Through the tunnel at last

Thursday 3^rd September 2020

Up early, and we cast off and got under way at about 7am. The effort we had made yesterday in the rain now paid off, and we cruised down to the mouth of the tunnel with no problems, getting there right on 7:30.

Waiting on the tunnel mooring

On the way in

As it turned out we were the first to arrive, and we pulled forward on the mooring until we were at the tunnel entrance. A number of boats rolled up over the next half hour, about half a dozen or so. Eventually the tunnel keeper showed up, initially at a cabin on the other side of the canal, where he had a cup of tea and a cigarette before coming across a bridge. It was just after eight by then – he told us that he was about to be replaced by volunteers, so I suppose that he had no incentive to deliver customer care. Anyway he let himself into a door by the tunnel, and then emerged in a small craft which is used if anyone breaks down inside. After that he checked that we all knew the procedures, and we were free to proceed.

I was leading the convoy, which was slightly worrying, but we had to make a tricky turn to get into the tunnel mouth from the mooring, which took some time. That meant the boats were fairly well spaced out, and I did not feel I was under any pressure. Last time we went through, two years ago, I scraped the upper corners of our superstructure quite badly – the tunnel profile changes sharply several times, which makes it tricky. Perhaps I was going too fast then, so today I took it at not much above tickover, and I got all the way through without touching at all, except on the wooden rubbing beam where it narrows at the exit. The time didn’t seem much longer than on our previous trip, maybe a minute or two more in forty minutes overall.

On the way out of the tunnel, looking much more relaxed

Nice to be on the way again

It was raining, though not hard, and we pressed on towards Stoke – we were keen to reach Stone at least, to visit the M&S foodhall there and pick up supper. Loulie navigated for a few miles while I went below and had a shower – I had skipped that this morning to save time and get us under way quickly. About four miles after leaving the tunnel, in the centre of Stoke, we came to the first lock, and so began the long descent towards Shardlow. The Trent and Mersey Canal is one big humpbacked hill. From the tiny stoplock at Dutton it climbs through Middlewich and Sandbach, then up the 26 locks of the Cheshire Flight to the top pound at Kidsgrove. That runs through the Harecastle Tunnel and on to Stoke, and from that point it is all down hill to the eventual end at Shardlow and out onto the Trent.

There are five locks in Stoke, and then another fairly long pound as you leave southwards, past the Britannia Stadium. After the solitary lock at Trentham we stopped to give the dogs a very late breakfast, and then on to Stone. There are four locks in the Meaford (“meffud”) flight and then four more in Stone itself. This is a much more attractive town than Stoke – although it has a lot of industrial buildings, they are mostly 200 years old, from the heyday of the canals. Below the bottom lock we stopped on the water point and I topped up, because you always should, while Loulie went shopping.

On the waterpoint in Stone

We pressed on a couple of miles more after Stone, going down the solitary Aston lock. A little beyond that we found a very nice rural mooring near the tiny village of Burston. Across the fields on the other side of the canal there was a large but nicely proportioned Georgian farmhouse, and apart from that we were on our own. As we were sitting down before supper we were started by a knocking on the cabin window, which was on the off (canal) side of the boat. It turned out to be a swan, looking for bread, which we gave it. I assume that it has learned that knocking on boat windows has a good chance of producing food.

Mooring at Burston

TODAY: 10:45 HOURS. 19.3 MILES. 15 LOCKS.

Voyage: 26:10 HOURS. 50.1 MILES. 33 LOCKS.

 

Trains, Boats and Cook-Chill food

Today we saw an Elizabethan gatehouse, passed over the River Trent to join the Trent and Mersey Canal at Great Haywood, and saw Intercity express trains passing yards from our boat. But the thing that really, really got Loulie excited was when we stopped for water on the outskirts of Stone. She looked through the hedge and realised that we had moored right next to a Marks & Spencer’s Food Hall. She shot in like a rat up a drainpipe, and returned a good while later with a shopping bag laden with goodies, and calories.

If the story of yesterday was the M6 motorway, today it was the West Coast Main line, which accompanied us all the way, on occasion with only the width of a fence between the canal and the ballast of the track. With trains passing at over 100mph this was pretty dramatic.

The West Coast Main Line

We made an early start, hoping to catch up with our target for the day. The canal took us north through the suburbs of Stafford, and then turned sharp right, heading east towards the valley of the Trent. This canal, and the Trent & Mersey, were built by Thomas Brindley, and he used river valleys to make building easier. So we followed the course of the River Sow to where it joins the Trent at Great Haywood. Before we got there we had a couple of isolated locks, and also the Tixall Wide, where the canal spreads out like a lake. From there you can see the gatehouse of Tixall Hall. This looks like a substantial castle, the Hall itself (where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned) must have been very impressive, but it has long been demolished.

Crossing the Sow

Tixall Gatehouse

A canoeist on the Staffs & Worcs

Tixall Wide

Crossing the Trent

Approaching the junction

Fingerposts at Great Haywood

We reached the junction at Great Haywood without incident, and turned north. The mileposts on the Trent and Mersey show the distances to the two ends, Shardlow to the south and east, and Preston Brook in the north, our destination. So now we can see the miles ticking down, starting at 54 miles on the first post after the junction.

The midpoint of the Trent & Mersey Canal

Domino Cows

From Great Haywood the canal climbs steadily to Stoke and Harecastle Tunnel – after which it drops down into Cheshire. So we now had a dozen more locks to do before we would reach our moorings for the night. At first they were well spread out, and Loulie was able to take the dogs for a good walk between two of them. However things heated up when we reached the town of Stone, which was once the administrative centre of this canal, and now seems to live on its past, with all sorts of historic buildings and interpretive sign boards. For us the more important element (after the water point and M&S) was the flight of four locks in the town centre, followed by four more at Meaford just north. The town ones were slow, mainly because a boat hire company were showing one of their customers, and his children, how to work a lock. But we met lots of interesting people, including a Turkish couple, their daughter and granddaughter, and an old lady who told me firmly that Meaford is pronounced “Mefford” (like method).

An ornate bridge outside Salt

A handy map on the last lock before Stone - but no mention of M&S

Between the Stone locks and Meaford Loulie took the dogs again, while I went on ahead. However they disgraced themselves – Minnie dived into a filthy muddy patch, Ruby decided she didn’t want to walk and ran all the way back to where she had last seen the boat, and Posie stuck her tongue into a pot of black paint a boater was using to touch up his gunwales. Loulie had used up her sense of humour by the time she caught up with the boat – and she still had four locks to do.

Mischief Managed

Once we had cleared the Meaford flight we were looking for a berth, as it was well after six. We found a nice spot quite soon – good moorings and safe for the dogs. The only issue is that the railway is about thirty yards away, but this is the same line which runs past the front of our house fifty miles to the north, so the noise does not bother us, and it means we have no neighbours to annoy the dogs.

A fine meal courtesy of M&S, and we can retire, tired but happy, as we have caught up all the backlog on our timetable. We have done 53 locks, out of 101, so we have passed half way on that count too. If all goes well tomorrow we could be through Harecastle tunnel and on our way down towards home.

Today: 9.5 hours. 18.3 miles. 14 locks.

Voyage: 39.5 hours. 71.3 miles. 53 locks.