We decided that we would set off a bit earlier than normal to get through the Harecastle Tunnel today. I was up at 0730 to make a cup of tea and get ready for the off at 8am. Helen had a little lay in but didn't take quite as much advantage as I thought she might!
As we left the Caldon Canal we headed up towards the Festival Basin and saw this. I'm not sure whether it is supposed to be a warning to people, or a trophy of what had been fished out of the canal!
There is all that is left of a short arm that seemed to service the Etruria Steel works that dominated the north bank of the canal. The eastern end, including Etruria Hall became part of the Garden Festival site in 1984.
This is what Festival Park looked like before 1940!
And this is what it is like today after the Garden Festival. I'll leave it to you to decide which would the most interesting to pass by, but maybe not the same answer as the greenest or nicest!!
The Burslem Branch Canal was in use from 1805 to 1961 when it was closed following a breach. It was less than half a mile long and once closed was filled in, but luckily the route was not allowed to be built on so is available to open up again. C&RT reckon it would cost about $5 million and there is a society to do just that as a start to regeneration of Burslem.
Newport House at the junction of the Trent and Mersey and the Burslem Branch Canal, and where Anthony Shaw, the owner of the Newport Pottery just to the left of the map, lived.
This is just up from the Burslem Branch Junction and is what is left of the Newport China and earthenware Potteries. It had been built in 1851 by Anthony Shaw. He was living at Newport House that was on the corner of the Burslem Arm. It was bought out by the Shorter Family that had a nearby factory and it was where Clarice Cliff designed her famous pottery.
Next to it was the Mersey Pottery that made earthenware. It was opened by Anthony Shaw and was part of the Newport Pottery and was opened in 1857. It was called the Mersey Pottery as Liverpool was the port of export of the two potteries as it mainly went to America. It reminds me a bit of Newark Castle on the Trent!
It didn't look that much better in its hey day!!
Middleport Pottery is well worth a visit when it is open. The Pottery Thrown Down programme is filmed here and looks like a museum too.
At Longport Brokerage the buildings at the rear of the properties are old transit sheds for the wharf.
This is on the gable end of the transit shed nearest the road and as you can see it belonged to the London and North Western Railway Company and the Shropshire Union Railway and Canal Co. Wrong canal you may say, but the carriers worked all round the system.
This sort of sums up this are of the Five Towns. In the foreground is one of three basins that led of to service a gas works and two massive tile works. They have already gone, nothing can be seen. On the crest of the hill are the new industries , that look like storage and warehousing. Not quite the same though is it?
We got to the Southern Portal of the Harecastle Tunnel just afer half past nine and went to top up our water. We then moved over and had breakfast and I had just finished the dishes when we were called up to enter. Three or four boats had come south, and it looked like three would be heading back away. We were middle for diddle. This is the old tunnel, built by Brindley, that subsided with all the mining in the area and became unusable in 1914 and had been opened in 1777.
The little boat facing south had just come through and had dropped off a tunnel lamp he had borrowed. We took it back for them to the north portal. The Telford Tunnel in use today was opened in 1827 due to delays caused at the old tunnel. We set off at just after 1030.
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