Thursday 23rd August 2018



After breakfast we left our mooring and immediately came to Haywood Lock. A pretty setting. The next bridge beyond the lock is very ornate and must have cost of lot of money to have made. It was built by the Anson family of Shugborough Hall because Essex Bridge over the Trent was too narrow to take carriages and meant they had to walk 300 yards to get to church.

For at least a ½ mile out of Great Haywood the boats were moored nose to tail so we were lucky to get in to where we were last night.

Colwich Lock and the keepers’ cottage have to be one of the best locations on the canal system. It is just a shame the closeness of the railway which is directly behind the cottage.







At Colwich rail junction the track from the south diverges. One track goes to Stoke-on-Trent and the other to Stafford. We had been noticing that the trains passing Great Haywood were noticeably slowing down, obviously for the junction.

We tied up at bridge 70 to visit the Wolseley Arms pub. It was here that regular meetings of the proprietors of the canal were held leading up to the passing of the Act of Parliament for the construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal.







There was a busy collection of businesses around the traffic intersection here. A garden centre, craft shops, antique shops and an Indian restaurant.

Back at the boat we slowly moved on. The huge power station at Rugeley looms into view and completely dominates the landscape. Passing over the impressive Brindley Aqueduct where the canal crosses the River Trent, we entered Rugeley and moored just after bridge 67.

We walked into the town but were not much impressed. A lot of the shops are closed and there are a lot of charity shops. At one time the town would have been heavily dependent on the coal mining industry, now of course all gone. There are large statues on one of the roundabouts of miners in dress of different periods.

The kids were both tired today. We found last time they were with us that around the middle of the week they just flopped, they are occupied all the time. However, it rained quite heavily last night and there was a tree above where Manny and myself were sleeping. The dripping water kept us awake a fair bit.



Day Total: 2 locks; 4½ mile; 0 Tunnels; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 2.1

Overall Total: 162 locks; 325 miles; 15 tunnels; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 186.4








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