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.

Smooth operator.

So what shall we do while we wait for the intrepids?  
Well what do you want to do?  

Don't know what do you want to do?

This went on for some time.  Options were, the lovely walk up into the woods on the Sandon Estate through the bluebell walk, a different walk taking in the Holly Bush pub, staying snugged up and reading my gripping book secretly got my vote but then over coffee I suddenly remembered The Moorcroft Factory at Stoke.

Reader you may remember that last year, we finally came through Stoke not on a Monday when the factory was always closed to visitors, not during one of the Pottery Holiday Weeks, that was a tradition when there were all the factories closed several weeks a year in unison to give the population a week together as so many families would have either worked in the factories or in one of the supporting trades.

When I called last year I was devastated to learn that Moorcroft had gone into receivership just 6 weeks previously.

I wept bitter tears.

Then, to my utter joy, months later the factory and business found an investor, actually a grandson of the Moorcroft family, the business had been out of the family control since the 1980's.

So the bluebell walk was abandoned, I did feel a bit guilty as that was David's first choice but not too guilty as we pulled the pins and departed, the appointment had been made for the Friday, they only do tours twice a week, finally we were in the right place at the right time.

This gave us two days to get to Stoke, do a supermarket sweep at M&S in Stone, water up and continue to Stoke.

In the meantime I messaged friends George and Carol to say we were coming up their way in general and if we couldn't see them on our way up we would surely see them on our way back again.  At least that was the message I intended to say, as I worked WaL through the first of two locks Carol called David back to say they would be arriving in 45 mins!!!  I felt I had ordered their presence.

So as David watered up I shot around M&S (To my reader in Alaska that's a nice food hall on the canal side in the first town of the day, Stone).  I nearly jumped out of my skin when Carol tapped me on the shoulder in the shop, but she helped me with the shopping and as we walked back to the boat we saw that David had already done the first lock, Star lock with George and he was disappearing from view as we valiantly carried four heavy bags.

So off we went, George prepping and me working the locks.  

David in Stone passing the old Joules brewery, now a really nice pub and restaurant.

George marching on smartly to the last of the eight locks in Stone. 

WaL in the penultimate lock, look closely and there is David and Carol.

It came to light that their car was parked in a public car park in Stone that closed at 6pm, barrier down and a fine if you were there in the morning.  

It was going to be tight.   

Our car was at Barlaston and David intended to drive them back to get it.... eek it was going to be tight and there in front of us was a single hander.....

George had worked him through a lock, so I chanced my hand and asked him if he would mind if we passed him?

Such a nice man, SURE he said, I'm in no hurry, and he proceeded to explain that this was his third trip over from California this time single handing, he just LOVED boating and had a narrowboat tattooed on his forearm.  He helped US through the lock and in repayment we lifted one paddle for him where we could as we shot on.  

Around the corner as I marched along on the long stretch would you believe it but another single hander was casting off!

I asked him too explaining about the rush we were in if he wouldn't mind letting us through....?

Well all I can say is aren't single handers marvellous?

As we approached the bridge at Barlaston, David and George literally jumped off leaving Carol and myself to moor up.

Clearly Carol took the helm as although I can and do helm in locks too I have not moored up.  She brought WaL like a.... like a..... well like a very smooth thing without a tink or a scrape just a silent halt.

She is a helm of magnificence.

Carol.

David and George were back in a little under thirty minutes and off to the pub we went.  We passed the second single hander and thanked him again profusely for his favour.

Now last year the pub here, The Plume of Feathers, had recently been taken over from the famous ownership of Neil Morrissey the actor, then we were not impressed and several things were wrong with no care at all from staff.  Today I have to say the staff and service was marvellous and so was the food.

We had coffee back on WaL and dessert too, an M&S raspberry and pistachio roulade and it was delicious. 

Supper for me was Katsu chicken.

Quiet Please.

 So we were only home just over a week, had two nice family days with the grandchildren and their parents and then leaving London at 6pm.

This happened on the way up

Everso pretty but made driving a bit tricky.

 

We did that stopping overnight thing at the Days Inn motel on the M40, I have joined a membership group on their website by giving my email and then getting 20% off so I think this night was £37 and free parking.  Leaving a 90 minute drive the next morning to the marina, meaning we can unload in the daylight.

So after lunch we set off.  

Now for any newbies here, this summer we are meeting up with two boats, Lesley & Joe on NB Hogarth and Amanda & David on NB Caxton, but they are taking the scenic route from the Leicester Arm, via Leicester city and the River Soar, then joining this canal the Trent and Mersey, so in the meantime we will amble along slowly.

I do love a gateway.

We ended up just north of Weston, fabulous pub here, actually two if you include The Holly Bush at Salt and a mile stroll, but on this occasion we went to neither.  As we approached the line of nice moorings there were four boats, but horribly spaced out leaving Git Gaps.  In fact the first boat was half a boats length from the beginning of the armco, so antisocial.

  

As we approached, moaning to each other, one boat from the centre was gathering up their ropes to leave, just waiting for us to pass.

Result.

So we went in and positioned ourselves forward to minimise any gap, button to button as I have always thought you should on popular moorings.  

Books out and we lounged in the cratch with cups of tea in the warmth.

Horror of horrors, when the single guy returned later he put on his generator, but it was in his cratch for some reason not as often is positioned at the stern where the engine is.  

We looked at each other....

Well we put up with it and after only an hour he popped out and switched it off. Phew.

I had thought we'd have to move on.

This is my book, 900 plus pages, completely gripping from the first chapter and number 8 or 9 I think in the series, thank goodness there is another coming soon.

Dawn the next morning, David left to move the car and I popped my head out to see this, then back to bed to read!

and this.

Supper was roasted tomatoes and feta with rice.

And home again

Morning Reader, I know you must despair of me but in the meantime we have been home, I've seen my mother and she is chirpy, I've helped my daughter paint bedrooms for imminent arrival of their new baby, had my hair done which some will say is shocking, but in late middle age (when does late middle age become old age?) if you can't shock then when can you?

So here we are back onboard, a whole host of jobs to be done that I don't want to do.

So to recap, we had a fortnight's holiday on WaL, we sauntered down the Trent and Mersey as far as Stenson Lock and back again, Loitering in Alrewas then moving between Alrewas and Fradley in the sun....

 

We moved on to here, it took us about 25 minutes to get here at just the other side of Alrewas.  A few boats went passed but only a few.

There was a bench next to the boat on which we sat having coffee, butterflies fluttered  around in the sun and the birdsong a delight.

Hawthorne I think.

David enjoyed cycling around the area, it's largely flat and he remained in striking distance of the small bakery in Alrewas, I can recommend the pain au raisin, almond croissants, cheese scones and something else delicious that I can't quite remember.

We went to the Mucky Duck pub for a drink, we had plenty of food on the boat that would not travel home so absolutely did not intend on eating, so we shared a starter of spicy cauliflower florets.  The sun shone, as we sat I inwardly judged the passing boats and everything in the garden was rosy.

 

Guess what's under here...?  Yes that's right, a water point.  There wasn't one here as 14 years ago, we knew someone who moored here on the CART moorings here, it was pricy moorings and without electricity or water.  Fortnightly he'd have to go through 6 locks to Kings Bromley for fuel and pump outs, then 6 locks back again. 

Cherry scones

Cheese and chive scones

Leaving Shadehouse Lock and heading for home.

The new shoots with the sun coming through was just gorgeous.

Out of sequence, but this is a camper van, parked on the private track that goes to the few houses here, he didn't care and the volunteer said he had no idea who it was.  I suggested letting a tyre down.  Good thing not everyone choses to park like that!

The Mucky Duck Pub on the right.

Now these are the trees planted after HS2 had cut down mature trees, they have taken but will need thinning out for sure.

 

After I got back onboard David was grinning , telling me a passing woman had told him he had a nice one.  

Honestly schoolboys.

The next minute we were at Colwich Lock, a mother and two charming teenagers were engrossed in the lock action, a short chat proved they were Americans, they had never seen anything like a lock before...  The young man helped me wind the paddles and do the gates, I gave a very condensed history of the locks, (They hadn't heard of the Industrial Revolution), so I said would you like a ride on up to the next lock, they were delighted and hopped aboard.

Turned out they were on a trip to Europe to see the countries of their heritage, England, Italy, France and Spain.  

I said if you are impressed with the age of Locks and canals you must see the fabulous Essex Bridge (and Shrugborough Hall exterior).  The mother was widowed last year and on this trip she had left her other 8 children at home with their grandmother and the other 4 adult children who no longer live at home.  That's right do the maths, 14 children, her husband died when the youngest was one year old.  

Quite and experience meeting such a gorgeous family I just wish I'd taken their photo.

This sight means back at base for me, it's the very beginning of Cannock Chase, how fabulous in the sunshine, soon the new growth will obscure the view.

We are back again so normal service will be resumed shortly.