Catch up 2: Wood's Lock

Day 2 off grid, so another post captured on the day but posted later, hopefully tomorrow. After yesterday’s Wimbledon result, we particularly wanted to get a paper, so at ten to seven I slogged back up the hill to the One Stop. I was also able to get some Staffordshire Oatcakes for today’s lunch and a small loaf of bread for tomorrow.

Back at the boat, Sheila had her all ready to go; by twenty past seven we were on the move. The initial bit was just fine, and we were starting to think that the beauty of the canal did indeed justify the hassles, when the latter burst into action once more.

As you approach Cheddleton Railway Centre, gnomic signs appear saying “Caution, underwater obstruction”. What they don’t tell you is where it is or what to do about it. Sheila was walking ahead to prep Wood’s Lock when the boat suddenly heeled over and stopped. I’d been creeping along in the middle of what width was available but still ran right onto the dreaded obstruction.

I called Sheila back and we spent quite a bit of time trying to get her off. Shafts, lines and engine were all used in a variety of combinations. In the end, a local boater came along and explained that the problem was a big rock on the towpath side, now right under our stern. Sheila used the long shaft from the bank and I thrust mightily with the cabin shaft from the stern deck whilst the engine was kept in astern tickover.

At last, off she slid. For future info, the problem is just after the broken bit of concrete edging; to avoid it, stay as far to the right as you can going downstream and to the left coming back up.

The river section after Meadow Ford Lock is the best of it all, a stunningly beautiful length, curving through woodland and looking at its absolute best in the present conditions.

The bit through Consall Forge is very tricky, narrow and twisty, reminiscent of Armitage on the T&M with the substitution of a railway for porcelain bathroom ware. It might be feasible to wind at the start of this, where the river leaves the canal, but we chose to go on to the final full length winding hole above Flint Mill Lock. (This is Consall Flint Mill as opposed to Cheddleton Flint Mill, you understand.)

There’s a big sign telling you to turn here if you are a) over 65’ and b) too tall to get through Froghall Tunnel. In keeping with the slightly barmy quality of this waterway, they’ve provided a gauge to judge whether the tunnel is too low for you. But it’s below the lock and the winding hole is above, so if you lock down and then decide you’re not going to make it, you have to lock up backwards to wind.

The winding was a bit fraught, too. I stemmed Sanity Again up for the second time in the day, getting the stern too close to the edge of the winding hole, and yet more heaving on lines was required.

We’ve come back to a towpath mooring just below Wood’s Lock, within sound but not sight of the shunting yard at Cheddleton. It’s very pleasant here and there’s even a bit of a (sporadic) Vodafone signal, especially if you go and sit on the bench by the lock. I’m told the O2 signal is good all the way along the canal, but all others are pretty intermittent not to say just not there after you leave Hazelhurst Junction.

{Added later; the mooring went downhill in the evening when we were plagued by hundreds of flies. The sewage farm just over the fence on the offside might have something to do with it.}

Tomorrow, we plan to make a longer day back to Milton, then to Etruria the next day. We’ll celebrate with a pub meal that night, I reckon, having survived the Kinky Caldon.