Church Lawton

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. Back in the days before diesel engines, the boats were pulled along by horses. To protect the brickwork, they normally used iron angles on the corners to stop the tow ropes from causing too much wear. However, on this occasion, I noticed this vertically orientated cylinder. So the ropes attached to the boat passed around the corner by using this wheel and then to the horse on the towpath.