A Foggy Start to a Beautiful Day

Tuesday 29th September, 2015 at Streethay.
A very foggy morning. As we went through Rugeley, the power station cooling towers vanished into the fog and low cloud, giving them a vaguely unreal quality.

Twenty-five minutes later, on the far side, the fog had lifted to reveal their true "glory"!

This narrow cutting was once a tunnel but the roof became unstable, and so was removed. It is still only just wide enough for one boat, so it's advisable to make sure that there is no one coming the other way before you start through it!

The Armitage works takes its name from the town (or is it the other way round?). Armitage is famous for toilets (among other things).  It is not a very prepossessing building!

At lunchtime, we arrived at Fradley Junction, where the Coventry Canal branches off south from the Trent & Mersey Canal. It is one of the most photographed junctions on the canal system; yet its peace and tranquillity is sadly threatened by the  planned route of HS2.

We moored up and walked down to the former BW workshops. These had been closed when we last visited, but have now been nicely renovated and re-opened as a café and information centre, so we had a very good lunch.

M has to go home tomorrow for a choir meeting, so we had booked MM a two night mooring at the relatively new King's Orchard Marina. When we passed two years ago, it was only just completed and had very few boats moored up. Now it is very attractive  - amd almost full!
After filling with diesel and water, and emptying the poo tank, we moored up and then walked along the towpath, across the fields and across the railway line...

... to get to Lichfield Trent Valley railway station to collect M's tickets for tomorrow.
The sun was just setting as we walked back to the marina.

And we photographed MM in her berth in the evening light.

Today: 11 miles, 3 locks and 6.0 hours.
Trip: 388 miles, 3030 locks and 295.1 hours.

Off Again - To Braunston, This Time.

Monday 28th September, 2015 in Rugeley.
It's cobweb season. Every morning, MM's rear deck seems to be festooned with shining cobwebs!

There was no morning mist today, just a clear blue sky.

M said that she was reluctant to leave the marina, even though it will be fun to go down to Braunston and back. Despite M's reluctance, we set off after breakfast and said a temporary farewell to our mooring.

The last time we went under this bridge, there were a dozen sheep standing on it watching us pass. This time there was just one who peered curiously through the bars and continued to watch us until we were far away. What was it thinking, one wonders?

Where the canal was built through large estates, the owners often demanded that "their" bridge must be particularly handsome. This bridge is called Salt Bridge, but it was built in such an ornate fashion by order of the owners of the Sandon Estate, through which the canal travels. The bridge connects the little village of Salt directly to Sandon Hall, which is now a favourite wedding venue.

By contrast, the little brick bridge at Weston Lock is called Brinepit Bridge, a further reminder of the salt production that used to take place in the area.

Good to see the C&RT chaps putting our licence fee to good use repairing the banks of the canal!

Pedestrians, however, would appear to be a hindrance to the work and are instructed to turn sharp left into the canal!

Most of the lock gates on this stretch of canal have these sweet little crochet hearts attached to them. No one seems to know their significance, but they are very cute.

How to have fun during term-time. Never mind arithmetic, history and all that stuff - go canoeing!

Colwich Lock has always been M's favourite, ever since we were watched through one year by a herd of cows standing on the bridge and peering at us. This time it was even more special - it is the 300th lock that M has done this summer! Well done, says R!

We moored up in Rugeley after a great day's cruising.

Today: 13 miles, 5 locks and 7.9 hours.
Trip: 377 miles, 300 locks and 289.1 hours.

A Visit from Charles, Emma, Penny and Minnie.

Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September, 2015 back at Aston Marina.
A misty start brightened into a beautiful day in Stone.

We are so looking forward to the arrival of Charles, Emma, Penny and Minnie for the day - and the weather could hardly be better, clear blue skies and sunshine.
As we had breakfast, we got a message from Charles that their train had been cancelled, so they will be arriving an hour later than planned. So, after doing some shopping in Stone, we walked up to the railway station to meet them. It was brilliant to see them all.

On our way back to MM, a refreshment stop at Costa was the order of the day, then we all set off on MM for Aston Marina. Charles and Marion did the first lock together.

While Emma kept an eye on the girls who were hanging out on MM.

It was fabulous to cruise in such good weather. At Aston Lock, Charles and Penny helped M as lock labourers.

To be fair, Charles did most of the work but Penny looked on with interest.

The hedgerows are laden with autumn fruits including sloes and damsons, particularly on the non-towpath side. M invariably wants to stop and gather them but as that would mean blocking the canal, the opportunities are scarce.
We arrived back at Aston, moored MM up and went for a super lunch in the marina's Bistro, with some fun and games on the way.

Then it was time to collect all their stuff from MM (all except Minnie's Dolly, who appears to have gone AWOL) for them to take a taxi back to the railway station for the journey home.

A lovely day was followed by a beautiful sunset...

And moonrise.

On Sunday, we decided to have a quiet day in the marina and to treat ourselves to Sunday Lunch in the Bistro. Imagine our surprise to find Charlie's university friend (and best man), John Horan, there with his family! It was their first visit to the Bistro and they were celebrating John's Mother's birthday.
We invited them back to see MM after lunch as most of them had never seen the inside of a narrowboat. So nice to see them all.

A huge full moon rose in the clear evening sky. Tonight is a rare Supermoon Eclipse where the earth comes between the sun and the moon and, coincidentally, the moon is at its closest to the earth. Being a pair of mad lunatics, we set our alarm for 3:15am, got up and stood on the rear deck of MM. Out in the country, with little light pollution and wide horizons, we were blessed with a completely clear night sky and the combination of the red moon with all the stars was unforgettable.
On Saturday: 2 miles, 2 locks and 1.5 hours.
Summer Trip: 364 miles, 295 locks and 281.2 hours.

Backing Through the Lock at Stone

Friday 25th September, 2015 back to Stone.
We awoke to a lovely morning at the marina. M, as usual, was up with (or even before!) the sunrise.

After breakfast, R took MM out of her mooring and turned her round, so that we could fill up with water - we normally back her in to make access easier, but the water tank is at the front  -  so she has to be bow-in to fill her up. Then we set off back towards Stone.

Tomorrow, Charles, Emma, Penny and Minnie are coming up for the day by train, so we thought we would take MM back up to Stone, pick them up from the railway station there and then bring them back to Aston for lunch.
This time we had Aston Lock to ourselves. Beside the lock is an old "lengthsman's" hut with Aston Church in the background.

Below is a classic old Staffordshire house, very similar in style to the one that used to be owned by our friends Annie and Paddy in nearby Gnosall.

An unorthodox manoeuvre was necessary at Stone. MM is 60ft long and the canal is only 25ft wide, so there are only certain special places where you can turn around - and we needed to turn round to take Charles and family back to Aston tomorrow. There was one turning place just before the first Stone Lock but the next one would involve going up through four locks, turning and then four locks back down again. So R decided to turn before the lock and then reverse into the lock. R turned MM round and then backed up the couple of hundred yards towards the lock - so far so good.

M set the lock and then R backed MM towards it. Just as they were getting close to the lock there was a fearful gronching noise from the propellor and then the engine stopped dead. R restarted the engine and tried to clear the propellor and just managed to get enough thrust to move very slowly into the lock amid sounds of distress from engine and propellor. As soon as MM was in the lock, R dived down the weed hatch.

M had the help of a very kind gentleman called Andy from a hire boat nb "Adderbury" that had gone through the lock before us. He stayed to help us through the lock while R struggled with the propellor.
The culprit turned out to be a complete mountain bike tyre and the rather shredded remains of its inner tube. The gronching noise was probably from the destruction of the bicycle wheel itself, which must still be down there, maybe with the rest of the bike?

Eventually, we came out of the lock backwards and moored up in the same spot where we were on Wednesday night - and pointing towards Aston, ready for tomorrow.

After all that hassle, R definitely deserved a Costa!

Today: 2 miles, 2 locks (1 backwards!) and 1.5 hours.
Trip: 362 miles, 293 locks and 279.7 hours.

Bringing MM Back Home to Aston Marina.

Thursday 24th September, 2015 in Aston Marina.
Stone is a lovely place to moor up and is one of our favourite spots.

Stone is justifiably proud to call itself a "Canal Town" and is one of several towns that claim to be the origin of the Trent & Mersey Canal.

We've seen some original and amusing boat names in our travels, but this has to be one of the best - given the vast quantities of Brasso consumed by boaters polishing their brasswork.

Before we set off, we paid another visit to the town, which has a delightful pedestrianised main street and "real" shops with only a few miniature versions of the big chain stores.

Beside the last lock in Stone is the Star Inn. It has an excellent reputation for good food and is also proud of its entry in the Guiness Book of Records as being the only public house with every one of its rooms being on different levels.

At Aston Lock, we ran into the rush hour - with three boats queuing to get down and a similar number queuing to get up. Unheard of!! However, the slight delay caused no problems and meant that there were plenty of hands to help to do the locks.

Just below Aston Lock, we turned into Aston Marina. It felt just like coming Home!

Finally, R backed MM into our mooring slot - A22. It was clear that no other boat had used the mooring during the summer as the electricity meter reading hadn't changed.

It was marvellous to be back. We were warmly welcomed in the Bistro and at 6:30pm, we got dressed up (Hooray! says M) and walked up for this month's Master Class. The theme this month was seafood and, as ever, the food was delicious and included demonstrations on how to make Gravadlax (the starter) and a trio of wet fish (the main course). We sat with our friends Bridgett and Peter, who live in nearby Weston, and had a brilliant evening.
A bright moon, a few days off full, guided us back to MM.
Today: 2 miles, 2 locks and 1.5 hours.
For this first part of our Summer Cruise through Market Drayton, Middlewich, Runcorn, Wigan, Barnoldswick, Skipton, Leeds, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Kidsgrove and Stoke-on-Trent, the totals were:
Trip: 360 miles, 291 locks and 278.2 hours in 3 months, 11 days.

Arriving in Stone - Nearly Home.

Wednesday 23rd September, 2015 in Stone.
A beautiful morning and our very quiet mooring opposite the cemetary.

We moored alongside two preserved bottle kilns that were built in 1887 as part of the Cliff Vale Potteries, home to Twyford's of sanitary ware fame. Their rather comical hairy appearance is due to small shrubs, which have taken root in their brickwork.

The main entrance and office building for Twyford's works are also preserved on the main road and are now used as offices, but the remainder of this massive site has been redeveloped as housing.

We were only a couple of hundred yards from a secure truck park used by Eddie Stobart's trucks and we have visited it a number of times in the past by car to spot "Eddies". We walked up to it but were disappointed to find only two Eddies there; we wondered if perhaps Stobarts have stopped using it.
We set off through the next lock, which was fortuitously in our favour - but when M opened the bottom gates, there was another boat trying to get in, blocking the narrow exit!

They had to back up to let us out and their skipper cheerfully blamed his "missus" for not paying attention!
We never pass "Jones & Shufflebottom" without a chuckle at the name. The name on the other side of the factory has been shortened to "Jones & Shuffs" (we also see it from the train). The two little dogs (with their lifejackets) had obviously hopped on to their boat roof for a better look!

Wedgwood's factory was originally in the centre of Stoke-on-Trent but 75 years ago, they moved to this site out in the country. They do excellent factory tours and afternoon teas served on their best china, but we didn't go in this time.

We have seen many very desirable houses on this summer's trip, even some that we could afford! But this house between Stoke and Stone is one of R's favourites. It has its own mooring arm - just right for MM; however, it might be a tad outside our price range!

Approaching Stone, we were surprised to see nb "Tyseley", home to the Mikron Theatre. They travel the canal network all summer giving performances. All their remaining dates this year are in the north, so it's a bit of a mystery why their narrowboat is still down here in the Midlands.

nb "Foxglove", with her splendid LMS livery has got to be one of the finest boats that we have ever seen. Even the little shed has her name created as the old station names were once done.

MM, photographed from the old horse tunnel next to the lock as we entered Stone.

Joule's Brewery has occupied these canalside premises since 1780. This warehouse is the only part of the brewery that remains, the main building was sadly demolished by Bass Charrington in 1974 amid local outcry. In 2010, after a gap of 36 years, Joule's beer once again began to be brewed in Stone and they continue brewing their real ale today. Hurrah!

Stone is one of the most popular towns on the waterways and overnight moorings are much in demand. Every mooring was taken as we approached and M had asked the skipper of nb "Marbury" (that we had been following through the locks since Stoke) if we could brest up alongside them. They very kindly agreed, but as we approached, the boat in front of them was leaving and so we were able to moor up in their space.

Stone has a lovely jolly atmosphere all year round and the pedestrianised main street is a delight. So we had a Costa to celebrate our good fortune in finding such a nice mooring.

This must be the first time that we have had fairy lights over our mooring!

Today: 9 miles, 10 locks and 6.1 hours.
Trip: 358 miles, 289 locks and 276.7 hours