam railway station at Consall; looks very authentic, but only runs at weekends and bank holidays

 Converted railway housing presumably

The remainder of the journey on this arm takes you to a place called Froghall.  Just prior to the basin there's a tunnel which we were hoping we'd get through, but had been told by numerous people that it was unlikely. It seemed that the dimensions that it takes differ depending on who you ask or which publication you read it.

At the final lock before Froghall Tunnel there's a plastic pliable 'gauge' as you exit the lock, which gives the approximate shape and size of the tunnel - no more than five foot cabin height or depth. We didn't quite make it underneath without flapping the sides so no tunnelling for us!  On reaching the aforementioned it looked as though it would take our boat, but of course there was no way we could've attempted it - wouldn't it be embarrassing to give it a go and get wedged?! 

 

The tunnel template at the end of the last lock before Froghall Tunnel 

Such neat bridge shapes, but oh so narrow!

Looking down the barrel of Froghall Tunnel - is it really that low somewhere inside?

We don't see how any boats ever go through it, and Froghall Basin is this immaculate place with superb moorings but completely devoid of boats!  Money was bequeathed to the basin for improvements, and we're told that a lot of more money was added to it and spent doing it up a few years ago.  It has an abundance of weeds growing - I wonder why?  We reckon it must be one of the cushiest BW jobs going - and we saw a very pucker BW worker strolling along the towpath bless him!

We walked to the lime kilns there, and took a look around the area.  It's extremely isolated with no phone or internet signal.  Luckily there'd been a wi-fi at the pub last night, so we'd been able to publish a blog (thanks Jason!).  Lime was an important agricultural material in the 18th and 19th Centuries.  The limestone was burnt with coal at the top of the kiln, the end product of which was quick-lime that was shovelled out of the bottom and taken to waiting boats - it would've been a shocking career as it's a terrible irritant.  In the 1770's 50 tons of quicklime was produced here, but by the 1850's this rose to 6,000 tons!  It's incredible to think how busy this place would've been, it's just so deserted now.

 The six old lime kilns

Froghall Basin, but where are all the boats?? 

  The only boat moored past the tunnel is the tour boat 'Birdswood' - does this really fit through the tunnel?

What a beautiful, tranquil setting

An old tiller outside the Information Centre - sadly it was closed!

We had a bit of a walk around the basin and then a climb up a hill (at Barry's insistence!), emerging onto a very busy main road from Leek to Uttoxeter.  Back to the boat and we returned along the Caldon as far as we could go before the sun set.

 

Sandra feeling the strain of the almost vertical incline

  A few scintillating scenes on the way back up the Caldon ...

  

 

Lichen on the lock wall; very pretty but a bit boring!

 

Back to Consall Forge, and past the Black Lion Pub without stopping :-(

Jill & Den's boat (almost!) - bet that rocks!!

  Past the Hollybush Inn without stopping :-(

...  and continued to just short of Stockton Brook for the night where we arrived after dark

         

It's been a long day on the cut!

I suspect these geese might be flying south

Tonight we couldn't seem to get an internet connection from the mooring so Barry walked closer to the town with the laptop, then up a hill, then back again and up an even taller hill, where he said he thought he could see all the way to London! It still wouldn't connect, which was terribly frustrating, then when he got back to the boat we realised that our 'Three' credit had expired for the month because we didn't top it up correctly for broadband use - duh!