Ended up in Etruria.

 There was a little rain through the night but we woke up to sun after a good sleep. As the weather was nice we decided to go for a walk after breakfast.

We were moored just up the cut from Endon Basin which is now the home of the Stoke on Trent Boat Club, who worked hard to get and keep the Caldon Canal open. It was opened as late as 1904 and was a transhipment basin. Limestone was brought down from Caldon Low quarries by railway and put into narrow boats at this basin. It closed in the 1930's.

From the transhipment basin there was a little spur that crossed the canal and headed for Victoria Mill. The well known 'roundabout' was a swing bridge that carried the line. I had thought it was a narrow gauge line, but no, it was full size. You can see another short siding that was laid to a short wharf by the fixed bridge.

When excavating the lines they also turned up the locking device for the bridge etc. and they can be seen in this photo.

Victoria Mill was one of many and as we walked past the building we could see the old mill pond that had been beautifully landscaped as a garden.

We walked up to the smallish Stanley Reservoir. It seemed ominous that there was no water coming over the spillway! How empty would the reservoir be?

Stanley Sailing Club have a lovely setting for the wind powered sport, and the reservoir looks to still be almost full.

The climb to the top of the hill today was nice and gradual but we still had a great view of the distant hills beyond Endon.

The walk took us into the village of Bagnall which has some attractive buildings. The house nearest the camera is St Chad's House and is thought to have been built in 1603. It was the rectory at one time. It was remodelled in the 1800's and is Listed. The pub is the Stafford Arms and may have been built in the 1500's. It seems to have a good reputation and may well be worth the walk up here just for a pint and a lunch. Maybe next time we pass this way.

Outside the church, which looks older than its 1834, is this gold painted post box that represent a gold medal winner at the London Olympics in 2012. (Remember them?) It is for Lee Pearson a gold winner at the Equestrian Paralympic team, Open class.

The walk brought us round again to the reservoir where the upper  section is crossed by this causeway.

Rising up the valley side again we got to the village of Stanley that was nice and quiet with some lovely homes. There were also some that, in my opinion, shouldn't have got planning permission as they just looked very alien. There is plenty of money though. I didn't see a shop, but there was a pub, the Travelers Rest.

We did a little over four miles and were back aboard before mid day. We decided to get off and have coffee and cake after the Stockton Locks. We met a couple of boats coming up the locks and were behind a single-hander going down. At Lock four he let us go ahead as he said that he was waiting for a friend to come and help him. Thank you very much for that. We met a few boats coming the opposite direction. One of them we met at a bit of a bend and with a fisherman too. The other boat was honking his horn and then waving his arms. There was plenty of room for him, but he seemed to panic a little. I could go no further over as I was ducking through the trees!

We made good time and ticked off the milestones that we had passed on the way up the canal. Once through the Ivy Lift Bridge and back into the built up area, I was impressed with this view of the new housing that he been erected on old industrial land. Just round the corner is where the two bottle kilns had been preserved.

Hanley Park is a great example of a revitalised Victorian Park. The Pavilion is a special building and it over looks the band stand. The canal bisects the park and adds character to it.

Planet Lock was largely our way but the staircase only needed the top lock filling. It was just over four hours from Endon  that we moored up before the water point on a beautiful sunny evening. We had a cup of tea and then decided to walk up to the Tesco's to get stuff for the next few days before I did the checks for the morning and did a couple of little jobs whilst Helen made some potato scones for tea.