I left my mooring on the north side of Middlewich, just before the Big Lock which, incidently, was a blissfully quiet night compared to the previous night along side the very busy A533. It’s called Big Lock because it is a wide lock on a predominantly narrow canal. Many years ago, in the late 18th century, it was intended that Middlewich should be the trans-shipment point between Mersey Flats (widebeam barges) and narrowboats and there were plans to convert the northern section of the canal to a wide canal all the way down to Middlewich. This was for the purpose of transporting salt on Mersey Flats up to the Manchester…

I came down another 5 locks from Kidsgrove and moored for the night near Church Lawton. This was a lot more peaceful. This photo is at lock 43 where I had tied the boat to a sturdy set of railings whilst I closed the lock gates. I should have used the lock landing further down and under the road bridge but it was only for a minute of so. Just after lock 43, there was this themed outbuilding overlooking the canal at the end of someones garden. It’d be nice sitting out there for a while, glass in hand. At lock 44, I noticed something I had not seen before.…

Emerging from the north end of Harecastle tunnel you’ll find youself in Kidsgrove. From the canal, there is very little to see as we are surrounded by trees. There were quite a few friendly people passing by walking, jogging, cycling or just walking their dogs. On the boat behind were a very friendly couple and we chatted for ages. We exchanged names but as is often the case with me, I had forgotten them a couple of days after. The husband was painting parts of his bathroom and laying them out to dry. If they come across this blog, they’ll now who they are… This was the mooring spot and…

I was excited to be able to traverse Harecastle Tunnel. I’d heard that it was haunted and that the tunnel roof comes down to a ridiculously low height. All I found was dissappointingly false and an anticlimax. The roof of the tunnel does come down in stages but the height was never worryingly low and I was still able to stand up to steer the boat, although maybe with a slight stoop for my 5’11”, 1.81m height. As for the hauntings and markings on the wall somewhere, I found none. To be able to pass through the tunnel, one is normally required to book passage with the CRT, which I…

After leaving my mooring, I shortly had to tackle Aston Lock, but this was no big deal for a hardened boater like myself. I passed through Stone, apart from a brief stop off at a conveniently placed Marks & Spencer food hall that was right next to the canal. In here I enjoyed a freshly prepared bacon bap and a capuccino before commencing my semi-expensive shop. The bap was perfect and tasty unlike another customer’s order who had delivered to his table an Eggs Royale but they forgot to add the ham… What donuts! I spotted this rather neat looking memorial on the way past. Someone is keeping this immaculate.…

After I left my mooring at Great Haywood I went through the lock and I stopped at the conveniently located boater services right by Great Haywood junction. This junction is where the Staffordshire & Worcester Canal which comes from Wolverhampton, joins the Trent & Mersey Canal. I will be coming up from that direction on the way home. I had originally thought that this boat below was coming through the bridge and I slowed down. After passing under the bridge I discovered that he was moored up, perhaps a little too close to the bridge making transition a little more difficult than it should be. A bit like parking your…

Shortly after the end of my last blog post of Rugeley, I came across a very familiar boat to me, called “The Rum Wench”. This boat belongs to one of my favourite YouTube vloggers Heidi from her channel The Narrowboat Pirate. The stupid thing is, I was so gob-smacked at finding it, that I failed to snap a photo. The vloggers normaly release their vlogs after a week or so due to the time it takes to edit and upload the video. Buit I think it gives them some privacy from viewers knowing where their boat is and them being inundated. Something I wouldn’t like either. Anyway, she might catch…