flowers – Narrowboat Firecrest

From Stone to Stoke

But first, a special first, the first ducklings of the year 6th April.

After 10 days in Stone we were itching to get moving again. We’d gone exploring, seen family and friends, visited the dentist to have a broken tooth repaired, returned the car to our daughter. And much as we’d enjoyed those 10 days- apart from the bill from the dentist, our obligations were done and we were free to just be boaters again. Setting off up the Meaford locks filled us with excitement and anticipation about what lay ahead.

I’m always been fascinated cruising through Stoke. Its an industrial town striving to make its way in the 21st century, the old red brick factory yards are being wiped out by the many modern equivalents, huge warehouses compete with huge new housing estates. The canal runs through the centre straddled on each side with the multi lane Queensway and the high-speed intercity railway. Its noisy, hemmed in by concrete and razor wire fences, and nothing on earth entices me to stop and explore. But on this trip north, perhaps because it’s spring and the sun was shining it felt to me like there was an undercurrent of regeneration. Not quite so much litter or graffiti. Someone cares about this place, and I’m glad. People we spoke to were friendly and welcoming.

There are 5 locks climbing up through Stoke, and I usually walk that mile, and theres always something to make me smile, especially the Fritillary that im fairly sure someone had planted rather than it seeding naturally.

Some encouraging art work, even though it feels like fighting a loosing battle against the plastic.

Is that a mermaid lounging by the canal?

This boat always makes me smile with its grass roof and wooden cladded face

Stoke on Trent’s heyday began in the 18th century when the combination of natural resources and local talent came together to create the Potteries. Back in the day there were over 2000 bottle kilns firing the pottery now there are just 47 remaining standing. The Clean Air act in the 1950’s put an end to their commercial use, and the remaining kilns are all listed. Some have been lovingly preserved and integrated into new housing developments

But sadly even though Olivers mill continued into the 1990’s for the calcination of flint, where the flint is heated to over 1000°C then ground to use in ceramics production. It doesn’t seem to be so loved now.

The bone and flint mill at Etruria is a private heritage site

Etruria junction is the final lock north of the town. The Cauldon Canal branches off here into the peak district to transport products for the potteries.

There used to be a CRT bin facility here but it has moved to Festival Park Marina. And to give CRT its due, after my post 2 weeks ago from Stone, these bins deserve 5 stars.

That one cardboard box on the far bin belongs to me.

Has Spring really Sprung?

How can the weather go from being rubbish to perfect in a blink of an eye? I can’t answer that one, but it wont stop the big grin on our faces to be cruising in the sunshine.

Although we’ve still had a few misty frosty mornings.

We made it up to Fradley Junction at the beginning of the week

and turned left onto the Trent and Mersey Canal. Time to flex those lock muscles that have been atrophying for the past 4 months.

Not sure if we’ll make it all the way to Preston Brook, but we are heading towards Northwich so maybe we’ll sneak in a trip to lovely Lymm whilst we are up there .

We can’t go too far each day because Eric has to saddle up to fetch the car. Then find somewhere safe to leave it, where it doesn’t cause any inconvenience to the locals.

Stocked up with groceries at Rugeley in time for a day two relaxing at Great Haywood, taking in a wander around the estate at Shrugborough Hall. The daffs are at their finest.

Although wa are watching our steps around the imfamous two bodied swan gracing the River Trent

What a Show

With Firecrest safe and secure in Shobnall marina for a few days, we hired a car and drove up to the Lakes. Its always a treat to stay at Mums, even if shes no longer with us. This is where I used to play as a child, no wonder I love living on the water now.

I was booked in to go to The Cumbrian Wool Gathering, and for a yarnie like me who loves knitting and spinning and crochet and felting infact anything textile, two whole days of woolly magic is my idea of heaven. Whilst a yarn festival might be my idea of heaven, Eric dutifully handed over the credit card and left me to it so I could take advantage of some very talented people showcasing small businesses from studios in Cumbria and some a bit further afield.

All things considered I was quite restrained in what came home with me

When we got back to Firecrest we cruised back towards Alrewas. We were admiring the open countryside around Branston lock, when a walker told us to make the most of it. This green space is due to have 100’s of houses built on it.,

Going upstream on the River section was a bit of a struggle, it might have looked a lovely day, but the wind was fierce and the flow was fast, it felt like we were trudging through treacle.

Luck was on our side to get the last available 14 day mooring and we settled down to enjoy village life.

We were in for another treat as it was Alrewas Open Gardens weekend.

There were 32 gardens for us to visit and they ranged from postage stamps and wild flowers right through to some Chelsea showstoppers

Impossible to pick our favourite garden, but some of my favourite flowers

And of course no village show would be complete without a bit of yarn bombing

Shugborough Hall

We woke to a perfect cruising day. I was determined that as we passed Great Haywood Junction, where the the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal meets the Trent and Mersey Canal, we would moor up so I could visit Shugborough Hall.

6 or so miles travelling south, under one of my favourite bridges, Salt Bridge, (named as it leads to the village of Salt- where you’ve guessed it, they mined Salt).

The junction was busy as always, but we managed to get one of the last spaces on the 2 day mooring. Eric had some work to do, so I left him to it and went for a walk. The estate is reached by crossing over the 16th century packhorse bridge, Essex Bridge. This where the Trent and the Sow meet and the Trent becomes the major river. This is another of my favourite bridges, although only 14 of the original 40 arches remain.

Essex Bridge, worth stepping off the towpath at Haywood lock to see, even if you don’t go onto the estate.

Although the estate is a National Trust property, the grounds are open to the public to enjoy, with monuments and follies hidden amongst huge trees.

The Chinese house and bridge over the River Sow

The cat monument celebrating Lord Anson’s Persian cat and his flock of Corsican goats built in 1750. And of course some beautiful flowers in the garden

The next day Eric and I set off to explore the house

The estate lands were owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until Henry VIII threw a spanner in the works, and seized their assets. In the 1600’s the Anson family bought the estate, knocked down the manor house and built themselves a stately home. The rest they say is history

Over the years, wealth was amassed through commerce and marriage, the house was extended. They travelled extensively

And many “treasures” and design styles were brought back to the house. We particularly liked this one, a Chinese garden seat, which was was filled with potpourri to help disguise odours emitting from the sitter. Personally we thought it was a forerunner to a USB charger socket

Battles were fort and won on behalf of the crown, and titles were awarded. The most prestigious was in 1831 when the family were given a hereditary peerage, and Thomas Anson became the 1st Earl of Lichfield. However even members of the aristocracy still need to wash their smalls, or employ a small army to do it for them.

Shugborough Hall was given to the National Trust in 1960 in lieu of inheritance taxes, but the 5th Earl was granted an apartment to continue living in. He was the photographer Patrick Lichfield, and many of the items on display were photos he’d taken. This wing is now open to the public which was fascinating seeing it filled with familiar, albeit now retro, crockery and appliances-the sort of thing that savvy shoppers can pick up at car boot sales, and some of us are still using- like our trusty Kenwood Chef. We weren’t permitted to take our own photos in this wing. After so much grandeur and a picnic in the grounds, we were quite happy to return to our little narrowboat to enjoy some natural landscaping along our canal.

But it’s only 6 miles

….and 25 locks from the bottom lock at Wheelock to the top lock at Red Bull, Kidsgrove. No wonder it’s known as Heartbreak Hill. Even the summit of that big hill Everest is only 5.5miles above sea level, but I’ve more sense than to attempt that only carrying a windlass. Not to mention my dodgy logic. We set off from Ettiley Heath at 7am so as to beat the heat.

The forecast was for the hottest day of the year so far, mid 20’s, so we only planned to cruise until 11 then find a tree to moor under.

Entering Wheelock Bottom Lock, the start of the flight

As per ususal we gave a big sigh of relief that our chosen mode of transport took us under the M6 and not along it. Although to be fair, the country would be a very different place if we still relied on the canals to get goods from A to B.

That caravan is nearly as long as Firecrest,

We found our tree after 12 locks and settled down to watch the world go by, except it didn’t, the canal is exceptionally quiet, only 6 boats in the whole day cruised past us.

The next day was a lot busier, although some people had the right idea.

Wonder what they serve at the Red Bull pub?

We’d done the hill in 2 days, and it really wasn’t too bad. It’s a pretty section of canal and there’s several nice mooring places to break up the journey. Plan B had been to turn onto the Macclesfield canal here, but alas, due to the April breach we were now onto Plan C, travelling south. We topped up at the very convenient canal side Lidl, and set off through the tomato soup to go through the Harecastle Tunnel.

“Who said red and green should never be seen”

I didn’t manage to catch the skeleton on camera very well this transit, it must have been running away….

or was it running to catch us, either way I wasn’t hanging around to find out. After 38 minutes underground we were happy to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We moored up outside the Middleport Pottery to plan our next adventure

Sharing the load

Turning right at Wigrams, onto the Warwick and Napton canal section of the Grand Union is a good place to have friends. The next 21 miles has 46 double locks, and pretty though it may be, it’s hard work without a crew, at this time of year, there are usually other boaters to share the load.

We struck lucky, making friends with a party of Australian men who had left their wives back home and come to explore the UK by narrowboat. Our heritage is certainly something to be proud of.

I hope that, if and when HS2 ever gets completed it will mellow into the countryside again just before Radford Semole

It will mellow and the trees will grow again, but I doubt it will last as long as our fabulous canal network. We said goodbye to our aussies who wanted to get to Warwick to visit Castle. We decided to have a few days in Royal Leamington Spa. Leamington is an odd place, you don’t see it at its best from the canal, although there’s some amazing street art

The town itself grew up around its mineral spring, when taking the waters became a fashionable cure all in the early 1800s. (Apparently the waters were actually a mild laxative so no wonder you felt well cleansed) Parks, promenades and bandstands with fabulous floral displays were created to entertain the visitors but despite the arrival of the railway, bringing more wealthy victorians, this prosperous period didn’t last. And nowadays its sadly rundown although the local council seem keen to maintain the gardens now, so it’s still a pretty place to walk around.

A Japanese Lantern flower in the glass house

Leamington and Warwick are so close, they seem to merge into one with only the River Avon between the two.

We’ve moored in Warwick before on the Saltisford Arm, but not this trip

The Saltisford Arm, well worth £10 a night to moor if you want to explore Warwick

We’d had the offer of a helping hand from my friend Jude

who was keen and eager to help us up the Hatton flight, so we set off straight away.

I’m not sure if Jude realised what she’d volunteered for but we never say no to sharing the load.

As we keep reminding ourselves, it’s cheaper than going to the gym

It’s a great sense of satisfaction when you reach the dragonfly pond,

Glad we don’t meet any dragonfly that big for real

Although there’s still 3 more of the 21 locks to go.
The Hatton Flight was opened in 1799 as part of the Warwick and Birmingham canal. Not only did it carry coal but also tea sugar and spices were being brought to Birmingham, it was hard work for the boatmen but it became known as the Stairway to Heaven because they knew that once they reached Camp Hill in Birmingham they would get paid. In the 1930s the unification of the network incorporated as part of the Grand Union canal and the decision was made to improve capacity by widening the single locks to double width. Not only was it unusual for canals to be improved like this, the new locks were unusual because they were built out of that revolutionary new material, concrete. Economic and efficient the new flight might have been, you’d have thought those engineers would have spared a thought for us leisure boaters, who don’t get paid at the top of the flight.

Those fellas don’t look like it’s too much of a struggle

Unless you count the evening view as a reward. Thankyou Jude, your help was very much appreciated, it was lovely to spend time with you and also to meet your family.

Looking down the Hatton flight towards the castle

And just thrown in for good measure, I’ve also squeezed in a flying visit back home to Suffolk to check out the view from my back garden.

Spitting distance

After sitting down last December and deciding to purchase a gold licence so we could spend the summer in East Anglia, we are on the final few days of our very protracted and frustrating journey, we set off with spring in the air and a spring in our step.

Only to have it clouded over by the time we reached Gayton Junction. We picked up some fuel from Blisworth Marina, (about 15pl cheaper than nearby marinas ) and off we set up the Northampton arm.

Gayton Junction going onto the Northampton Arm

Only 17 locks down

The first 12 are a flight so easy for Eric and I to work as a team, I set the lock, he cruises in, whilst I walk on to set the next one, by the time he’s let the water out I’m usually back in time to close up as he cruises on. And thankfully there’s only one lift bridge which is usually raised.

And as we were working our way down the flight, my adventurous Sister in Law was in South America ticking off her bucket list visiting the Iguaçu falls in Brazil, Lock 9 did its best to impress….

There’s some interesting art work along the 5 miles between Gayton Junction and Northampton

And the M1 motorway thunders overhead .

And another friend was visiting Chelsea Flower show as we made our way down the flight. Sometimes simple is just as good.

And we made it. Well almost, the heavens opened just as we reached Cotton End in Northampton, which is still on the canal, and under CRTs management and there were rings so we moored up. Our final, lock, Lock 17 is within spitting distance . Once the rain stopped we thought we would take a walk up to the Marina office and talk to the Enviroment Agency about river etiquette, buy ourselves the required access key, and prepare our anchor etc ready for the River Nene after a good nights sleep…..

This is a trip of 165 miles, 1½ furlongs and 137 locks from Macclesfield Visitor Moorings (Pontoons) to Northampton Lock No 17. And had we cruised for 7 hours a day (which admittedly we wouldn’t even contemplate let alone achieve) we could have done it in a fortnight. (Screenshot swiped from AC Canal plan)

Spring in our step

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

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

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

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

Cruising the Caldon

For the first time in nearly a year we are cruising on new territory for Firecrest. Now that we don’t have any deadlines or commitments to meet, we are free to meander and explore again. It feels a bit like we are going on holiday, which is saying something, as a lot of people think life on a narrowboat is one long holiday. The Caldon Canal joins the Trent and Mersey at Etruria Junction. And is marked by a statue of James Brindley the engineer responsible for building of this Canal.

The potteries needed lime for their kilns, and a canal was the most efficient way to transport it from the quarries at Caldon Low, (which is the area to the east of Froghall). The proprieters borrowed some £25000 and completed it in 1778. The milemarkers measure all the way to Uttoxeter. But the section between Froghall and Uttoxeter only opened in 1811 and was closed within 40 years in order to built a rail track along it’s route.

The first few miles of the Caldon pass through the outskirts of Stoke, where the 2 bottle kilns from the Johnson Brothers pottery have been preserved as part of a modern residential area.

The canal also runs through the centre of a very attractive Victorian park, complete with bandstands and fountains. You’d think it would be an idyllic place to moor for the night but a local boater warned us against it.

But it wasn’t long before we were out in the open country side surrounded by noisy birdsong. We couldn’t resist going for an evening stroll along the disused railway through the cow parsley, it felt like we were in a different world after the expanse of the Trent and Mersey.

Our cruising took us on a twisting windy route through bluebell woods

And buttercup meadows

Some beautiful old stone bridges

And some frustratingly awkward angled bridges that you didn’t stand a chance of getting through unscathed if you met someone intent of getting to their destination.

I hate to think what it did to their boat

There were a few swing bridges that still required a bit of effort, but they are so much quicker than the automated ones.

And some that had been partially removed, this one had a central pillar still in the canal, but at least we knew which way to go.

Hope they aren’t expecting heavy traffic

But despite the sections which needed a lot of concentration, this Canal has been a breath of fresh air and a real joy to cruise, made all the more enjoyable by some summer sunshine at long last. And we are in no hurry to complete this journey.