The weather today was much as all week - starting bright and sunny and then turning wet. However, today we did have some sunnier patches. Rain was never far away. It was still Arctic cold.
Mike took a brief stroll back to the old railway bridge and was surprised to see that one track was still in place, albeit a bit overgrown. He also met a lady walking her two dogs who said that her partner had gone into Leek to fill his car with fuel (they were setting off today for a camping holiday in Yorkshire!) and he reported that he had driven through an intense snow blizzard on the way.
Overnight and this morning we have become a bit concerned about our central heating unit. A couple of times it did not start and then this morning, although it came on with the timer, we did not think it as hot as it should be. We identified a possible source of help at Marine Services, Festival Park, back at Etruria. Although we determined to make contact with them as quickly as we could, they did not answer the phone until after we had set off (we needed to go about a mile before we could turn around anyway). Their engineer was unexpectedly away today but they hoped that he would be back tomorrow. As a result decided to carry on and see how things work out.
The place where we might have winded (a very sharp bend) is alongside the Foxley Pub and is the site of the former junction to the Foxley Arm which ran a short distance (about three quarters of a mile) to serve the former Ford Green Ironworks. Little of the arm survives and there is no evidence at the junction itself, other than that the name of the pub lives on. The works were principally a forge, making chains, cables and anchors. I|t was supplied by three local collieries.
Milton Bridge advertised local shops very close by so we pulled and whilst Mike finished mooring, Christine went in search, mainly for a newspaper, but she also returned with a couple of buther's ok pies and a pack of pikelets, a little unusual as they contain dried fruit (they tasted very nice for tea later on!).
Our first lock today was Engine Lock and, as the view back down the canal shows, the sun was still shining brightly.
Shortly after the lock came the first of two lift bridge. This one has been mechanised since we were last here in 2011 - we recall it as being rather hard to operate. Also interesting to note that it uses a new design with the operating pedestal on the towpath side making it possible to use by single handers.
Just beyond the bridge is the feeder from Kypersley reservoir, three kilometres to the north. It looks as if it might have been navigable but we can find no record of that.
Long Butts Lift bridge carries just a footpath and is manually operated. However it p[roved very easy to work.
At Stockton Brook there is a flight of five locks. We met two or three boats coming down the locks - several had passed us earlier but not much after this.
Alongside the first lock is the former waterworks. The Staffordshire Potteries Water Company needed to supply increasing amounts to the rapidly expanding Potteries population and in 1884 developed a borehole with the water extracted using large steam engines. The site was sold by its successor, Severn Trent Water, in 2003.
Two of the locks have sculptures alongside, put there in 2002. They depict various local industries and features, including several bottle kilns. Both also mention the Spitfire, presumably because Reginald Mitchell who designed it came from Stoke-on-Trent.
This boat provided a little mystery - why Old Mill Wharf as nothing much could be seen that suggested a mill? Immediately beyond is this 'obstruction' which also has no obvious purpose.
At lunch time we consulted the old maps of the area and although the older ones showed nothing here, the 1925 map provided all the answers. Standing just a little away from the canal was the Victoria Mill and it was served by a short branch from the railway the ran alongside the canal at this point (the same one spotted at the start of the day) The track crossed the canal on a swing bridge - the obstruction is all that remains of the pivot mechanism for the bridge. The short arm just ahead that is now used by the Stoke Boat Club for moorings was a wharf, also served by the railway and the canal.
The map also shows this track.
At Endon there is a full set of services as well as a 24hr visitor mooring. As we could moor and also fill with water we opted to have lunch here - with a tasty quickly assembled soup (started whilst coming up through the last couple of the Stockton flight!) Christine decided that the weather demanded something especially warming. We also decided finally that we would go down the Leek branch, turn around and come back to here for the night. This will give us a chance to get to Marine Services by early afternoon tomorrow.
At Hazelhurst Junction, the longer arm to Froghall goes off down a flight of three locks whilst the Leek section continues at the same summit level.
Just a little further we crossed the lower branch on a short aqueduct.
The short Leek Tunnel takes the canal under a small ridge to the final end of the canal about half a mile later. As there is no towpath through the tunnel, it feels a much tighter squeeze than usual - even though there actually just as much room for the boat.
Just the other side of the tunnel we spotted a dry stone wall - must be around the southern limit for this very traditional northern form of field boundary. Southerners are much more accustomed to hedges. Nothing else but to turn around and return the way we came.
Sunshine returned - but still with the cold wind - showing this delightfully rural canal at its best, including a bluebell woodland.
Here the former railway line looks quite clear of vegetation and, from a distance, it was possible to imagine a freight train puffing its way along the valley to the quarries at Caldon Low.
We returned to the moorings at Endon and tied up for the night.
2.9 Miles - 6 Locks
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