nb Bridge Street

Tuesday 29 th October 2019 The world this morning, was completely white after a very hard, overnight frost. After a breakfast of toast, we walked to visit All Saints Church in Church Lawton, just 100 yards away. From the outside, the church appears old and yet it has what, at first, appears to be a reasonably modern interior, light and airy due to large, clear windows. Across a field next to the church is Lawton Hall although we could not get close to it. We felt quite rewarded as we had wanted to visit here for a few years and it had always intrigued us whenever we drove past.                                                                                                     All Saints Church, Church Lawton                                                                                                                                                                          Lawton Hall We descended six locks before stopping at the Broughton Arms in Ro

Monday 28 th October 2019 Harvey, bless him, has been all out of sorts with the clocks changing. He doesn’t understand that he is getting up at 6am and not 7, or that his dinner comes an hour later. But, having said that, he is a pain in the backside until he readjusts. It was a freezing cold morning, a heavy fog and all the bank and grass white with frost. I was outside Wilko’s in Hanley by 8am, waiting for them to open. With all the things in the paint locker being soaked after the rain on Friday, I had decided to buy more plastic storage containers the same as those that store stuff above the rear lockers, which are a perfect fit inside the lockers. Wilko’s didn’t stock the type I wanted, neither did a couple of other pound shops but eventually, I found the same boxes in Tesco’s and was well pleased. As usual when we are out, we never miss the opportunity of filling our bags, and so I returned with numerous groceries. Stoke-on-Trent was formed in 1910 by the federat

Sunday 27 th October 2019 Another quiet day. After our soaking on Friday, we had decided we were going to spend the weekend at Etruria anyway. We watched the second semi-final of the Rugby World Cup, Wales losing to South Africa, and then returned to the Festival Retail Park, supposedly for a touch of civilisation and retail therapy. Once we got there, neither of us particularly fancied being there anyway, so we did a shop in Morrisons, returned to the boat and had a traditional Sunday spent quietly and a roast chicken dinner.  

Saturday 26 th October 2019 A night of heavy rain. We were up early to watch England beat New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup and so reach the final next week. After the match, an unbelievable performance by England, I walked up to a local Screwfix and the Festival Retail Park and bought items for more jobs and improvements to the boat, Evolution we call it. A new silicone gun to finish grouting the mosaic tiles behind the stove, a new double socket with USB ports for under the TV, a new clothes rail for the dinette area and a magnetic cup holder for the back end for Brenda. Brenda in the meantime, very unusually for her, read and watched a bit of afternoon TV. In the evening we went out for a drink with Nickie and Annie, two women we had met who live singly on boats. We went to the unusually named pub, The Holy Inadequate. When Nickie said where we were going, I thought it was an invite to attend church. It was a nice, no frills pub though and gets its name from

Friday 25 th October 2019 The boat was readied for the run to Etruria which meant everything over a certain height being removed from the roof, due to the very low bridges at Hanley. It was an unpleasant day with heavy rain. CRT duly arrived at 12 noon and moved the buoys to allow passage of the three waiting boats. Once passed the restriction, for us, it was heads down for the run to Etruria, 4 miles away, a lift bridge, a single lock and the staircase of two before the end of the canal. CRT Staff with a Technical Piece of Equipment   to move the buoys from the navigation restriction, a Tree Branch The rain persisted for the whole of the miserable journey, looking at one point as though it was easing, but as heavy as ever when we came to moor up outside the Etruria Industrial Museum. We had always said, when we moved onto the boat, that we would not move when it was raining or too windy. But sometim

Thursday 24 th October 2019 Our coal supply is now completely exhausted. After having the roof repainted, we decided not to lay anything on it. A new shelf has been made that is supported on each side by the gangplank holders, but this has yet to be treated and so we have been delaying buying too much coal. However, we have arranged a delivery for tomorrow but it is a shame that the holder will still not have been treated. It was not nice when we left the mooring with persistent drizzle. Normally we would not move in this weather, but we have to be at the navigation restriction at Foxley for Friday morning to be let through by CRT. Fortunately, the drizzle stopped shortly after we set off. After leaving the mooring we covered just a few hundred yards and stopped just beyond the obstruction in the middle of the canal at Stanley Moss. From here I took the trolley and went to the Co-op in Endon but they did not stock coal either, so the diesel heating will have to suffice

Wednesday 23 rd October 2019 We awoke to a foggy morning and struggled to see the other side of the canal. We left the mooring after a leisurely breakfast, the fog had started to lift and it was a lovely, quiet and peaceful morn with the mist deadening all sound. We passed beneath the ever impressive Hazelhurst Aqueduct and through the three Hazelhurst Locks, passing the junction leading off to the Leek Branch. At Endon Bank we visited the service station, doing a wash at the same time. It had seemed a long time since we had any opportunity to dump rubbish and empty the loo. There are no a lot of facilities on this canal. Service points at Etruria and Endon Bank and a water point at Consall on the river. There is also a service point at the Froghall terminus but only a few boats would be able to reach that because of the low tunnel. After the services, we cruised less than a mile and moored close to Post Bridge 28. From here we walked to nearby Endon Stores to try to b

Tuesday 22 nd October 2019 I was treated to an amazing spectacle this morning. Out with the dog as the sun was appearing over the hills to the east of us, while to the west, the hillside trees were being successively lit up as the sun rose. It was the envy of any New England scene in the autumn, the colours were spectacular. As the sun rose further, the Hawthorn berries further down the hill were all lit up by the sun. While it didn’t last long, it was one of those phenomena that just leaves an impression. The hull side was washed prior to being touched up as it was looking a bit sad. We then walked up the hill to the One-Stop store in Cheddleton, before returning and touching up the hull blackening. The inside of the paint locker at the backend is full of condensation, the container holding the brushes is full of water and everything in there is wet and damp. We will have to find a remedy for this. Once finished with the painting, it was left for an hour before we

Monday 21 st October 2019 We left the moorings quite early, despite Brenda having had a bad night’s sleep. Harvey is feeling under the weather and, as always when he is not feeling himself, is restless and forever moving and scratching and disturbing us. We had overstayed the mooring, it was a 48 hour mooring and we had been there since for Friday morning. No harm though, with only seeing 3 boats moving in 2 weeks. We only moved from one side of Cheddleton to the other, a distance of less than a mile with the two Cheddleton Locks, and moored just beyond the Flint Mill. Another attraction of Cheddleton that again, we had visited before but wanted to visit again on Bridge Street. This is part of what we are very much enjoying with this life we have chosen. On a hire boat you set a destination and have to go for it no matter what the weather, or what you pass on the way. If you do stop anywhere, your time is limited. However, now, we can stop where we want and spend as mu

Sunday 20 th October 2019 We were again up early to watch the rugby. Wales with a one-point victory over France and South Africa knocking Japan out. However, we did not see the end of the South Africa match before leaving to catch the 11:15 departure from Cheddleton on the Churnet Valley Railway. This was the reason for remaining in Cheddleton. We had decided we could not leave without going on the train. ‘Hotspur’ pulled the coaches through the delightful countryside, stopping at Consall, before reaching Froghall, where we spent 35 minutes before returning. On the return journey the train passes through Cheddleton and the 581-yard-long tunnel, to Leekbrook Junction where the track used to divide, one continuing to Leek, the other travelling to Stoke-on-Trent. The railway has funding in place to extend to Leek but the Morrisons supermarket has been built on the site of the original station, so another has to be built. The line to Stoke still has the rails in place. I thou

Saturday 19 th October 2019 We awoke early and sat to watch the Rugby World Cup. England v Australia, a fantastic win for England, and Ireland v New Zealand, Ireland were disappointing. While watching the matches, a boat went past. This is just the third boat that we have seen moving in 12 days. A very quiet canal, but it would be very busy during the summer months and school holidays for sure. After the rugby, we went for a walk around this end of Cheddleton. The canal touches the village at both ends, and these areas are, by far the most interesting faces. At this southernmost end, is the Boat Inn, a terrace of canal-workers cottages, the caravan site we had stayed at so often and the Churnet Valley Railway Station, from which we could hear and see locomotives steaming up and moving in readiness for tomorrow when the trains are running.                                                               

Friday 18 th October 2019 We moved less than a mile up the canal, passing through Wood’s Lock and moored in Cheddleton. We have fond memories of Cheddleton and had been looking forward to visiting here on Bridge Street. We had visited a number of times before, on board our shared-ownership boat and stayed at the local caravan site. Each time, we had enjoyed the place. The village straddles a hillside and is much larger than it seems from the canal. We walked up the steep hill to the One-Stop Store. Height was gained quickly and the views across the Churnet Valley are magnificent. A green and pleasant land indeed. View across the Churnet Valley from Cheddleton On return, we spent some time on the boat before going to the Boat Inn for a couple. This is another typical canal-side hostelry. As it advertises at the door, a little pub with a big welcome. Unfortunately, they do not do food in the evenings, but th