Kidsgrove to Etruria

Thu 23^rd July  Kidsgrove

Moored at Kidsgrove

We had been receiving emails from debt collectors, asking for money that we do not owe, as Three had reduced the bill to a compromise that we had paid in full. We had been planning to visit the Three shop in Hanley to sort this out, as we had been unable, once again to communicate with Three online or by phone.  We had worked out that there was a bus from Kidsgrove every ten minutes to the Potteries Shopping Centre, where the Three shop was located.  This morning we had an email from Maggie with a copy of a statement from Three showing a nil balance, so we didn’t need to go. We forwarded the image to the debt collectors, and hopefully that will be the end of this horrible episode that has been a distraction since 23^rd April.

It was sunny (although forecast wet) so we set up our camera for a photo for a new Canal Ministries leaflet.

Posing

 We went to Tesco, not far away, noticing that a new Lidl store is being built right by Lock 41.

On our way back, in a light rain shower, we spotted that only one of the paired locks was working, although there was no sign to indicate this from the canal. A large “keep right” sign would help. The rain continued in patches for most of the day, as forecast.

This pile of earth is where Lidl is being built

Heavy rain at Kidsgrove

Water art

 

James caught up with the blog. We noticed there were nine boats on the moorings by the evening, instead of just two yesterday.

Busy moorings at Kidsgrove

No boating today 

Fri 24^th July   Kidsgrove to Etruria

As we were preparing to leave, one boat went past.  We set off a few minutes behind them, and noticed that another boat had left their mooring behind us as well, so there was a lock Queue.  On the first boat was a single lady, heading for the Macclesfield Canal, at the junction just above the lock. The boat behind was in a convoy of three, all booked in for the Harecastle Tunnel at 10am, the same as us. They are all new liveaboard boaters, who moor at Aston Marina in Stone, and this was their maiden voyage, doing the Four Counties Ring.

Passing the junction with the Macclesfield Canal

Approaching the tunnel

When we arrived at the tunnel, we were in pole position. In normal times, there is no booking arrangement. Boats just turn up and wait until the oncoming convoy has come through. The maximum is usually eight boats in a convoy. Now, with a booking system, there is a maximum of six boats, and the convoys leave on even hours southbound, and odd hours northbound.

Pole position

 We asked the CRT man in charge whether he had done any boating himself. He said “Yes, but the boats I was on were grey and had guns.”

 The water here is orange, due to the iron ore in the water, which comes from the original Brindley Bore, no longer navigable, which runs alongside the newer Telford tunnel. We had difficulty leaving the side as there was a lot of silt near the entrance, but we managed it and were away at 1005. We were pleased we were in front, as we were quicker than the others. It took about 40 minutes, and the large fan gate at the end was swung aside a few minutes before we got there.

Leaving the tunnel

 We seemed to pick up something on the prop, so after we passed the waiting boats, we stopped on the rings, and James went down the weed hatch. Only a few weeds, so either we had just cleared the prop, or it was due to shallow water.

 The Westport Lake moorings were almost full this time. They are usually deserted in our experience, as there have been stories of badly behaved youths around here. We started to see the first bottle kilns as a reminder of Stoke’s pottery industry.

Bottle kilns

Into the Caldon Canal

We decided to moor on the Caldon Canal, near the Etruria Industrial Museum, where we have moored peacefully in the past. This time, we had a generator running on the next boat, Canada Geese making loud honking noises, a guy on a phone speaking loudly, and someone nearby operating a chain saw. It was sunny, and we put washing out to dry.

Moored in Etruria

We put up our hood and discovered it had been damaged. We think it must have happened in the tunnel, although we didn’t notice it at the time.

Torn hood

We had a message from Babs, a friend of ours from BCF and Waterways Chaplains. She now lives at Cheddleton and was suggesting we meet up. We don’t go up the Caldon very often (twice, so far) so we decided to make a detour to revisit this beautiful canal and see Babs at the same time.

1 lock, 6 miles, 1 tunnel. Dep 0810, arr 0845 Harecastle. Dep 1005, arr 1210 Etruria.

Next: Breakfast at the Toby carvery and then off to explore the Caldon and Leek canals.