Wednesday 7 September 2016

Saturday 3 September 2016

It was forecast to rain all day today - shame as Jay and Kat were heading on to the Peak District for a couple of days.  They left at about 11am so we got our waterproofs on and set off again towards Trent Lock.  We need to get there by Tuesday 6 September so had to get some miles under our belt even though we would rather have battened down the hatches and stayed inside.

Chilled to the bone in the pouring rain we made our way through Stoke which I'm sure would have seemed slightly better in the sunshine but it was (the bit we saw from the canal) pretty grim in the wet.

Seven hours later we had had enough so we moored up in a quiet spot where there was a gap in the trees so we could get a TV signal!  No sooner had we stopped than the rain stopped - typical!  We will have a long day tomorrow as it is not due to rain so we want to make as much progress as possible.

Steve's got a rotten cold so he had a shower and took himself off to bed early.  I stayed up watching the telly until late which I will probably regret in the morning!


Jay and Kat have just left and we are on our way in the wet.

If you don't have a canopy a two man tent will do!

I could just go a cuppa now!

It's a Kowka!

This was an interesting junction at Kidsgrove - we cross over the canal on an aqueduct then do a sharpe left and join it two locks later - the canal below is climbing and by the time meet it we are the same level - clever!

Middlewich and the Anderton Boat Lift seem ages ago and we are now back only a few miles away from them!

This shows you the rain - Steve's family business was also called Smithsons!

One through Hardings Wood junction we quickly arrive at Harecastle Tunnel where we are met by a CRT member who checks our headlight and horn and runs through the safety procedure in case of a problem.  Another long tunnel - 2926 yards.  I think this was the tunnel I enjoyed the least, it was really cold but we were cold before we went in - at least it's not raining inside, although it does have a few leaky bits.  I think it was the smell - it seemed to be full of fumes - I know there were a couple of boats in front of us but it was quite overpowering.   

There is a really low bit in the middle where you have to duck for about 100 yards!

Glad to be reaching the end.

It has a posh entrance from this end!  The black and white barrier is how low it is in the middle so if anything touches as you go in you won't fit under the low bit in the middle!

An old oast house in need of a bit of TLC.

Even the pigeon looks like he's had enough of the rain! 

Dragonfly!

At least the boat looks clean in the rain!

Some more leaky gates.

Interesting choice of decoration - grass on the roof and wood on the sides!

Alright me ol' china!

I remember seeing something about Neil Morrissey opening a pub but I can't remember the reason behind it!

Pretty canalside cottages at Barlaston.

A nice quiet spot for the night - half an hour after we moored the rain stopped!

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