Mooring up MM at Longport Wharf for the Weekend.

Thursday and Friday 29th and 30th August, 2013 in Longport near Stoke-on-Trent.
On Thursday we walked up to the Royal Doulton Outlet Shop in Etruria. Wow! Ali Baba's cave come to life!  What fabulous stuff and at great prices. Wall to wall beautiful porcelain and glistening crystal. Royal Doulton, Royal Albert, Wedgwood, Waterford and Minton. We would advise prospective visitors to leave their credit cards at home!
It also had a lovely cafe, where we had tea and cake served on examples of their wares!
We walked back via Longport Wharf, where MM is booked in for tonight so that we can go home tomorrow for the weekend. The staff were very helpful and friendly, so we walked back to MM and sailed the short distance back to the Wharf and moored her up. nb "Poppy" was moored up against the wharf, but the staff moved her so that we could moor MM inside her, between her and the wharf.

By no means the prettiest mooring we have had, and close to a busy road, but nevertheless we were able to get a good night's sleep.
On Friday, a taxi collected us at 9:30 and took us to Stoke-on-Trent railway station to catch the train to Euston. The station is a wonderful Victorian building, clearly built to show off the economic power of the potteries.

Opposite the station is a lovely statue of Josiah Wedgwood holding one of his pots.

At the station, we had a coffee while waiting for the train. There was already a line of cups on the table, to which we added our own!

The journey into London was non-stop and astonishingly fast, just an hour and a quarter. The canal follows close by the railway line, so we were able to see some of the places we will be visiting in the next few weeks.
Today: Just a few hundred yards!