New Water

Friday 4^th September 2020

Before we set off today we went for a walk with the dogs, and just ahead of us we found a track or lane running over a bridge and down to the right, to the River Trent. It is quite small here, maybe a dozen yards wide, and you could easily wade across, probably never even going waist deep. We have been with the river since Stoke (Stoke-on-Trent, the cluse is in the name) and in fact we first crossed it on an aqueduct just below the last of the five Stoke locks, but we did not notice it at all then. The canal basically follows the course of the Trent from now until it ends at Shardlow – at that point the river is navigable all the way down to the Humber and the sea, and that was the point of the canal, to provide a link between the west coast at Liverpool and the east coast at the Humber estuary. Brindley’s great cross also included links down to the other major estuaries of England – the Severn and the Thames. Following the river was the best way to route the canal, especially in the early days when the technologies of locks, cuttings and embankments, all of which allow you to straighten and shorten the route, were still primitive and expensive. The river flows in a huge curve, down from Stoke then east around the bottom end of the central ridge of England, and back north-east – and the canal follows it.

The young Trent at Burston

Soon after starting we came to the first lock of the day, at Sandon – we were stuck behind a man on his own, who was rather slow. A few miles further on we descended Weston and Hoo Mill Locks, and almost immediately we reached Great Heywood Junction, where the Staffs and Worcs canal heads off south west, ultimately to reach the Severn. But we stayed on the Trent and Mersey, so we were now on waters we had never travelled before.

Great Heywood Junction

We came to another lock straight away, but we were still stuck behind slow boats, and we were at the final lock of the day, at Colwich. Soon after that the canal took a sharp right and left dog leg, going over the Trent so the river was now running to our north. This was on the approach to Rugeley, and when we got to the centre of town we moored up, so that I could do a bit of shopping. When I climbed up the canal bank I discovered we were right by a large Tesco, closer than many of the cars in the car park.

After leaving Rugeley we came to the site of the old Armitage tunnel, which is no longer covered, but which is still a long stretch wide enough for only one boat. There was no signage on the canal so we just proceeded, though we were aware from the canal map that this was a narrow passage. When we got to the other end, round a slight bend, we found a couple of boats waiting. From what we could see there were signs at that end telling boats travelling north to send someone ahead to ensure the coast is clear.

After that we passed the small town of Armitage, and the large Armitage Shanks toilet factory, which stretches along the side of the canal – a large old brick building, still active though rather run down. The village of Tuppenhurst is on the outskirts of Armitage, and after passing through we found a mooring on a long curving stretch. There was a bit of a shelf, but apart from that it was a good spot. The bank was quite soft so I put two pins in for each rope, and we settled down for the night.

TODAY: 8:30 HOURS. 16.0 MILES. 5 LOCKS.

Voyage: 34:40 HOURS. 66.1 MILES. 38 LOCKS.