Tuesday 8th
October 2019
It was a lovely morning. Chilly but once the sun broke through, it was
quite a warm day. After ascending Engine Lock, we came to the lift bridge 21.
Although only a foot path crosses the canal, the bridge was hydraulically
operated and required the BW key.
Lift Bridge 21
The canal immediately after this bridge was interesting. The feeder
channel joined from Knypersley Reservoir some 3 miles away. Next to this
channel, the infant River Trent passes under the canal through a culvert, the
source of the Trent is only a few miles distant.
Bridge 23 was also a lift bridge although this one operated using the
lock windlass. Shortly after, we reached the first of the five locks passing
through the town of Stockton Brook. The first two locks are in the countryside
preceding the town and beside the first is a big, disused Victorian Water Pumping
Station. This was commissioned in 1883 to supply water to the growing
population of Stoke-on-Trent and originally contained a pair of horizontal
compound pumping engines before being replaced by electric pumps in 1936 and
decommissioned in 1983. The site has subsequently been sold to developers, but
looks sad and neglected.
Victorian Water Pumping Sttion at Stockton Brook
There were interesting sculptures beside a couple of the locks, representing
industries, past and present, in the area. The third lock was interesting as it
was preceded by three bridges, two pipe bridges and a railway bridge and
followed by a road bridge, all within yards of each other. A busy scene.
Unusually, the railway track, although disused, was still in place. Normally,
after closing a railway during Dr. Beeching’s
purges in the 1960’s, the tracks were quickly removed and sold for scrap.
The last of the Stockton Brook Locks has accompanying stables and
lock-keepers cottage. It was here that my sister nearly met with a nasty
accident when we were last here on our shared ownership boat in 2010. While
opening the lock gate, she slipped and almost fell into the water below,
directly in front of the moving boat.
Locks can be very dangerous places and have to be treated with caution
and respect. This last week, after all the rain, the lock sides have been
extremely slippery and walking around them has to be done with care.
The recent rain also brought with it a cold snap and we have noticed
these last few days, that leaves are starting to fall off the trees without
them first discolouring which is unusual. This time last year we were still
enjoying heat and sunshine. We were at Foxton Locks with Phil and Michelle and
enjoying a cooked breakfast outside at the Top Lock Café.
Mason’s marks are often see on the stonework in locks if you look. At
the Stockton Locks there were probably more than at most. They provide us with
a link with the past and take many forms, some simple crosses, others, works of art. The marks could be chiselled into the
stone quickly and were the means of identifying the mason responsible for
dressing that particular block.
Mason’s Marks
Beyond Stockton Brook is the Endon Arm, now used by the Stoke-on-Trent
Boat Club. There is an obstruction in the middle of the canal here, that has
been there for many years. It is a circular concrete plinth that must have been
used as a gauging point or a method of winding boats with ropes in the past.
At Endon Bank we stopped at the service point and heard the news that
the canal bank behind us at Milton between bridges 18 and 19, has slipped into
the canal, closing the navigation. Contractors had been working to shore up the
slopes leading to the canal but have obviously disturbed the ground. Hopefully,
it will be sorted quickly, otherwise we are in danger of getting caught on the
Caldon Canal over the winter.
The countryside was becoming more moor-like and the hills seeming to
get closer. The iconic Hazelhurst Junction is reached, the junction of the Leek
Branch with the main line of the canal. The junction is a so-called cross-over
junction and is a fascinating structure. The Leek branch leaves the main line
and then crosses over it on an aqueduct. An amazing sight but, like Brindley’s
junction of the Macclesfield and T&M Canals at Hardings Wood, also a
cross-over junction, you wonder why it is in place at all. The structure would
have cost a fortune to build and taken a lot of time. Why the Leek Branch
doesn’t leave on the same side of the canal as it then travels, negating the
need for an expensive aqueduct can only be guessed at. No wonder there was a
reason. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stop on the aqueduct as we met another boat
coming towards us. Passing each other in the confines of the aqueduct was
tricky. I asked the guy on this boat about moorings at the end of the branch
but he completely ignored and blanked me. I have never understood people not at
least being civil to one another, especially on the canals where we all have
something in common, it costs nothing.
The miserable twat.
The first ½ mile of the branch was, unfortunately, lined with permanently
moored boats which detracted from the scene somewhat. However, once clear of these,
the scene was gorgeous and one of the prettiest canals we have travelled on.
The canal was very shallow and narrow and the overhanging trees and undergrowth
made it difficult to follow the line of the canal at times. The navigation
twisted and turned, cut into the side of the hills on one side and lovely views
on the other over the trees and down the Churnet Valley.
At
the 130-yard-long Leek Tunnel was a large lagoon, one of the winding holes and
one of the few mooring places on the branch. The tunnel is narrow and has
changes of section, there is no towpath but the arch of the tunnel is high.
Shortly after exiting the tunnel the head of the navigation is
reached, it is a wonderful setting. There is a winding hole for boats over 45
feet long, where we turned and then reversed down to the end of the navigable
channel itself. Just because we could, and to say we had travelled the full
length of the branch.
We then moored up and went for a walk. We went to the end of the
channel where the canal just stops but the feeder channel continues on its
route to Rudyard Reservoir, about 4 miles away. The route of the canal, although
now disappeared, can be traced crossing over the River Churnet on yet another
aqueduct. The line of the canal then disappears altogether beneath industrial
estates. We walked down the road serving the site and found a Morrisons and a
Home and Bargains, visiting each. The canal terminus Wharf House still exists
although has been heavily renovated, rendered and extended so retains none of
its former glory.
Weather: a lovely day.
Day Total: 6 locks; 6 miles; 1 Tunnel; 0 Swing Bridges; 2 Lift Bridges;
0 Boat Lift; Day’s running hours 4.8
Overall Total: 756 locks; 1328 miles; 51 tunnels; 61 Swing Bridges; 14
Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; total engine running hours 832.6hrs
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