Rode Heath and ducks.

 

The race was on.

David up early as usual and had moved our car down the canal to Rode Heath, he returned in a rush getting the bike inside then oh his face, a single hander had moved his boat around to the lock.

Snookered.

No great shakes really as some of these locks are doubles or rather pairs of locks so we might even get past him...

We brought WaL around to the lock only to see this thoughtful  and considerate boater had moved his boat away from the line of moored boats as he was running his washing machine and didn't want to disturb others!  Wow.

He waved us through and away we went.

First two singles close together so as David left the second I popped back and raised one paddle halfway for him.  Going on we were lucky to have the pairs of locks both in our favour so while David descended I opened the other gate for him.

Nice man.

We didn't meet any boats coming up not really surprising as it was still early.

A lovely day for doing a few locks

Behind WaL is the considerate boater who didn't allow his washing machine to disturb his neighbours  and waved us through too. 

So the gorgeous countryside all around this area of Church Lawton, Hall Green and Rode Heath.  Not much distance between these villages but lots of beautiful countryside.

So farming news;  Here are the fields of sown maize.  Some fields were showing but others not.  Lots and lots of maize sown around here but the dairy farm had no cows here now sad to say.

Pretty leaky.

Looking back towards Church Lawton

Pair of locks behind WaL.

i

A sample of the trees planted all along this area.  Yep I know trees are good but so is food production, my husband tells me that according to the Lib Dems England and Wales (Possibly Scotland) are the only countries who get subsidies for environmental schemes and not food production.  Worth thinking about... 

We arrived at Rode Heath and moored easily, David had reported that only two boats were here. 

I walked over to the post office and posted a card to my mum then on my return the single hander went past, he was carrying on. 

My favourite Aylesbury ducks.  Make very pretty pets.

Funnily enough I went through a long period of not eating duck...

Engineering masterpieces and rocks.

Time to make a move.  This immediate part of the world is so very very lovely and we have enjoyed the two permitted nights here.  We cast off leaving the several over-stayers and went along to the Heritage marina at Scholar Green where we brought a gas bottle at £47 ( The first one we brought in 2012 was £18)

The nice man allowed us to turn using the very wide marina entrance and then now facing south we chugged away to the junction of this Macclesfield canal and that of the Trent and Mersey canal.

  

The junction itself is a marvel for those who have not been here.  The Macclesfield canal goes over the T&M, the T&M drops down several locks to allow for this.  I have taken the following photos to try to illustrate it but it's hard to capture.   

 

Going north towwards the marina.  Nice bridge

Two delightful old cottages on the lock side at the stop lock

So below is the T&M all that was available to see, while I stood on the footbridge over the Macclesfield. 

Just a wee bit of the canal visible, we'll be down there in a minute.

So the view from the footbridge over the Macclesfield and there comes David towards the aqueduct taking the Macclesfield canal over the T&M below.

Then this nice lady popped up, "I'm just doing a bit of Rock Bombing" 

Yer what?

So this lady and others, decorate rocks, just leaving these wee works of art here and there to be discovered and rehidden or positioned for others to find.  Fundamentally promoting Uni Learning Disability Nursing.  Its all on Facebook, as these rocks are found you can photograph them and hide them again or even take them on your own trip.  My eye was immediate taken by this one as I do quilting.  I asked if I might take it and was granted permission.  So I am telling you all about them for you to look for them.  Some are being taking hiking by Paul in the Highlands so if you are there Reader keep your eyes peeled.  The lady, Marnie, told me that one has made it to Australia.....  Guess where mine is going in July.

 

Marnie, with Q for Quilt, she is currently working through the alphabet

A beaut.

Raising Awareness

If found post a photo on the FB page and reposition it.

So here is David bring WaL out of the junction of the Macclesfield and now onto the T&M.

Still standing but for how long....?

So here is WaL about to go under the Macclesfield canal, I had been standing up there before and got a shot of this canal.

A complete marvel of Victorian engineering.  

So we went through the Red Bull wharf, it was pretty quiet with just just one boat coming.  

It was a hire boat was.  Two couples, three crew working well.  They did look a bit flagging, turns out they had done 22 locks and were hoping to go to The Red Bull pub for supper.

As I watch them, I heard their Australian accents and saw a flag reminiscent of the Australian flag, they couldn't be faulted in their lock operation, but yes they had had practice!  

I was impressed turns out both men had been in the Australian Navy together.  I wished them well on their way.

David and I moored up on the pretty Church Lawton moorings for the rest of the afternoon.  Boats arrived during the afternoon somewhat filling up the moorings.  Now the very last boat to arrive had come up.

To get the advantage of the full locks in our favour in the morning we'd have to be up early...

I was entering a period of mourning, I finished that 900 page book of mine, such a compelling read and now finished...

Gripping from the very beginning.

Supper was sausages, paprika wedges and broccoli.  

 

The Happy Band

So here we sat and waited, well when I say sat, we went walking a few times, visited both pubs on the walk which we did last year with David and Amanda Lewis this time of year but in reverse.

David was clueless about how to get there but I felt strongly I knew, and so it proved..... or very nearly.

I was certain of the start, but in the year since we have been here the farmer has done some tree planting, completely changing the look of the place so instead of coming out of the woods close to the Church Lawton moorings we were six locks down virtually at Rode Heath, well in between anyway.  I asked locals who were walking and they too were unsure of which village we were closest to.  Anyway all tow paths lead to Red Bull pub and that's where we rested.

So the photo below is of Mow Cop from the bridge near to us, it is amazing that Mop Cop (as it is known in our house) is there to see from so many places in the surrounding area.

Zoomed in on Mow Cop

WaL from the same bridge.

Very pretty blue pretties.

As I sat on my blogging seat, this was the view to me, Hawthorn in full bloom, glorious.

Some things all farmers enjoy at their expense of their neighbouring farmers, a bold mistake in drilling that will only get more noticeable, a giant bald patch.

Sadly our meeting of boats was not to be for a variety of reasons.  Luckily as we had the car here we were able to drive Mohammed to the Mountain so to speak and met them all back at Barlaston and a fine lunch at The Plume of Feathers.  

For those of you unfamiliar with the crew, we are the four ladies who all went boating in France two years ago, all are boaters and Sarah was the Helm Extradinaire, she now keeps her narrowboat in Holland, opps sorry Bob the Netherlands.

From Left to Right:  Sarah, Lesley, Amanda and Lisa (moi)

Later when we left this is moi encore with my present husband and my second to be husband aka David Lewis.  Did I say it was cold?  I had a vest on a shirt, a jumper and a warm wrap plus coat.  Missing from the photos is Joe, Lesley's husband.

 It was great to catch up and both of us were sorry to leave the happy band.  

So after thinking about ourselves and the timetable we did decide to turn at the lower reaches of the Macclesfield canal, we felt it best that we try to do this canal and the Peak Forest canal in September when I am back from NZ and all the family birthdays are celebrated.  We did decide to go down Heartbreak Hill again, same as last year instead of back through Stoke and Stone, we both very much love this area and it will give us another opportunity to see George and Carol again as we will almost pass through their back garden.

Best visit ever.

David went off cycling from here in the centre of Stoke early this morning, he went to the Cauldon Canal.

We had an appointment about which I was very excited about.

It was half and hours walk, uphill, so we took extra time hoping there was a café there, well there are cafes everywhere aren't there?

So we actually arrived before the staff to here.

We waited patiently.  No cafe and none nearby in what seems a little like a back street. 

The Moorcroft Factory, photographed here in 1930 but when it was built in 1913 the factory was surrounded by farmland.

The factory today.

Wonderful mosaic of the factory on the shop wall as it was, with the five Bottle kilns originally but today just the one remains.

 We had a guided tour booked and very sadly no photos allowed on the factory floor.

We were introduced to the almost completely handmade process, we met a "Turner" who had been in the role for 38 years and a lady with a vital role of smoothing out the joins in the pots from the moulds by hand of course, she in her role for 38 years too but a week less than Steve the "Turner" 

On we went to see vases the size of small children and others the size of a whiskey tumbler and everything in between.

This is a photo of the Painting room taken in 1933, it looked pretty much the same today.

This was a mock up of the tools still used today, some very small vases with their thin edges from the designers drawings transferred onto the vases, when the outlines are dried then the painting goes on.

The interior of the bottle kiln, unused today.

These kiln would have had 9 tonnes of coal put in to get the kiln up to temperature to fire the pottery overnight.

A mock up of a lounge with Moorcroft plaques, vases and today mugs and cushion covers.

Moonlit Forest design, I loved this.  When I get my pension pay out I may well buy this.... 

I believe this design is called Queens Choice, one of their most popular designs through the decades.I love this one too.

This pattern dates from the 1920's, I have a vintage piece of this at home.  Called Pomegranate.

Well I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this visit, they are only open for guided tours two days a week now Thursday and Fridays.  It was absolutely fascinating watching the painters in action, many of which have worked there for decades, quite a testament to the happy environment in which they find themselves.  

They recently celebrated the youngest member of the painting room, she was 50.  The youngest.  They are actively looking for new recruits.

Some of you may remember that I have been wanting to visit the Moorcroft factory for years, well ever since we had WaL so that is 2012 when we first came through Stoke.  We always seemed to be here when it was a Monday (They used to be closed to visits on Mondays), or we were here during the annual Pottery Holidays, that was when all the pottery factories closed in unison, the kilns let out, the associated trades on holiday too.  Moorcroft still adhere to this now, so I was HEARTBROKEN last year when we came through Stoke, I looked it up to book to be told that the business had gone into receivership something like six weeks previously.  

I cried bitter tears.

But the factory was taken over by a successful businessman, who just happens to be the Grandson of the Moorcroft family and it reopened for business again last autumn.

Today I even brought a wee vase for my collection.  Thank you Mum for my birthday and Christmas money.

Just a note to say that prior to the Iranian war, their energy costs were £70,000. a year, today we were told £350,000. a year.  When you see the artistry of every one of the workers you can understand the prices the pieces of art command, for these are not pottery vases but indeed works of art.

We almost ran down the hill to the marina, David fired up WaL, I ran with the key around to the lift bridge, another hire boat had been left right opposite WaL but he edged out and the reversed to the lift bridge and out forwards, I ran back to the office, paid the £10 fee, gave her the key and ran back to WaL where D was hovering, Right Go Go Go all speed to the Harecastle Tunnel where we had a 3pm passage booked.

As we approached the CART man said can you go straight in?

Yes but can I do the rubbish? says I

Yes give it to me, 

So I tossed him the bin liner, the two glass bottles and the cardboard, he was laughing but doing the safety instructions as he walked alongside us and with my cycling helmet upon David's head, in we went.

The reason for this is the low ceiling in the tunnel causing the death in the past of a man helming.

Our rubbish on the side as we had the safety talk

In we went the last of four boats not that we ever saw one of them.

44 minutes later out we came.

Made the turn onto the Macclesfield canal

Mooring up here 20 minutes later.

 

A full and brilliant day,  supper was beef salad with potato wedges.

 

I saw three ships go sailing by, go sailing by....

David is still miffed about this morning..... 

My idea was not to go off too madly early but to wait in a relaxed fashion for maybe some boats to arrive from coming down the six Stoke locks...  Obviously I wanted to read my totally absorbing book.  

We did but just as we were about to set off three boats went past us and one was a single hander...

Well lets just go anyway.  Well we did and my idea did half work as we did meet maybe four boats at the locks coming down saving work for both boats.

I walked to Trentham lock, the first one and yes there was a queue, lots of crew with windlasses loitering so it was hard to tell who was from which boat.

Finally on our way for the long run to the next lock in Stoke proper.  We soon passed a boat with a couple of gents on who had been in front of us as they stopped at a particular pub they were wanting to spend lunchtime at.

Great.

Last time we came past here this was rough ground, possibly a previous industrial site but mostly green and brambles.  There are more being built past this section and most are sold.

Sad to see these iconic Bottle Kilns in a poor state, but Stoke is a town that has most lost its previous industry of pottery.

Now this iron girder has concerned me before, but I guess it does not look worse...  It supports a train line into Stoke. 

This one with the canal directly underneath.

Here he comes.

Two more looking slightly better cared for in the grounds of student accommodation 

One time this little building had sold on it and I had hoped for it to be restored but that didn't happen.

Finally arriving at Festival basin.  We were spending a night here to go visit somewhere very special tomorrow.  I was twitchy about leaving WaL on the tow path so I had called ahead and booked us into the Black Prince Hire Base here.

The lady on the phone said 70' yes just come to the office and I'll tell you where to birth her.

I did so, its a secure marina with gates locked after office hours so to enter the basin we were given a key to the gates and to the locked swing bridge to bring WaL in via.  David had walked around with the nice lady and decided he would have to reverse in....

Reversing into the basin.

Reversed past the mooring he'd chosen, can you see a hire boat moored opposite?  Made it much narrower

But in he came, I was full of praise for him, not a scrape or a twink or a tap

Not sure what the annual fees are here but I'm not used to these short floating pontoons which go up and down, when you pass another person walking too its like being on the ocean.

No water on the pontoons either but at £10 a night without electric I'll not worry.

It was cold and despite having a restaurant over the way we had early showers, early tea and early bed.

Supper was a chicken tomato and pasta dish, baked in the oven in one dish and 500 calories.