Mow Cop to Kidsgrove On The Trent & Mersey. 1 Stop Lock. Then Kidsgrove To Stoke On Trent. 1 Tunnel.

A bit of a catch up here as I have got a day behind somehow, so I will Blog for two days in one. Another cunning plan.

Not too sure what to make of this bridge, it looks like the side of a Viking Longship stretched across the canal.

We have arrived at the Trent & Mersey to find these paired locks with an old toll booth in the middle.

We then had a debate as to which one we should use to go down, canal etiquette being what it is we didn't want a stressed boater telling us we are doing it wrongly. As it turned out it didn't matter either way.

The odd colour of the water is caused by local ironstone strata.

No I'm not being clever..... I read that in a book.

I had to reverse Ubique through this lock as we wanted to go to the local Tescos, there were no moorings above the lock and nowhere to turn around below it, that got some of the local kiddies confused for a while.

On getting back on board the sky took on "that" look again only this time accompanied by thunder and lightning.

Down it came again in droves, the canal was hissing such was the force of the drops as they landed. We were going nowhere for the rest of the day, so we had a cup of tea................ believe that and you will believe anything.



Off we went into a nice bright sunny morning for a change, only to go and spend an hour of it in pitch blackness chugging through the Harecastle Tunnel. This one was an absolute breeze, dead straight and quite wide.

The claim to fame of this one is that once the convoy of boats are inside............... they shut the doors at the other end, nice.

At least if you are going the other way and they shut the doors you can still see a way out at the other end.

This is the door end and you can see how low these tunnels get by those marker chains hanging from the roof, if you touch one you don't enter.


We have been looking out for these Bottle Kilns as there were so many potteries along this stretch. Apparently they liked to send the pots by canal as it was a softer form of transport than the roads. I think that this one is fairly near the old and now demolished Wedgwood site, they have moved along the canal now and we are going to go for the trip around as it is open to the public.

A bit of a miracle has happened, no rain for a whole day (Sat).

Sunday on the other hand is a complete washout again, staying put at Stoke it is then.

Until next time...............................