It was again a bright and sunny morning - initially there was still a little frost to bee seen on the towpath through our cabin windows. However we were away in very good time. There were only three very spaced apart locks before the bottom lock at Stone where we planned a stop for shopping. The sharp Arctic wind remained with us all day.
Before leaving, Mike walked back to Hoo Mill Lock to take some photos in rather better conditions than last night's hail and sleet! Below the lock he discovered that a shed, which we had seen several times before but not really noticed much about it, is actually a dry dock, opposite the small marina moorings on the off side.
The first lock was Weston, with hardly a cloud in the sky! By now we were beginning to realise that there are a lot more boats on the move today (or perhaps on the Trent and Mersey) than we had seen the previous two days on the Staffs and Worcs.
Just beyond the lock we had a good view of Weston Hall. Now a posh hotel its web site says that it was originally built in 1550 as a dower house. It had later extensions and developments, even serving as a pauper lunatic asylum at the end of the nineteenth century. It hit hard times in the 1950's when it was converted into flats. By the start of the 21st century they were in poor condition and the hall was renovated in 2005 as a country hotel. In 2012 another couple bought the property and gave it a further very substantial refurbishment that took around a year to complete.
Sadly the clear blue sky gradually gave way to ominous grey, even black, clouds from the north.
The town of Stone extends over a mile southwards along the canal. At bridge 91 we noticed this rather impressive building, albeit surround by much less interesting modern estate houses. The bridge is called Brassworks Bridge and the area is labelled as Brassworks on the 1879 OS Map but by 1921 it labels the bridge with its present name but this house is called Brassworks Farm. The house was built in 1794 but it is all that remains of the brass foundry that closed around 1830.
Just above Star Lock we were able to moor at the short space alongside the car park, very convenient for shopping. It was not as straightforward as it might be as a boat had already moored in the middle, leaving two shorter spaces either side! Still, we did get in and had our lunch before walking across to the shops. The small shops did not look especially exciting so when we spotted a Morrisons supermarket (that we had not known about before) we decided to get all our food requirements there.
Setting off again it was only a short distance above the next lock (where Canal Cruising still operate - this is where our canal history all began 49 years ago), to the service point, close to Stone Boatbuilding and below Newcastle Road Lock. While Mike carried out the usual servicing, Christine went to look in the chandlery shop and found that they had ready made hemp mooring lines so we bought two as our current ones are rather worn. (Neither of us likes using synthetic mooring lines especially when they get wet) As can be seen, sunshine returned as well.
The former Joules brewery makes a splendid backdrop to the canalside.
It is difficult to realise just how quickly the weather was changing as by the time we were coming up through Stoke top lock, hail was lashing down.
At the nearby boatyard we spotted a narrow gauge railway with at least 50 metres of track but complete with loco! Just after taking this photo we also spotted a set of traditional signals. Strange how we have missed this every time we have passed this way before.
This pair of swans were busy building their nest, perhaps even keeping the eggs warm by now, oblivious to the almost slum conditions of their housing! Home sweet home.
It was still raining gently as we climbed up the four Meaford Locks helped by a steady stream of boats coming down at each lock, all just at the right time.
The bridge below the top lock was under repair for some time but last year we saw that, although it had been repaired, the road was closed. We were not sure what was happening but it looked as if a road was being built. This year the road is still closed by a brand new roundabout appears to be finished but not accessible. The only clue is the Meaford Business Park. A large power station once dominated the canal just above the locks, largely fed by coal from Hem Heath colliery just a few miles further north. The power station was demolished in 1991 and the colliery in 1993. There are plans to build a new gas turbine power station on part of the site to take advantage of the remaining power lines. The latest we could find suggests that it is hoped to open in 2020. A headline from the Sentinel, the local newspaper, from 2014 reported that the county council were spending £6 million to develop the A34 roads to 'unlock' access to the business park which St Modwen are developing.
Barlaston Boatyard is now a house with a rather splendid private mooring space, but early OS maps do record that this was a working boatyard in the past.
Bright sunshine returned as we passed through Barlaston - highlighting this splendid yellow foliage.
If we could have guaranteed that the evening would stay fine we might have continued a bit further but with things being so changeable we bailed out, as it were, just after the village.
12.3 Miles - 11 Locks
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