Up the Caldon Canal.

It wasn't quite as windy as yesterday when we set off but it was bitterly cold and with frequent hail showers. Just round the corned from our overnight spot is the staircase lock. The Caldon Canal acts as a feeder for the Trent and Mersey so water coming down is not a problem and the top lock is larger than the bottom one so that extra goes down.

Bedford Street Staircase Lock. High and mighty!

The route is very narrow and at the beginning quite industrial, or would have been in times past as they are mainly empty now. It does past through Hanley Park which brings some green to the cut. We came this way a few years ago and the demolition in many places has been replaced by new housing. We finally run out into more rural areas but the canal remains narrow and with very tight bends in places. Of course we started to meet boats coming down, and just about always at a bridge, on a bend! No damage done though. We were aiming to stop at Milton but carried on a little further.

Only the second time I have had my coat on, but I was still nithered by the time we moored. Nice to see the bluebells though.

Bridge 20 and Engine Lock. With a rare bit of sun.

Once we had had lunch we decided to brave the hail showers and go for a walk. I like this sort of country that has had several periods of varying occupation as there are relics of the industrial past and before. Old wall, ancient track ways and nice old houses in strange places for today. We crossed an old railway line a couple of times and we were surprised to see that it still had the track down. It seems that it has been left in case the Cauldon Low stone quarry resumes production. Mind you the track is so over grown it would take a lot of work to reinstate it. I am also surprised that the scrap thieves haven't targeted it yet!

Dandelion field. Glad my lawn is close to this!

The Head of Trent.

This is the young River Trent. It's source is on the flanks of Biddulph Moor which is not far away. The full length of the river is 185 miles to Trent falls where it joins with the Ouse to form the Humber. It's average discharge is 84 cu metres per second with a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 1018 cu. metres per second. So now you know.

Onwards and upwards.

We set off into a bit of a wind and it wasn't particularly warm. We had a few locks today and some were very deep. After the first lock we saw very little traffic until we got to the flight of locks rising through Stoke on Trent. A large part of the journey was through landscape that had obviously being industrial at one time and had been flattened when redundant and is now still vacant. It has slowly being reclaimed so is nicely softened. It will be a shame when the sites are built on as the wild life that has colonised it will be displaced again. There were collieries and heavy engineer works too. The conurbation of Stoke came upon us with the home of Stoke City, Britannia Stadium and the council Incinerator. The canal runs along with the main A500 on one side and the railway line on the other.

Bridge under the railway at the Stoke flight with very low headroom.

The harsh landscape was broken by this lovely well kept cemetery and the sun shone too.

After 5 locks we came across the Jessie Shirley's Bone Mill. This still has the steam plant in and is a museum. At Wedgewood's they explained that bone china actually does have  bone in it, 51%. I was very surprised at the percentage. They were at pains to explain that they do not use cow bones as they sell pottery to countries where the cow is sacred. They import the bones from buffalo type animals that make up the beef cattle from Argentina. After another lock was the Etruria Junction where there is the industrial museum that includes the bone mill. Etruria was the home of Wedgewood's first owned pottery works and fronted the canal of which he was a leading exponent.

Jesse Shriley's Etruscan Bone Mill on it own little cut.

Etruscan Bone Mill.

Etruscan Bone Mill.

'Holderness' passing the Bone mill for the top lock of the Stoke flight.

The turn into the Caldon Canal is tight and there was a boat there that had a rope round her propeller but all went well and once through we tied up and took water. When full we moved further down the canal, as you are not allowed to moor at a water point, for obvious reasons. We then set out on foot for a walk to the retail park to have a look for this and that. There was nothing we needed at the big retail park so we decided to walk into Hanley. This is one of the 6 towns that were 'amalgamated' to make the City of Stoke on Trent. This didn't happen until 1925. The towns are Tunstal, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton. The walk revealed more large areas that had been knocked down and with still some back to back terraces still standing. The shopping area was nicely free of traffic but it was not inspiring and there was obviously a lack of money around. We did buy a small bed for Macy and other odds and end, before finding out way back to the boat. It is still very windy but at least the sun has now come out.

Wedgewood Day

We are moored just past Barlaston. and after tea last night we decided to go for a walk. We went over the railway line, past Wedgewood Station and up the hill To Barlaston Hall and Church. It was overcast with low cloud but still.

The avenue from the Wedgewood factory to the model village.

Church near Barlaston Hall.

Barlaston Hall.

The Hall was built in 1756 for Thomas Mills who was an attorney from nearby Leek in the Palladian style. It was designed by Sir Robert Taylor who was well known for the octagonal and diamond patterns in the sash windows. The Hall was surrounded by parkland. In 1930's the entire estate was bought by The Wedgewood Company as they had outgrown their factory in Etruria in Hanley. The house was made into the Factory college but when mining subsidence caused problems the college moved elsewhere. The building had a 4" crack through it. Wedgewood continued to maintain the building but thieves stole the roof lead and vandals wrecked the place. They applied to demolish it twice! In the end it was sold for £1 to SAVE Britain's Heritage in 1981. The sale stated that the refurbishment had to be completed in 5 years. The National Coal Board agreed to fund the creation of a concrete raft to remedy the subsidence. This was reneged later and grants were not so easy to come by but it was completed by 1992. The building was sold with no internal work carried out to the Hall family and they still live there. The view across the valley is fantastic and it will be a really great place to live. We walked back down the to the railway and canal. The gates to the Wedgewood station were locked so obviously not used anymore but must have been busy when the factory was in full sway.

Josiah Wedgewood I.

We decided to go to the Wedgewood Museum and factory tour as weer were there. We got there before 1030 and went straight on nthe factory tour. It was a quick dash round but it certainly made you realise why the products are so expensive. Almost everything is done by hand with the decorative ware needing several firings and paintings etc and the liberal use of 22 carat gold. We heard that the present factory moved here in the late 1930's early 40's and the Etruria Factory closed completely in 1951. Much of the production area was not being used and you may remember that the company went bust a few years ago. An American Investment company now owns the company along with Waterford Crystal, Johnson's pottery, Royal Albert,  and Royal Doulton. It seems that the Company concentrated on high value items now and left the bulk ware to others. The Astbury Black style has a cup and saucer for £1050. In the Factory outlet shop there had a plate on sale for £150+. It was dishwasher proof though!

The museum was like the 'Tardis' and went on and on. The items were a fantastic range. The famous Jasper ware took years and thousands of experiments to perfect. He kept ahead of the competition coming up with new processes and designs and used his contacts to promote them in the best of society. In the end we were 61/2 on the site including a cup of tea and a scone. It was a day well spent and it was good to learn of the life of Josiah Wedgewood and his contemporaries. Josiah was born as the youngest of a 12 in a potters family. He contracted smallpox when he was young and this badly damaged a knee. This rendered him not suitable for being a hands on potter as it was physical work. He therefore ended up in the design and technology of pottery. He was able to better the process of making pottery and he joined in with a factory owner who also taught him the basics of management. He set up on his own and rented several potteries before designing and building his own in Hanley and called it Etruria. This was set up as a factory process. He was a patron of turnpike roads as he was fully aware as the delivery of his raw materials and finished products was not satisfactory via pack horse. He also was heavily involved in the promotion of the Trent and Mersey canal as he knew this would make him money in the long run and the Etruria factory was right alongside it. His knee was so damaged that he had it amputated and had a wooden leg. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society for his experimental and scientific developments. He remained involved with science and technology and kept Wedgewood designs at the fore front of fashion. He was a great man and died in 1795 with a fortune of £600,000 which would be worth £33 million today!! One of his grandson's turned out to be Charles Darwin too.

The view from our off side. You can just see the platform of the Wedgewood station platform. The railway is quite close but with welded rails and electric trains it is not too noisy at all.

On the move at last.

We have got underway at last after a week alongside in Stone. Mind you we only got about 1/2 miles before we stopped again to take on water. After that we went up a couple of locks and stopped again. I had phoned ahead and asked if the guys at Canal Cruising Co. could check out our gas leak. We had a little time to wait so we decided to take fuel. I guessed we needed 120 litres but we only needed 110.7! The engine had been running for 54.3 hours so that is just over 2 litres and hour. Actually the consumption includes the Hurricane heating so it will be less than 2 litres per hour. I must take the hours of the Hurricane to get a better idea. We haven't had the engine at high revs. and I am happy with approx. 2 litres per hour.

They came along with a 'sniffer' to check the leak was where I through it was and it was confirmed. They then took the joints to bits and took it away to clean up the olives and then put it all back together. They then did a pressure check and everything held so all was good. We had lunch and then set off again.

One of the dry docks at Canal Cruising Co.

The tow path horse tunnel at Bridge 94 by Canal Cruisers. It shows that they didn't use Clydesdale's or Shire horses to pull the boats as they would never fit through here.

It has been overcast today but there has been several boats moving. We got in a bit of a line as we ascend the next 6 locks to clear Stone but no holdups really. It was still warm but Helen started off with multi-layers scarf, hat and gloves and wasn't very happy. After a few locks she was as stripped off as she will be without the sun actually shinning! She had a nice smile too.

Cold Helen.

Warm Helen.

Between Bridge 100 and 103 there is a bit of work going on and the towpath closed in a couple of places. They were piling a section and make a surfaced towpath in another. There were plenty of ducklings and we saw our first cygnets resting on the bank. After we had tied up near Barlaston Mum brought them down to see if there was any bread going. They are so cute I would have wasted a whole film on them in the old days and still not get them all in. 

Nearly got all 10 cygnets in as well as the Pen.

We will go and have a look at the Wedgewood Seconds shop tomorrow before moving on a couple of hours to Stoke.

Lazy, sunny day

What a lovely day. It was a good idea to stay put for just another day. After our breakfast, listening to the Archers and eating our 7p Croissants we walked into town to do a shop at Morrison's and to buy the paper.
When we got back it was nice to read the paper in the sunshine on the after deck.

With a glass of Sloe Vodka and lemonade.

It is very satisfying to see the sun on the solar panels charging up the batteries. The batteries are fully charged up and I am still using the excess to power all the electrical items. I think that with no sun we would have to run the engine about two hours to charge the batteries. That would be about 10 litre of fuel and if you say £1 a litre then that is £10 a go. It means that I should pay back the cost of the solar set up in 100 days of full sun. Take away the days when we are travelling as the engine over rides the solar panels, and the days when there is little or no sun and I will still have paid it off in less than two years. I do enjoy looking at the watts that the panels are producing and the volts of the battery creeping up too. I'm not sure whether I would have solar on my house yet, but as they directly charge the batteries they are a real boon and cost saver.

I think that we may have a bit of a gas leak. I will have to get it checked out tomorrow at one of the boat yards that we pass. I don't want to mess about with gas.

Complete again.

I spent the morning cleaning and tidying the boat ready for Helen coming back, and I must say that it was looking brilliant when I left to meet her! One of the jobs I had was to make the bedroom carpet fit better so I set to with that. I then realised that we would be forever sweeping up bits of fluff that had peeled off the edges. I therefore thought that if I coated the edge with PVA glue to see if that would hold it all together. It was as just finishing this that I heard the two o'clock news come on and panicked as I thought that Helen arrived at 28 minutes past. I changed very quickly and collected the rubbish to put in the skip as I passed and left in a hurry. I got to the station at 1427! And then saw the screen that said it was due at 1436. It was leaving Stoke at 1427!

She looked gorgeous as she stepped down from the train but when I took the bag from her she was not so good as it weighed a tonne. We wandered back to the boat via the cut that was very busy. I assume that as it was the weekend those from Aston Marina had left for a breath of fresh air. After getting her settled in the decision was made to head for the Weatherspoon's in Stone, 'The Poste of Stone', and have a meal and a pint. On the way back we stopped at COOP for an 89p bar of chocolate. At the till we saw some almond croissants for 7p so that was a treat for breakfast sorted. Okay, the chocolate is not everyday, but it is the Eurovision Contest tonight and you have to show a little decadence on these occasions!!

It was still but overcast with high cloud but I was still surprised to see a hot air balloon over Stone on the walk back to the boat. Everything is right with the world now Helen is back aboard.

Large rain drop over Stone.

Getting ready.

At half past nine I went into town to get another co-axial connection and after getting back fitted it and tried to get a picture on the TV again. Nothing once again, so after a little messing about called it a day and hoped I would have better luck another time. I did notice that one of the connections was loose that I hadn't noticed.

Instead I set to cleaning through the boat for the return of Helen. As I was cleaning out the stove I decided to set to and cut a gap to enable us to sweep out the ashes that spill in the surround. After that It was going right through with the dusting and polishing the wood etc. The cat is molting at the moment and you could stuff a mattress with what has come off her back, especially as she is such a small cat! It is expected to rain all day tomorrow so thought it would be best to get all the rugs and mats clean today. It is looking great at the moment.

On my walk into town a went the long way round and took some photos of the front of the Joules Brewery building which is actually better than the back (surprise, surprise). They don't seem to go in for such decoration these days and it must have been good paint to last this long too.

Joules Brewery, Stone.

The building is functional but somehow is still pleasing to the eye. It is good to see that the building is in use too.

There are several interesting looking buildings in Stone and I liked the look of the bow fronted Queens Hotel. It was obviously a coaching inn (it says so on the front). Usually there would be an archway through to the stables but here the stables must be accessed down the side or from the rear. It is a shame there is no flag flying from the pole.

The Queens Hotel on the High Street, Stone.

Plaque on The Queens Hotel.

It  looks as though we should know who Henry Holland was, and I didn't, so I looked him up. He was born in 1745 in Fulham. His dad was a builder. After becoming an architect he went into partnership with Lancalot 'Capability' Brown, the garden designer for the toffs. In fact he married his daughter. He got some very good commissions from the gentry, largely remodeling old house to new fashions. He worked on Trentham Hall Near Stoke, Carlton House for the future George IV, Woburn Abbey, Theatre Royal Drury Lane and Convent Garden Theatre. It most have been a very minor commission to build a pub, but it does have a very pleasing look.