Every Cloud!

 I have often wondered how the small basin at the foot of Hoo Mill lock originated, and also why there is a little dry dock on the towpath side, now seemingly abandoned. I had had a tentative look to see what I could find and not much came forward. By chance I looked at another map, the OS 6" map of 1880 and found this;

It seems that there was a fling mill down by the River Trent and they had installed a tramway to move the raw materiel and finished product by the canal, the wharf furnished with a crane too. It seems that the mill was part of the Walklate family business of Lane End, Longton, Stoke on Trent. A John Walkgate was manager at the mill in 1841. He had been at nearby Ingestre in 1789. (So maybe another branch of the family). He died in 1857 but his son George must have taken over as he was listed as the occupier of the mill in 1851. He was married to an Ann Newton on Boxing Day 1835 and they proceeded to have 11 children. George died at the mill in 1857. and it seems it was closed at the end of the 1800's. There is nothing left of it now except the dead straight road that was the tramway.

I think is what the wharf with the crane looks like today, with the disused dry dock.

After we had been tied up for a while yesterday a lady knocked and asked if we had seen any sheep on the tow path. As it happened we hadn't bu there had been some of the scatological evidence at Hoo Mill Lock. A little later about 20 sheep passed going towards the lock with the lady and a dog keeping them moving.

This morning it had started light rain at about 5 in the morning and was continuing when we got up. We decided to sit it our for a while as it was forecast to not cease until lunch time. However it had stopped by 1100 and was warming up showing the front had gone through too so off we set.

After Weston upon Trent you can see Weston Hall that was built in 1550 and in the early 1800's the estate was very advanced in agricultural matters as they were always winning medals for farming, such as ploughing, growing the best cabbages to feed life stock, etc etc. It is still quite imposing and is now a 38 bed hotel.

The Sandon Hall Bridge is not quite so pretty from the northern side.

The building just after Aston Lock and the bridge suddenly struck me as looking like a stable or warehouse. Just the other side of the bridge, by the canal was a fling mill. On may until the 1930, where the bit of the building juts out to the left had the canal right up to it, as in a little wharf, so it looks like a warehouse. Now a house.

Not a very good photo of meadow cranesbill, a sort of geranium. It is native and has been used for Cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, nosebleeds ulcers and piles!

I think that this is purple loosestrife and brings a lot of colour to the banks. It is a favourite of Brimstone butterflies, red tailed bumble bees and elephant hawk moths. It has also been used a a medicinal plant for much the same as the cranesbill above.

One the approach to Stone Star Lock, M&S and the winding hole is this old building that was the old sewage works and later had the refuse destructor/incinerator too. It must have been built about 1890/95. It is now the Scout and Guide HQ. I wonder if they know?

The Star by the lock is a very old pub and was serving the public around 200 years before the canal was built ie in the 1500's. It must have been a coaching inn  in its time as it had stabling for around 15 horses. The old pub sign was of a Spitfire. I forgot to check today, but it was to celebrate the pub's raising of sufficient funds to buy a plane in WWII and have it named 'Star of Stone'.

The new Joules pub with the rusty steel clad little theatre. I wond er if it is open yet. (The theatre that is!). I love the detail in the building of the pub, the finials and the red crosses in the gables.

This is the original Joules Brewery beer store. You can see the inspiration for the new building can't you.

We stopped for water and to dump our salvaged dingy before the next lock and we still beat the boat behind to the lock.

I never noticed this at the bottom of a garden past Fullers boat yard. The landing is made from an old lock gate.

As we went up the last Stone Lock a text came through from C&RT with an update to the water shortage on Heartbreak Hill the other side of Harecastle Tunnel. They had found extreme low levels of water along the whole length. I'm not sure if it is just very busy traffic or something dramatic, but the said it may take a day to fill, if they had enough water! Today they updated the notice as they have decided that it will take all the weekend at least!

Before getting to the Meaford Locks we made the decision to wind and head back. We were going to 'do' the Four Counties Ring, but we would have had to have a bit of a dash to get to Brum for when we want/need to so we turned and can take our time heading back. And I can stop for a pint in Stone now too. I think a pint of Titanic Plum Porter at the Royal Exchange, to start. I may even treat Helen to something to eat too. Every cloud has a silver lining.