The Harecastle Tunnel - Shelter from the Rain!

Monday 21st September, 2015 at Westport Lake, Stoke-on-Trent.
The forecast rain duly arrived overnight and it was raining heavily as we set off. Even the sheep sought shelter, as you can see from this photo taken from inside MM!

Red Bull Junction is where the Macclesfield Canal joins the Trent & Mersey Canal. As we approached the junction bridge, the characteristic colour of the water in these parts is already evident; this is due to seepage of the ironstone into the water.

A signpost at the junction lists the destinations in varying directions - most of which we have visited over this summer! It was a nice feeling!

It was still raining when we approached the Harecastle Tunnel. M, who usually likes to walk over the top, decided on this occasion to stay on board MM on the grounds that it would be drier in the Tunnel than outside. As you approach the tunnel, it takes an act of faith to know that MM will fit into that small hole! At this point, the water rather resembles tomato soup!  Heinz, of course!!!!

We were fortunate with our arrival time as there were two boats ahead of us waiting for a convoy of boats to come through the other way. They came out of the tunnel almost immediately and so we were able to start through without undue delay.

Ours was the last run before the tunnel keepers took their lunch hour - so if we had been 15 minutes later, we would have had to wait at least a couple of hours to go through.
The tunnel was certainly a contrast to our recent transit of the Standedge Tunnel. The Harecastle Tunnel is half as long (at a mile and a half) but twice as wide, as originally it had a towpath. The towpath subsided and was eventually removed, therefore the tunnel is much, much easier to navigate. There are, however, places where the roof comes down to within inches of MM's roof - so you need to duck!
The tunnel is also fully brick lined, unlike Standedge, so the walls and roof are much less of a hazard. It must have taken millions of bricks to line the tunnel.

Despite the length of the tunnel, we could always see light at the other end, a true testimonial to Mr Telford's skill as an engineer.
As we left the southern entrance to the tunnel, the tunnel keeper shut up shop and went to lunch.

Due to the rain, we cruised only a mile or so to Westport Lake on the northern edge of Stoke-on-Trent, where we moored up for the rest of the day.
It was a strange feeling, suddenly being unmistakably in the Midlands, whereas on the Maccie, a couple of hours before, we had the definite feeling that we were "up North". Suddenly, the accents had changed - perhaps the tunnel is the boundary?
Today: 6 miles, 1 lock and 3.6 hours.
Trip: 346 miles, 276 locks and 267.3 hours.