Our journey from Middlewich took us through Cheshire’s salt heritage, a merry mix of beautiful countryside and gentle cruising,
Meandering through the bluebell woods
I think this swan wanted to see us off his aqueduct over the river Dane
Perhaps we should have paid the toll
Although when we saw those black clouds rising we made straight for the next available mooring
The calm before the storm
We still got drenched in the minutes it took us to stop and tie up.
Oh boy that was some downpour
It didn’t last long but we didn’t trust the clearing sky
It didn’t look that much clearer when we reached the Tata Chemical factory at Northwich, although some of that is steam not cloud
It feels a bit alien travelling through a site like this
The site now includes the UKs largest carbon capture plant recycling 40,000 tonnes of CO2 opened in 2022, I wonder if they will need a new bridge symbol
It’s not that much further on to the Anderton nature park, one of our favourite moorings
Two day mooring at the Anderton nature park, time to take down the coronation bunting
We didn’t decend the Anderton Boat lift this time
But descended on foot and walked into Northwich along the River Weaver,
Wilton Brook and the River Weaver
Last time we were here Firecrest’s generator had suffered a catastrophic malfunction and due to a number of reasons we ended up stranded in Northwich Marina for 8 weeks, (lovely marina though) and missed out on exploring the river. But Northwich has several millenia of providing salt for the country so we thought it only right to enjoy a bowl of salty popcorn
Just as the coronation takes place a while after the accession, likewise this blog rarely gets written the day it happens. first we said goodbye to Reginald
Good Luck at Crick Reginald
And picked up some sound advice about our planned route up past Braidar on the Macclesfield- don’t bother it’s already desperately short of water and closures are expected. Mind made up, it was through the tomato soup tunnel, aka Harecastle tunnel.
Strong tea, tomato soup, or just plain old Iron deposits
And instead of turning left onto the Macc, we would carry straight on, staying on the Trent and Mersey.
Sadly the Macclesfield canal will have to wait until there’s a bit more water
The added advantage would be knocking 20 locks from our route, but we would have to descend “heartbreak hill” the 31 locks between Harecastle and Middlewich.
One of many
We’re never quite sure what this stretch has done to deserve this title, because it really is a very pretty section
approaching Halls Lock 49
and there’s plenty of of opportunity to moor up over the 12 miles. Which is what we did at Lawton, just below the Red Bull bottom lock.
opposite Bridge Farm
Firecrest was suitably adorned in its finery, complete with a knitted golden crown
Very en trend
And we settled down to watch the coronation
TRH King Charles III and Queen Camilla
Before taking another few days enjoying the cheshire countryside
And moving on to Middlewich for King’s lock fish and chips, deceptively good.
We enjoy several spring time birthdays in our family, so declare whichever days are appropriate to celebrate a royal birthday, any excuse to eat cake and see family.
We picked up ‘Rito and Nova in Stone and set them to work doing the locks,
And we rewarded them with yet more ducklings
Can you ever see too many ducklings? What a daft question
No cygnets yet though
But we did see our first goslings in Etruria
We stopped to fill up with water under the watchful eye of James Brindley at Etruria junction
And moored up outside the Middleport pottery.
Where we had the good fortune to meet up with Reginald on her(?) way down to the Crick show, we might be biased but, it’s a beautiful boat, and full of some very clever innovations, not to mention James exceptional woodworking skills.
Time to push on. After two lovely days enjoying James and Helen’s company we set them off Firecrest as we reached the Meccano Bridge so they could walk home along the Valley Park footpath.
The Meccano Bridge over the disused railway
we were passing through some lovely rural countryside, through Penkridge, (great butchers and bakery), up through the Tixall wides and onto the Trent and Mersey canal
just one of the lovely bridges
although it did get a bit narrow in places, even the ducks thought it safer to stick to the towpath, hope we don’t meet anyone coming the other way
Thank goodness for passing places
But it wasnt all narrow, sometimes we had to duck as well
we met some thirsty cows
and some frolicking lambs
And some wagging wagtails
We also encountered a very aggressive swan at Weston, it chased us off its patch for over quarter mile, it even tried biting Eric’s leg. Funnily enough, we had the same thing happen 2 years ago in exactly the same spot. It must be the same swan-athough they all look alike to me,
If he’d asked nicely we’d have given him a lift
resting newly unfurled wings
We seem to have settled into spring at last
we had a night on the Tixall wides but with it being a bank holiday weekend we decided to take the first available mooring, which was peaceful and just as pretty
Would you like to come to our house? Our friends Helen and James asked us as we travelled north up the Staffs and Worcester, well not actually their house but their local NT property and only 5 minutes walk from the canal. And so after a mornings cruise together,
James at the helm
we moored up at Wightwick Bridge Visitor Mooring
Good mooring at wightwick bridge
and strolled across to the Manor.
Wightwick Manor (pronounced witick)
Built in the late 1880’s, Wightwick Manor, was built for Theodore Mander and his family. They were inspired by the Arts and Craft style so lots of William Morris and Rossetti to see. It was also a period known as the Aesthetic movement -basically art for arts sake.
The family still have an apartment in the house and are known to enjoy Christmas there, although I’m not sure if they still use the dining room.
But I bet they are tempted to play the odd frame of snooker
As always you can’t visit a NT house without a visit to the bathroom, and in this case the sluice, containing a collection of slipper bedpans, not all that dissimilar to the sluices and bedpans in the hospital where I did my nurse training and that was in 1983.
Lots more laughter as we enjoyed the gardens
me and Helen
Definitely a property I’d visit again. Even if just to walk around the garden.
We could happily have stayed a few days soaking in the tranquility at the lower end of the Stourbridge canal. But we were ready to continue our journey north.
just four more locks before the junction
And onto the Stafforshire and Worcestershire canal.
We turn right towards Wolverhampton
This canal was built in the 1770’s to service the potteries around Stoke on Trent. However trade declined when newer canals provided a more direct route between Liverpool and the South. In order to remain competitive the canal company increased the lock opening hours and reduced the tolls. Now there’s an interesting idea. It’s a very pretty canal that cuts through the red sandstone rock in places, and follows the meandering rivers and Smestow Brook.
hope we don’t meet any oncoming boats
Within minutes of turning north, the smell of wild garlic hit us, so I leapt off to gather a bunch to make pesto our first spring foraging treat.
You just need to harvest the leaves, but make sure you identify what’s garlic and what isn’t, everyth8ng looks lush and green right now
Our next first was seeing our first ducklings of the year, 24th April. Out of interest I looked back to last year and my first duckling photo was on 23rd April.
there were another 5 who were a bit camera shy
And another first, this time for James Brindley in 1770, as he managed to combine a lock and road bridge in one crossing.
Awbridge Bridge no 49
And whilst we were ticking off firsts, we realised that this was the first time we had done the Bratch Locks in sunshine. It was raining so hard last time we had to bribe the lockies to leave their toll booth to help us
The Bratch Locks, Wombourne
It’s an amazing feat of engineering, originally a staircase lock of three, the water level changes by over 30′. Although technically its now individual locks it still needs to be treated as a staircase and there’s usually a lock keeper on duty to make sure no one sinks. Sadly James Brindley died a few months before it became operational.
The locks are fierce and powerful, we often chat to the families watching at locks and always remind the children never to play close to the edge because of the undercurrents. We had never seen a whirlpool as big as this one at a lock
The vortex was between 8 and 12 inches across.
Finally something we’ve come to enjoy peaceful mooring
We have a special affinity for all things glass in our family, as our daughter is a lampworker- that is someone who works with glass heated by an oil lamp, (or for the past few centuries a gas torch, but the name stuck.) As opposed to glass blowing which is heated till molton in a furnace. She specialises in glass beads which she makes into knitting accessories. So when we realised we were cruising right through the traditional heart of the English glass industry it would have been a pity not to visit the museum.
Set over 2 floors there was a collection of historic glass dating from Roman times following the transformation of utility functional pieces through to the highly decorated cut glass crystal. And if I’m honest that section didn’t excite me, but upstairs I was overwhelmed by the modern colourful art glass. Which begs the question, museum or gallery?
Very hard to do justice to the glass on a phone camera
Either way, in our dreams, if we weren’t already living it, we would live in some fabulous architect designed house, with huge windows letting the light shine onto our white walls setting off beautifully displayed pieces of art, like the glass we were looking at today. And of course because this is fantasy land, it would never need cleaning, although I’m sure this piece that made us chuckle, wouldn’t mind the flick of a feather duster
they certainly look happy
The contemporary glass really did cover a huge range of styles and techniques
Who doesn’t need a glass Darley
Although I was particularly impressed by this artist who included her love of knitting into her glass
Emmy had been featured on the BBC Make it At Market show earlier this year and consequently had sold out of these quirky little bowls otherwise I’d have been tempted to buy one. However there is an artist in residence who regularly gives demonstrations. Although he wasn’t demonstrating when we visited, we spent quite a while chatting to Alistair. Glass production is one of those industries that seem to have slipped through the support network dealing with fuel price rises. His gas bill has risen from around £4000 to over £70000 in the past 18 months and he is currently installing solar panels and replacing his gas kiln with an electric one.
Alistair at work (photo from museum website)
It wasn’t a difficult decision to decide to buy some of his glass, the difficult it was choosing just one piece
my little piece of art
Next to the museum is the Red Cone museum,
Its undergoing some renovation work right now so we could only look through the open doors, the furnaces are in the centre with coal fires underneath and the cone shaped chimney to draw the flame and gain the searing 1000° temperature needed.
We got our timings wrong so didn’t get a chance to do the full walking tour of all the glass in Stourbridge, but I’m sure we will make the effort to do so next time. But until then I’m sure Heather will give me an impromptu lesson in her studio.
Just an assortment from Flameknits, our very own artist in residenceAnd back to the canal
After 28 glorious lock free miles we were about to be brought back down to reality. We waved goodbye to the beautiful Bumblehole.
And set off, only one lock at Blowers Green pump house where the Dudley 2 meets the Dudley 1. (If we had turned right we would have reached the dudley tunnel which is restricted access only)
Blowers Green lock, junction of Dudley 1 and 2
And just as we were safely in the lock, we heard sirens and a police car skidded to a halt, 2 officers leapt out, luckily they didnt consider our windlass a deady weapon, they were chasing a suspect on a motorbike last seen on the towpath, fortunately not by us, and they declined a ride on firecrest when they realised they could walk faster than we cruise. We carried on south for an overnight stop at Merry Hill because despite the beautiful blue sky we were being buffeted around by some force 9 gales.
Mooring with a view…
Tempting though the M&S food hall is, if you have too much of a good thing it stops becoming a treat. And sadly we also experiences some unwanted attention from the locals. We heard a suspicious sound outside the boat and found 6 lads in their 20s sitting on the roof taking photos. There was nothing malicious in their intent, just obliviousness to it being our home. They were very apologetic. And then a school kid, who was with his family decided to kick the boat as he walked past, he got yelled at and ran off before I got the chance to throw a bucket of water over him cause he was anything but apologetic. Where are the police when you need them – chasing proper criminals we hope. We’ll give this mooring a miss in future. But now fully fuelled with adrenaline, we set off. The plan was just to do the Black Delph flight,
can’t see the bottom, but its only 8 locks
8 locks dropping 85′ but we struck gold with 2 volunteers and between us preparing the lock ahead meant we were down in well under an hour.
No mist at the bottom
We thought we’d found a safe place to moor
Brings a new meaning to mooring up
But the sun was now shining and we were intent on going down not up. The Stourbridge 16 isn’t the most salubrious areas at the top,
Top of the Stourbridge Canal
But again we struck gold, not with an official volunteer, just an old guy with a windlass who liked to work locks, he didn’t stop to chat, he just walked ahead to prepare the next lock leaving us to work our way down. We did persuade him to accept a pint to show our thanks, because not having that extra step of having to fill the lock ahead, made all the difference between us enjoying the journey and it becoming a hard slog.
The flight drops 145′ and it does get prettier and the industrial heritage more interesting. Stourbridge was known for its glass making and the Red House Cone is a prominent feature. Built around 1790 the 100′ chimney is designed to draw the heat from the furnaces below so the temperature reaches 1000°C. Originally the glass was used for windows but in the 1830s production changed to bottles and tableware. Stuart Crystal was made here until 1930s.
The Red House Cone, one of the last remaining chimneys.
There is visitor mooring outside the cone, but with the last off the locks in site we decided to make the most of our helper and continue to the bottom.
I can see the last one
24 locks over 5 miles all in 1 day. I could have done with a fish and chip super, but we made do with a dine in for 2 from M&S instead. 158miles to go and 118 locks
We do like the mooring at the Bumblehole, but curiosity got the better of us, wondering what we’d find down the Hawne Arm.
This way to Hawne Basin
We had been warned that the Gosty Tunnel was low and the water shallow, but the rewards would be cheap diesel at Hawne basin…. Paul and his crew from Waterways Routes, were moored next to us, and encouraged us to give it a go
hello waterway routes
A lot of effort has been put into encouraging people to make the most of the canals around here, and local artist Luke Perry has a series of 31 sculptures that represent the people and heritage of the Dudley 2, This graffiti artist is telling us that this was the Tollmans office, where he would set the toll fee using a notched freeboard stick to calculate the weight of the boat.
if you cant beat them, join them
Sadly there’s a lot of derelict neglect to be seen around here, despite some gems, the sculpture we liked the most is the elephant, who was found frolicking in the canal in the 1900s. I wonder how CRT would have handled that one…
For a backwater only 2 miles long there was plenty to make us smile,
And the geese don’t mind building their nests amongst the rubble
Then the entrance to the notoriously low Gosty Tunnel
Gosty Tunnel, here we come
Which isn’t all that long, and didn’t seem that low…..
Light at the end of the tunnel
At first…
But there was a nice friendly fella distracting us from the warning white paint
Concentrate captain
Or perhaps not so friendly
Someones got a sense of humour
And yes we really did have to duck
glad we took the aerials down
But we followed the light at the end of the tunnel and made it out, without becoming victim to the rocky sides or count dracula. We were treated to some impressive old brickwork. This stretch of the canal had been vital to the former Stewarts and Lloyd’s steel works.
No wonder Tolkein got inspiration for Lord of the Rings from here
Hawne Basin had been the rail interchange for transhipment of S&Ls huge steel tubes, and is now the end of navigation. The original line had gone a further 5 miles to Selly Oak cutting out the centre of Birmingham
entrance to Hawne Basin
We picked up fuel for less than £/l wishing we had had an emptier tank. The reception was welcoming, and the community spirit obvious, I am sure they would have found us space for an overnight stay if we had asked. But we’d decided to make the return trip to Bumblehole the same day. Eric had promised me a black country speciality for tea, battered chips. Yes they really were that orange, and yes there was a huge piece of fish under them. Another good reason to plan a return trip this way.
We have mixed feelings about being in built up areas, sometimes they appeal and other times we yearn for the countryside. And having explored Birmingham last January the busyness of the Easter Bank Holiday encouraged us to move on after only one night. Last year we had travelled into Birmingham on the Old Line, so this time we decided to explore a new route and leave on the New Main line
left hand down a bit
The two lines run parallel to each other for quite a stretch,
Swiped from CRT’s maps
The advantage being that the improved new mainline tackles the summit with a tunnel instead of 6 locks, making it a much quicker and easier passage for the barges.
Smethwick tunnel
And also reducing the workload for the Smethwick pumping station
Smethwick pump house, now a museum
And whilst I’m sure they weren’t built at the same time, the M5 motorway provides a canopy over the Old line for quite a section, whereas the New line creeps underneath the two, although you cant see it, there’s also a railway line crossing at the same point.
Duck, going under the Old line and the M5
Last January we had taken 3 days to do this journey on the Old Line it was cold and bitter and section’s of the canal were still frozen. This time we had reached the Netherton tunnel branch in 3 hours.
Netherton Junction
And we were able to moor up in the very pretty and peaceful Bumblehole
