And so to Barlaston

Another good run today in warm weather, setting off at half seven and finishing four hours later after six locks, mostly against us which was hard luck on Sheila. We're both pretty weary after only an average night's sleep in the heat.

It is tricky keeping a narrowboat cool when it's as sunny as this. We've got all the hatches and doors open with the fly screens down over the Houdinis and side hatches, but there's nothing to stop the flies coming in at the bow and stern, of course.

At least the washing will be drying apace on the whirligig. There's just enough breeze to blow the clothes about a bit. We should be back in the marina this time next week, which makes life simpler for Sheila. The linens can be allowed to collect up now for washing when we get in, there's just the clothes that need turning round (and round and round, first in the machine, then on the 'gig).

We crossed with Austin and Liz on Just Siviting, Braidbar 99, at the last lock of the day for us, Trentham. JS had picked up a bladeful coming into the lock, so had to creep out round Sanity Again and make for the towpath, not as easy as it should be when the propwash is confused by whatever is clinging to the prop. Typically, after a load of forward and back and bowthrusting, just as she reached the towpath a big piece of polythene appeared behind and all was well again.

I wonder if they know the canal song to the tune of Comin' round the mountain that starts "We've got miles and miles of poly round our prop"?

Lots of room here at Barlaston as always. We've done a couple of shopping trips, one before lunch to the parade with a (closed on Monday) butcher and one after to the One Stop on the other side of the cut. We'll still need to get a bit of stuff in Stone, but not too much. That will be tomorrow – the plan is to get an early start and work down both Meaford and Stone, calling at the chandlery for diesel as we pass.

Sunshine and irritation

It's been a very mixed 24 hours – nothing dramatically good or bad but definitely some diamond and some stone. For a start, we had a bad night, partly due to the weather. With heavy rain forecast, we started out with the bedroom Houdini shut, relying on leaving the doors to the rest of the boat open to keep us a bit cool.

It didn't really work as we woke at around two o'clock, sweltering. I put the Houdini on its propped open on a cork position, which helped, and we tried to get off again. At this very point, a track maintenance train pulled up nearby with much squealing of brakes and sat there for about 30 minutes, panting softly to itself. Presumably, they had found a problem with the track which needed attention, fair enough, but still not exactly relaxing.

Of course, lying awake at that time of night involves brooding on a lot of things you really shouldn't be thinking about if you want to relax. I won't bore you with them here, I'm sure you've got a set of your own.

We finally got off again, rather in the manner of the Lord Chancellor's "repose in the form of a doze with hot eyeballs and head ever aching," and woke a bit before (me)/after (Sheila) six. At least it meant that we got a prompt start just before eight.

It was a good morning's boating, four solid hours up to Westport Lake. The washing and the washing up got done, the locks were reasonably co-operative and there were no less than four volockies at Etruria. There's a Canalfest there this weekend, so there were folk all over the place setting it up. The Bone and Flint Mill was very much "in steam" – when we got up to the arm next to it, four guys were standing around outside whilst steam poured in large volumes out of the door, the windows, the spaces between the roof slates...

I'm not sure it's supposed to be like that, you know.

On we went along the top pound. It's a bit down, so Sanity Again couldn't quite get up to her usual 4 mph on the deep bit, but still an exhilarating run. Plenty of room to tie at Westport Lake when we got here at noon, but it's filled up now.

This afternoon's cause of irritation was the boat which chose to tie immediately in front of us, get out a Honda suitcase genny and run it positioned so that the exhaust was behind their boat and so poured over our well deck. I can quite see that some boats can only run a washing machine, say, in this way. We can't all have high output alternators and inverters or a TravelPower. But in that case, some consideration should be shown as to when you do it.

Preferably not in the middle of a popular mooring on a sunny day in half term week, people strolling around all over the place with kids and dogs. At least tie at the end of the moorings where you'll cause minimum inconvenience, not smack in the middle. We kept our bow doors closed and a sharp eye on the CO detector for the two hours this went on.

Hey ho, they've stopped now and peace has descended once more.

Tomorrow, we'll make a half seven start to get to the tunnel in time for the first passage at eight.

Heading north

The next few days will see us heading over familiar waters, up to Harecastle and down the other side to Middlewich. After that, we'll be cruising lengths that we still know well, through Anderton and on to the end of the Trent & Mersey at Preston Brook, but which we haven't visited for a few years. Certainly today's section has been routine.

We got going around half eight, just as Paul and Norma on Wild Thyme 3 came by. They are one of those boating couples we've met on and off over the fourteen years we've been living aboard, here there and everywhere. They headed up Meaford before us and then disappeared along the cut. We had a steady passage up with another boat coming along behind and one coming down. This last was heading for Aqueduct Marina the long way round having been caught the wrong side of the Middlewich breach.

The weather improved steadily and made for a very pleasant cruise, past the site of Meaford power station and into Barlaston. As usual, we've tied just the far side of Barlaston, near the playground.

After coffee, we made a quick trip into the village to get some meat from the butcher here, but otherwise have been doing bits and bobs on the boat. Whilst in the village, whom should we meet but Paul, they having tied on the Wedgwood mooring. It's just a bit windy to sit out on the bow, but the fly screen moderates it enough to have the side hatch open without getting blown away.

Tomorrow, we'll head on up through Stoke to Westport Lake, possibly in the rain.

To the top of Stone after a good evening

We visited the Plume of Feathers last night, partly out of curiosity to see what sort of a job Neil Morrissey had made of its renovation and partly to rendezvous with James, Elanor’s boyfriend. It was a very pleasant evening in all respects. The food is indeed as good as has been described and it is certainly dog friendly in the bar area. In addition, there is a good range of ales, including the Morrissey own brews.

This morning, we had what’s become our regular start for this run. I make some tea round about seven and Sheila and I drink it in bed, simultaneously snuggling with Sally and catching up on the news online. We then get washed and dressed and eat breakfast whilst Elanor is getting up. This enables whoever is due to steer to get started sometime just after eight, usually.

It’s a shortish run to the top of Meaford where we waited whilst a shareboat, Firefly, worked up. They had left the lock below ready for us, which was handy as one of the top paddles there is not working and the lock is presently very slow to fill. We were followed down by a privateer and crossed with a Black Prince hire boat above the bottom lock. All in all, it made for leisurely boating, not a problem when we were on such a short run as it gave a chance for the batteries to get reasonably charged.

There were several spaces above Stone Top although things have clearly been pretty busy over the weekend. Leaving Elanor and Sally on anchor watch, Sheila and I made a trip to Morrisons to top up the supplies of fruit and the like. We’ve had a quiet afternoon. The weather is occasionally sunny, occasionally wet and it’s distinctly cooler with a light northerly wind. I’ve lit the Squirrel again to keep us comfortable this evening.

Tomorrow, we’ll work down the first two locks and fill the tank on the water point just below before carrying on to a rural towpath mooring below Aston lock somewhere, probably near Burston.

Location:Stone

Down through Stoke

I said yesterday that today’s run was the usual one for this route for us, with the exception that we were starting from Westport Lake rather than Etruria, 45 minutes further on. Nonetheless, it’s still a fairly long run by our standards, around 3.5 hours and I set off just after eight. We reached Etruria top at nine and took 40 minutes to descend the Stoke locks, all of which were with us.

There’s then the steady run at a decent speed through the rest of Stoke and on to Trentham, slowing only for the occasional narrows or bridge hole and the moored boats alongside the place that advertises “Tacle and Bait, Airguns, Archery, Country and Western Line Dancing” and a 10 metre shooting gallery.

The cut was quite quiet with just a handful of boats coming the other way. By not long after eleven we were working down Trentham lock and on our way to a mooring at Barlaston. I noticed that the 48 hour mooring restriction totems have gone from the Wedgwood moorings, though whether that’s deliberate by CRT or not is another matter, of course.

We’ve had a quiet afternoon – Sally in particular is feeling very worn out after all this locking supervision.

Tomorrow, merrily on to the top of Stone, so just the Meaford four to work in a truly short day’s cruise.

Location:Barlaston

Through Stone to Barlaston

It's been a shorter day today. We had a slightly easier start and set off a bit after seven. There was time to make a decent cup of coffee with the Nespresso machine before we reached Aston lock. It was my turn to steer but I handed over as we got to Stone. Having seen Sanity Again into Star lock, I nipped into the Co-op whilst Sheila and Elanor worked the boat.

After a successful shop, I got back to the cut as they were just about ready to pull out of Yard. Once clear of the Stone flight, Sheila started a washload running. Traffic started to appear as we came up Meaford, but it was never a big problem.

We got to Barlaston a bit before twelve with the washing just on its last rinse. After lunch, Elanor and I walked into the village in search of another lead for Sally. There's a small pet supplies and grooming shop, stuffed full of stock, where we got a very reasonably priced tape lead. It's needed for popping off the boat with Sal in the middle of the night and the like, something quicker and easier than the GenCon to put on for a brief trip out.

The weather hasn't been as dire as was originally forecast, but still rather cool and damp. I've lit the stove and dropped the cratch so that the washing can dry on a rack in the well deck. Although Sal is loose in the boat, she's very good about not trying to break out. Even when Geoff from Seyella knocked on the roof, she only let fly with a few barks.

Geoff stood and nattered with us for a bit – Seyella is tied on the Wedgwood moorings on her way south from her winter sojourn on the northern waterways.

We might venture out this evening; the Plume of Feathers has a Dogs Welcome sign up, so we'll take Sally with us for a quick drink. For the humans, that is.

Tomorrow, on, ever on, up through Stoke, aiming for Westport Lake.

Goodbye Stone, hello Barlaston

After yesterday's downpours, it's been quite pleasant today, though distinctly fresher. We reckoned around three hours to Barlaston, though it seemed a lot for a comparatively short distance. Checking back on previous logs for the trip confirmed us in our estimate, though. It being Sheila's turn to lock, they were all against us, with a top paddle left up on most of them what's more.

We made a seven o'clock start and plodded steadily onwards and upwards. We didn't meet anything in the opposite direction until we got to Meaford, in which flight we crossed with a couple of boats. By this time we were being followed by an Anglo Welsh that had gone through Stone yesterday evening and had had to settle for tying below Stone Top, all the earlier spots being full. Mind you, there was a load of room above the top lock, by Roger Fuller's yard, as there so often is.

La Suvera was tied between Stone and Meaford; Gina was up and about, exercising Basil the dog. She told us that a boat had passed them at two in the morning, presumably the one we had to thank for the raised paddles. We cleared Meaford after two hours boating and took another 45 minutes to do the final pound to Barlaston. It's pretty busy here – we've had to tie on one of the less favourable stretches, under some trees and on a bit of a bend. Still, it's only for the one night.

A trip into the village butcher enabled us to restock with decent meat. For some reason, there's no proper butcher in Stone, its only defect as a canal town, really. La Suvera went by a while after we'd finished, aiming for Westport Lake tonight, a serious day's boating, but not as serious as the Anglo Welsh's intention as I understood it, which was to finish near Macclesfield today. Maybe the lockwheeler misunderstood my question and that's their aim for the week...

We'll get away in good time tomorrow, aiming to get through Stoke to tie either at Etruria or Westport Lake. It's Sheila's turn to steer, so her call.

At Barlaston

We've had a good run to Barlaston and a good lunchtime meet with Peter and Jan. We'd planned to try the Plume of Feathers, but their kitchen was closed, so we went to the Duke of York up the hill in the main village instead.

That was very nice, big emphasis on steaks, though. Good beer too.

After Peter and Jan had gone, who should turn up but Ann off Copperkins II, whom we know well from our OwnerShips days. We ended up on Copperkins drinking tea and nattering with Ann, Iain and their three collies who joined in enthusiastically.

We're not long back from there. Mobile signals are poor here and I'm having to work with the bow doors open and the 3 phone dangling in the cratch. It's getting a bit cold, so will leave this for now.

More tomorrow, hopefully.

Barlaston, by Jove!

Needing to water, we decided that setting off at half seven would be good. In fact, we were on the water point below Star Lock at that time. It took most of half an hour to fill the tank and by then the traffic had already started moving. There's been a lot of it today; we've crossed at most of the eight locks we worked.

This made for quite a slow run, but it was a fine day so not a problem.

There's a spiffing new towpath surface between Meaford Top and here, partly paid for by the local authority. Inevitably it means that some of the local cyclists are travelling much too fast, despite signs asking folk to show courtesy to fellow users.

Meanwhile, the cut is in need of dredging; Sanity Again couldn't make much more than 3mph all the way.

This afternoon's jobs included topping up the batteries and some more rounds of the fender. I've nearly finished the first length of rope and have almost reached the ends of the core. Next job will be to attach a fresh length of rope and set up the loop of nylon cord that's used to draw the free end back under the work to secure it after the hitching is all done.

Braidbar 105, Nocturne, has joined us here. They moor at Anderton, so we don't often see them.

Tomorrow, up another six locks and probably stop at Etruria.

Getting South of Stoke

We had a whole half hour’s extra kip last night, and didn’t come to until half six. My cold is on the mend (pauses to sneeze), but Sheila is still suffering something rotten. Still, we were on our way at half seven; it took 45 minutes rather than 30 to get to Etruria Top, but then we made up for it firstly by having most of the locks with us and a boat to cross with at the others and secondly because, thanks to all the water they’re running down off the Macc, the long pound out of Stoke was well up.

This makes it very deep by canal standards, and Sanity Again showed her paces. For some of the time, between the incinerator and Hem Heath, I had to be careful not to break the speed limit of 4 mph.

In consequence, we took almost exactly three and a half hours for the run, tying on the VMs at Wedgwood at eleven.

With the boat secure, I left Sheila recovering slowly in the saloon (it had been her turn to lock)  and got my own exercise walking on to Barlaston village. Here some bread, Staffordshire oatcakes, a lettuce and (from the butcher) chicken fillets, pork chops and a pork pie were obtained.

Oh, and a newspaper.

/wahaha

The oatcakes, pie and lettuce soon played their parts in our lunch, which was followed by a quietish time. Pottering on the net and reading has filled in the afternoon.

It’s not been all wasted, mind. Continuing frustration with Yahoo’s knavish tricks has finally led me to ponder the virtues of a forum or bulletin board for the Braidbar Owners’ Group.

My own web host provider, Dataflame, offers YaBB and phpBB already installed, so I’m gently exploring these as options. I know just a bit about HTML and the like, but I’m by no means a sophisticated user. If we go down this route, it will have to be with something that doesn’t need a lot of fancy work from me.

Tomorrow, we’ll go on to the top of Stone, probably, but the forecast for Sunday and Monday looks pretty dire, with a lot of rain on Sunday and even more wind on Monday. Looks like the equinox is arriving early this year.

We may have to sit tight for a while and then boat on hard to make up the lost time.

Ever upwards through Stoke on Trent

There was time to pop along to the filling station and Londis store to get a paper before we set off just after half seven this morning. It being my turn to steer, Sheila worked Trentham Lock and we set out on the longish plod to and through Stoke. The weather was grey but not actually raining and reasonably calm.

By the time we’d had a coffee the batteries were well on their way to being recharged and there was a sufficiency of hot water in the calorifier. Accordingly, Sheila started a washload which was rinsing when we reached the first of the Stoke Locks. A boat was just emerging and we had the rest of them mostly with us.

It’s two hours from Barlaston to Stoke Bottom and another 45 minutes or so to the top. I had to hang about on the towpath above the top lock whilst a hire boat came past and went off along the Caldon, then I backed Sanity Again into the wide area by the junction and winded her, reversing again to finish up on the towpath once more only now facing the way we want to go in the morning.

For those who don’t know this part of the system, the junction between the Trent and Mersey and the Caldon is just above Etruria Top and very acute in such a way as to favour boats heading south.

It’ll make Sheila’s task much easier in the morning to be facing back the way we’ve come.

We’ve had a quietish afternoon, watching boats come up the locks or head down them. We’re the only narrowboat here tonight, though you often see boats tied around here; there’s a GRP cruiser tied a bit further back towards the marina.

Tomorrow, we’ll go a bit of the way up the Caldon, shop at Milton and tie above Engine Lock, probably. The Campbells on Waimaru are heading this way from Middlewich and we’ll wait for them to catch up so as to share some cruising.

Turned out wet again

It’s been yet another good day, albeit a wet one this afternoon. Making another 7.30 start, Sheila moved Sanity Again onto the water point and we filled up the tank, taking the chance to get rid of the rubbish and recycling at the same time. (There’s a recycling bank round the far side of the big blue building from the water point; it takes everything but plastic, which can be dumped in the smaller litter bin type recycling near the road.)

Once topped up, I lock wheeled and Sheila steered up the Stone and Meaford Locks. All were against us at first, but we crossed with April Fool at Meaford Bottom and had a couple in our favour.

Once above them all, it was a steady plod to Barlaston; there’s a big towpath resurfacing project between Barlaston and Meaford at the moment, funded by the County Council, hooray.

/nobigdeal

The final approach to Barlaston was enlivened by the sight of a load of youngsters being inducted into the mysteries of canoeing. We’ve tied just on the further side of the village, and guess what, flotillas of wobbly canoes seem to have been passing us all day.

There was much bumping and banging at first until we managed to suggest to the shepherding adults that fending off with hands rather than paddles or the bows of the canoe would a) make less noise inside for us and b) reduce the damage to aforesaid paddles and bows, steel being a much more robust material than cheap GRP.

It’s great to see kids enjoying the canal, mind.

After coffee we made a brief expedition to the village to get meat, there being a good butcher here. The afternoon’s been spent indoors, catching up with stuff like the Pub Guide.

Tomorrow, we’ll work our way up through Stoke to Etruria, spend the night there and then carry on up the Caldon, the first new water Sanity Again has done for a bit. We were last up there in Sanity in 2006.

It’s raining quite hard now, which will be a relief for the hay fever sufferers amongst us, still with the promise of better weather on Friday and over the weekend.

Autumnal weather...

… and not in a good way, frankly. It's been cool, damp and breezy, with a grim grey cloud cover that's as mood lowering as a bright sunny day is mood elevating.

No matter, it's not bad enough to stop us boating, so we've carried on down the Stoke Locks to the Wedgwood moorings outside Barlaston.

We'd had a good meal last night at the Toby Carvery; it was very busy, of course, and we had to wait twenty minutes for a table, but our server remained cheerful though run off her feet, and we ate well and cheaply.

Before we went in, we had a chance to chat briefly to Rita and Scooby on Festina Lente, which was tied right outside the pub. They were entertaining friends from the marina, so weren't coming in – hopefully, they'll be overtaking us sometime in the next few days and we'll have a proper chance for a natter and maybe a few brews.

We got here a bit before half eleven, and I popped along to the Londis in the filling station to get a paper. It's a bit of a walk, 12 minutes at my brisk pace, but after spending the morning on the back of the boat watching Sheila do all the work, I needed the exercise and was grateful for the chance to warm up a bit.

That's about it as far as boating goes; like many of my fellow bloggers, can I suggest that you consider donating to the Canal & River Trust's appeal for the funds to repair the breaches in the northern Trent and Mersey? They've got a contingency fund to cover untoward events like this, but that just means that they can get on with the repair without having to wait to raise the cash.

Whatever it costs will have to come out of the maintenance budget sooner or later, unless the appeal raises enough to do the job. It's one of the big advantages of being a charity that, like the National Trust, they can run specific appeals for this kind of thing.

You can text BREACH to 70800 to donate a fiver straight away, or, better, go to the webpage to read all about it and donate whatever you want, with the option to GiftAid it if you are a UK taxpayer.

Finally, on a lighter note, here's what Sally was thinking at a recent agility competition:

See you tomorrow…

/bye

Steadily northwards

After yet another eight o'clock start, we've chugged steadily north to end up at Barlaston for the night, getting here at eleven; the shop even had an Independent left. I popped into the butcher's to get some chicken fillets, and succumbed to the temptation of peppered pork steaks for tonight.

On the way, we passed Hadar moored on the towpath opposite Roger Fuller's yard. I couldn't see any sign of Keith or Jo, but Jo's just left a comment on yesterday's blog, so they're presumably OK. Maybe we'll catch up with you soon?

This afternoon has been another pottering session, of which the main achievement was cleaning out the bottom shelf of the fridge, which was looking a bit manky.

Tomorrow, we gird our loins (however you do that) and work up through Stoke in what promises to be a rainstorm. It often is in Stoke, strange that.

/blur

Early boating at a busy time

19th & 20th September

We've settled into serious boating mode until we get to Braidbar: this involves early rising and boating until about mid morning. Yesterday we were on the way by seven and as a result had a steady run to Stone. At each of the locks we might have to wait for the boat ahead to clear the lock and for one coming the other way to come down, but no worse queuing than that.

On arrival, we found that the Boaters Christian Fellowship had taken over all the visitor moorings below Star Lock. Apparently, they are on a Mission to the people of Stone until next Wednesday. Fortunately we had already planned to go up the lock flight and tie on the moorings opposite Roger Fuller's boatyard. At half nine, we found just one space on those moorings, although they are more often deserted in our experience.

In the past, I've been reluctant to tie up there, assuming that it would be a much longer walk to the town centre. Checking it with the Garmin, however, showed that it was just half a mile and ten minutes walk to the top of the high street and another five minutes to the Morrison's supermarket.

Stone was very busy with a book-fair; it's a most enterprising town in that way, and one in which we wouldn't mind spending our declining years. The only concerns I would have would be the recent poor reputation of Stafford General Hospital, and the fact that Staffordshire County Council doesn't seem to do well in terms of its delivery of social care.

We did a general shop before lunch and then afterwards walked down to check out the chandlery at Stone Boat Building. There we found a couple of basic fender hangers for hooking onto the cabin rails and a hammock type net that we're going to experiment with as a device for stopping small children falling out of their bunks.

It was a very fast internet connection, which was handy for catching up on various bits and bobs. I found a report of a classic exchange between BW and one of the participants of the recent Waterways World web chat on the Granny Buttons blog:

[Comment From David Roberts]
On the issue of using volunteeers to help look after the sites, I suggested some time ago that if BW provided a mower, we would keep the cut grass, instead of the contractor doing it with a styrimmer at the run every six weeks or so (and costing BW a fortune). Of course the answer was no - had to be on approved supplier list, H&S etyc. Just to cut the grass!

Vince Moran [BW Operations Director]:
David - although we are keen to increase volunteer involvement we cannot ignore safety risks and mowers and strimmers do fall into the higher risk end of things and we can't just give someone a mower and say get on with it.

I really despair of BW sometimes. WRG runs up against the same problem when discussing volunteer input to the maintenance of the existing system. Despite the fact that next year will see the fortieth birthday of the Waterway Recovery Group and that during that time we have developed very substantial experience in training volunteers to undertake serious engineering safely, BW cannot be persuaded that we are fit to do much more than litter pick and haul rubbish out of the waterway.

Anything like reconstruction of a lock wall, the sort of thing that wrg camps do several times every summer, has to be expensively contracted out to commercial engineers.

Today we didn't get going until seven thirty, since the Meaford locks were only just round the corner and were the only ones scheduled for today's run. By half nine we had arrived at Barlaston where we found a lot of boats not yet on the move, but nonetheless had no difficulty in finding a space.

On the way up the flight we were hailed by Pip who was lockwheeling Windsong whilst Roger steered. I see from their blog that we are just one of various canal bloggers they've spotted in the last few days.

Having tied, I walked back to the village to get a paper at the handy Londis, together with a loaf of bread to keep us going for the next couple of days. There was still a lot of the morning left, so we put it to good use by going off in the opposite direction and finding a cache in Hem Heath Wood.

This was another good example of the way in which geocaching encourages you to find walks that would otherwise be overlooked. The weather has been glorious, classic Indian Summer stuff, and we've spent the afternoon on the boat or sitting in the bow.

Sheila continues to experiment with a variety of new crochet patterns culled from the web, and I have at last finished compiling the quiz for next weekend.

Tomorrow sees the big push to get up through Stoke and through Harecastle Tunnel.

Over the summit

17th & 18th March

Yesterday was another chilly start to the day, but feeling like hard boaters we decided not to bother with the heating. Standing shivering in front of the sink led to some regrets about this, but it was too late by then.

We'd both had a broken night; I've noticed that these tend to follow the consumption of tinned pies. It may have something to do with the high levels of salt, or perhaps the levels of tryptophan in the Oxo gravy. Either way, I think we'll be keeping such pies just as a backstop in future. In addition, the sound of the M6 kept going all night – it's another example of the onset of Spring that we've taken to sleeping with the Houdini propped open a crack again, thus getting the benefit of the dawn chorus, but also of any traffic noise that's going.

Having set off towards Pierrepoint Locks, we found ourselves passing a boat which, although otherwise anonymous, had a sign up saying Fenders for Sale. We stopped and I negotiated the purchase of a new bow fender, to replace my sad effort. At £70, it seemed a reasonable price for a vee fender. The woman who sold it to me was clearly not long up, though all her curtains were open. This is the first time I've bought a fender from a woman in a dressing gown.

The weather had been very pleasant, but as we approached Kidsgrove, cloud began spilling up over the hill from Stoke on Trent, and most of the day was rather chilly and cloudy; very frustrating when it so clearly could have been really sunny again.

The locks came and went steadily. After Thurlwood we stopped briefly at Rode Heath to get supplies from the little PO and shop there, before chugging on to finish just above Church Locks at coffee time. I lit the fire whilst we had coffee, then after lunch fixed the new fender to the bow.

The rest of the afternoon was given over to composing a post for the Building Sanity Again blog, followed by dinner and an early night.

This abstemiousness paid off with an early start this morning. We were drinking tea in bed before half six, and on our way by half seven. We wanted to get up the remaining six locks to the tunnel in good time, so as to get a reasonably early passage. On a misty morning, we arrived at the North portal by ten past nine.

Some boats were already on their way through from the South, so we had a bit of a wait. By ten to ten we'd been joined by Black Swan and Valkyrie, and led this mini convoy through in about 35 minutes. We had a bit of a problem getting into the tunnel, as the summit pound was eight inches down. Sanity rather ground her way over a reef of silt to get in.

Why on earth BW should let the summit get so low, I don't know. It can't be traffic – the stoppages either side have only just come off – and it certainly can't be lack of water after this winter. Sheila had problems for much of the rest of the pound to the top lock, grinding over sundry hidden objects in most of the bridge holes.

Once out of the tunnel, the weather started to improve. By the time we'd got to the bottom of Stoke Locks, I'd had to shed my puffa jacket. We had lunch on the move between Stoke Bottom and Trentham Lock, and have tied for the afternoon on the Wedgwood moorings.

The new fender has performed splendidly. In the first lock of the day, Sheila gently took Sanity up the lock until the fender was against the top cill, and then revved up in forward. This is a good doge with a new fender; it pushes it hard against the stem to shape it round the bow. When we stopped today, I adjusted up the fastenings, so that it's now snug and firmly in place.

Tomorrow we'll go gently down to Stone, the final eight locks making a total of 40 in four days, which is hard boating by our reckoning. We'll take a couple of days in one of our favourite canal towns, before travelling the familiar route back to Great Haywood and on down to Alrewas for the Spring check ups.

Back through Harecastle

26th & 27th September

For the second day running, we made a flying start, though it was a bit harder to do yesterday than the day before. By the time we reached Hall Green stop lock, I'd finished breakfast, and after a brief struggle to persuade the offside top gate to co-operate, we were through, I'd taken over the helm and Sheila went below to eat.

As we approached Red Bull, she re-emerged, and took Sanity through the junction and up to the tunnel entrance.

Ivor Batchelor was on duty at the North end this time, so we had a chance for further chat whilst wiling away the 45 minutes until it was time to go through. He told us that the stop lock had been giving trouble all day yesterday as well.

He also passed on the news that his foreman is selling his Malcolm Braine 60 foot boat, as his wife's frailty means they can live on board no longer. At £48,000 it sounds like a good deal: fixed double, four cylinder Gardner, boatman's cabin, the whole thing. Drop me an email if you want Ivor's mobile to get more details.

At ten past nine we went in, and had a slowish passage behind a Stone Canal Cruising boat with a very woofy dog on board. We emerged an hour later, and went steadily down the Stoke locks.

It was just after 12 before we came out, so we had lunch on the go, there being few or no places in Stoke where you'd opt to stop for a picnic. This meant we'd had two meals whilst on the move on the one day.

By half two we were at the Wedgwood moorings short of Barlaston, and settled down to a very dozy afternoon, having boated for seven hours – not like us at all.

We've had a much more typical day today. Getting up at our usual time, we set off around 8.15 for a gentle chug through a classically misty Autumnal morning. It was thick enough at first that I put the tunnel and navigation lights on, but it soon cleared to a splendid day.

There was a fair bit of traffic about, but not enough to be a problem. Meaford and Stone locks went well, with a few boats coming the other way. We'd tied by 11, making it around two and a half hours, Barlaston to Stone – our idea of a reasonable day's boating.

There was a good bit of space on the moorings: the virtue of timing an arrival for mid morning at a popular spot. A quick shopping trip got things like fresh bread so that we could have lunch.

We'd tied tucked up against a BW tug, leaving a good stretch in front of us. On our return, someone had tied their boat smack in middle of the space, so that there's less than 50 foot between us, and a bare 60 on the other side.

I can't tell you the name of this awkward boat, much as I'd like to name and shame. There have been boats struggling to get into either gap all day, but the owner's gone off, and his boat has no licence, registration number nor name.

Despite this irritation, the afternoon has been too nice to hassle about it much – still sunny, sitting out on the bow weather. Sheila's been knitting, and I've done IT housekeeping stuff like updating the software.

Tomorrow we'll have another gentle day's boating hopefully, going down to Great Haywood or maybe onto Wolseley – depends how we feel, really.

Back on the Macc, and it's Autumn, folks

2nd & 3rd September

As predicted here last time, we had a relaxed start yesterday, getting away at 8.30, and then stopping immediately on the water point and running a wash load before setting off up the four Stone and four Meaford locks.

These locks have also been fitted with offside bollards, but they are at least appropriate looking iron mushrooms, painted white and much less of a hazard than the ridiculous wooden things being installed further south.

Less encouraging was the state of the towpath between the locks at the top of Meaford. It's been slowly subsiding into the cut for years there, and had successively been fenced with orange netting, then with wooden rails, and now yet more netting has appeared, as parts of the rails have fallen into the water. It desperately needs the whole pound to be piled again, as the BW guy painting the lock ladders confirmed. (Phrases about deckchairs and the Titanic come irresistibly to mind.)

There's a road alongside, which in turn is beginning to move, so something must be done shortly. Meanwhile, BW have installed an alternate towpath along the offside, including bridging the by-pass weir for the top lock.

The canal continued very busy, with much traffic in both directions, as you would expect on one of the most popular cruising rings at the end of the school holidays.

By 11.30 we were tied beyond Barlaston, on the moorings near the Wedgwood factory. As the weather was beginning to deteriorate, we dropped the cratch cover again and lit the stove.

The afternoon was put to good use by fitting temporary double glazing film to the bedroom and bathroom portholes and the three prisms. We don't have a hair drier on board to finish the job, but it seemed a good idea to get the stuff up whilst the boat was comparatively dry inside. We can always borrow a drier at Braidbar when we get there, hopefully.

Today, by mutual agreement, we set off at 7.30, wanting to take advantage of a sunny morning which was forecast to deteriorate later. Even at its brightest it was very cold, and a bit damp, and, still wearing shorts as we were, we both found the breeze chilly around the knees.

We worked steadily up the Stoke locks, making such good progress that it became clear that we would be at the South portal of Harecastle before lunch. In the event, we got there by 11.30, to find Ivor Batchelor on duty and in fine form.

We shared a good bit of towpath scandal with him, much of it unfit for this outlet, and then found ourselves third in line into the tunnel at around 11.45. This time Ivor chose the boat ahead for his favourite leg pull.

This involves Ivor saying solemnly to the steerer of the boat as it enters the tunnel "Would you just mind sounding your horn for me, sir?"

The steerer of course complies, assuming this to be part of the safety check before being allowed in. Ivor then smiles in satisfaction and says "Thank you very much; that'll scare the boggut!" (Harecastle is reputed to be haunted by a ghost known as the Kitcrew Boggut.)

It was distinctly cold in the tunnel and by the time we emerged we were in no doubt; Autumn is here, and long trousers should be worn.

We tied on the towpath side just before the junction with the Macc, and after lunch I nipped along to Tesco for a few items whilst Sheila made a start on repairing the state of our flower tubs and replacing them on the roof, they having been placed in the well deck during passage of the tunnel.

She'd not got far with this before I was back, and didn't want to hang around in Kidsgrove. Accordingly, and despite the rain getting worse, we've come on to the Little Morton Hall mooring beyond the Heritage yard at Scholar Green.

The weather is now so bad, wind and rain and cold with it, that not only have we dropped the cratch cover and lit the stove, we've put the covers on all the portholes to keep out the miserable sight.

Hopefully we'll get a window of better weather tomorrow to go on through Congleton and either stop at the bottom of Bosley (if it's grotty again) or go up to the top for the night.