Meaford

Today's Canal: Trent and Mersey

Part of the reason that we moored just above Etruria Junction last night was because we had identified a church within reasonable walking distance: St Mark's, Shelton which had a service at 9:30. With the help of Google images we found a surprisingly quick route (better than that suggested by Google Directions!) and it took just 15 minutes.

St Mark's, Shelton

The church is very large and stands on a prominent site. Inside there have been some adaptations to make separate spaces within what was the main nave area but the 25 congregation still failed to go very far in filling it! We were warmly welcomed to what was a conventional Common Worship communion service with a well-prepared sermon. Afterwards we stayed a short while for coffee and a chat - the priest had to dash off to another church in the Hanley group.

We returned to the boat by the same route and, rather sooner than we had anticipated, set off down the Stoke locks.

Between the first and second lock stands the Etruscan Bone and Flint Mill - Erected 1857, now part of Etruria Industrial Museum.

There was a steady stream of boats coming up although few reports of any going down ahead of us. This meant that we made good progress. Amusingly, almost every boat we spoke to, plus two that arrived at the junction as we set off, were heading for the Caldon Canal. Some mentioned that they expected it to be quiet!

Just down the road from Bridge 115 stands this imposing former industrial building - not found out what it was but now seems to be incorporated into a residential development.

Just a little further and these two former bottle kilns have been saved and are sandwiched between two modern apartment blocks. We have probably included these in a blog in a previous year but they bear repeating!

You cannot get a canal lock and a railway train much closer than this!

The last of the Stoke locks was rebuilt during the ring road developments (see http://www.thepotteries.org/photo_wk/184.htm for interesting photos) and is extremely slow both to fill and to empty. The lady from the next boat waiting to come up happily told both of us, separately, her story! One of the delights of canal boating is that people you have never met before but share in a common activity are so often happy to chat in a way that otherwise just would not happen.

The next stretch is immediately alongside the main road - it was good to see that some of the famous names are still worth signposting!

We think we have not noticed before when passing over the River Trent Aqueduct! Perhaps not surprising as the river at this point is pretty insignificant - just remember what such humble beginnings in life can turn out to become later in life!

The large incinerator at Sideway stand on part of the site that was once the huge Hem Heath (later Trentham) colliery. This, together with the associated power station a little further on at Meaford, closed in the huge changes in power generation that took place in the early 1990's, partly driven by political forces as well as (short term) economics. A small reminder is all that can be seen now from the canal.

Once we were clear of the city we pulled in to moor for a good lunch break - some of yesterday's fantastic bread from Congleton was left over and we enjoyed it just as much second time around!

After passing through the rather isolated Trentham Lock we had almost three miles level cruising before the Meaford flight.

This former railway bridge is about the only indication we could see of the site of the one time Meaford power station that once dominated the landscape.

The turnover bridges on this canal are not as strikingly elegant as the snake bridges on the Macclesfield but were still more efficient than those on others where the tow rope would have had to be detached to pass by.

After completing the four locks in the flight we moored immediately below otherwise we would soon be in Stone and mooring spots might be harder to find.

10.3 miles - 10 locks