Last week, when we were basking in sunshine, another boater made the comment that the glorious weather would have to be paid for. We now know what he meant. It`s rained on and off for three days and the wind has been howling most afternoons.
We entered the Trent & Mersey at Middlewich and intend to head south to Stoke on Trent and then divert up the Caldon Canal for a few days (maybe longer if the weather`s bad and we decide to sit it out for a bit).
Our first overnight stop was at Wheelock (`unspoilt Wheelock`, said a notice board at the mooring) after a breezy run down from the junction. It`s not a pretty bit of canal but it is interesting with industry (salt processing works) and suburban life in general on full view. The canal travels beside a main road for a few miles and on one side there are terraced houses and shops all the way along - and the best smelling Fish and Chips for miles.
At Wheelock we stocked up with food for V at an unspoilt pet supermarket and watched lorries hurtling through on the unspoilt main road, their drivers braking sharply to prevent the vehicle`s mirrors swiping the head of any tall pedestrian. In the unspoilt car park of the pet store, above the sound of racing traffic, I asked a local man about the Foden and ERF factories (the lorries, now sadly extict, were made in nearby Sandbach). Spoilt, he told me, and it`s the fault of Margaret Thatcher.
The next day, after 12 locks, we stopped on a rural mooring in time for lunch. Most of the locks along this section are `paired`, in other words there are two, side by side. Handy if both are in operation, as they allow two boats to go up or down together, or boats travelling in opposite directions to pass. A disadvantage is that it can be a bit of a squeeze leaving them, as the canal becomes narrow again almost immediately. I walked M out of a couple using the centre rope, pulling her over as I did, so the bow didn`t chaffe along the concrete edges of the canal.
The wind and rain were such that we stayed put on the rural mooring `till this morning. It was a cosy night with the heating on and wind and rain lashing the canal outside - along with several cows and a horse in the field opposite. We are now below lock 44, just outside Stoke and within striking distance of the Harecastle tunnel - we go through in the morning.
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| The Middlewich Branch meets the Trent & Mersey |
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| Leaving the junction, high up and beside the main road |
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| Bargain booze - plus. What more is there? |
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| Salt |
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| Leaving low bridge on the Trent & Mersey |
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| M in a lock - Harecastle Hill in the distance |
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| Looking back down the locks leading up to Harecastle and Stoke on Trent |
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