The good news is that when we awoke this morning we could immediately tell that the heating had come on with the timer!
Today was not expected to be a long distance cruise, not least because we had the Harecastle Tunnel ahead of us. Whilst it does not take long to pass through the tunnel (we took the standard 35 minutes) it is operated with alternating convoys as passage can only be in one direction at a time. There are no passing places!
We also had found a little difficulty in deciding about church for today. All the pre-trip research was of not use since we are in a quite different place from what we had planned. The nearest to Westport Lake is a little distance but they only had Messy Church this morning. Whilst we can be quite messy ourselves at times, we looked for an alternative and Christine came up with the suggestion of going to the evening service at Church Lawton. Whilst this is not the route we are heading along - there is a junction just north of the tunnel - we have sufficient time to make a short diversion but it does mean going down 6 locks and then back up again in the morning. (Actually, our starting plan this morning was to go down 9 locks before turning and then coming back to the visitor moorings at Church Lawton)
Before setting off Mike decided to tackle a small but annoying problem: the small outlet for water from the sink's drainer has been blocked for a few days (it might have been longer but we really only became annoyed by it on this trip!) The problem he has found before is that the part of the drainage that connects this little outlet with the main sink drain pipe can be unscrewed from the sink but cannot be fully removed as the supporting woodwork gets in the way! With a lot of huffing and indeed some puffing, almost on the brink of giving up once again, the blockage was removed and all now works as it should once more.
It was a grey day over the lake as we finally set off with only about 20 minutes to the tunnel entrance. We were greeted warmly by the tunnel keeper - we have met him several times before - but alas he told us that as luck would have it we had just missed a passage by about 15 minutes and, as there were now boats waiting at the other end, we might have to wait for an hour and a quarter. Just as well we deliberately gave ourselves plenty of time.
Spotting a water point on the opposite bank from the queueing place, Mike took the boat across so that we could at least do something useful as we waited!
We had always thought that it was rather coincidental that a milepoint just be exactly at the southern portal but, with time to look more closely, we saw a plaque that explains that it is a modern replica and cannot any longer be installed where it should be.
The house above the portals was originally for a tunnel keeper (dating from Telford's days) but, whilst it has an imposing view down the canal, it does nowadays have to put up with the constant day time noise of the tunnel fans.
Eventually the first of two boats emerged but the second was well behind and so the tunnel keeper had to close the doors and turn on the fans until it was much nearer. The tunnel was not built with the same large air shafts that, for example, Braunston and Blisworth have, so that when the traffic became predominantly diesel powered, the atmosphere in the middle could be suffocating. Not wanting to lose too many boats, the canal management decided to install fans at the southern portal with doors to make sure that the air is pulled along the tunnel and not from outside. Travelling southwards this means that boaters do not see the exit properly until the very last minute! (The doors are not entirely lightproof as they have been a bit battered over the years so for the final few hundred metres it is at least possible to make out where the end is, but from further back it is just a dark abyss. We, however, we travelling northwards and so had the benefit of seeing the end right from the outset.
Some 34 minutes later we emerged back into daylight but no stopping as there was a line of four boats waiting to be allowed into the tunnel and were being briefed by the northern tunnel keeper.
A sad accident a couple of years ago led the coroner to make a rather public call for all steerers to be required to wear life jackets. However, this could not be made enforceable so every tunnel, however short, now has added to its instruction notice the advice to wear a life jacket. This advice is rarely heeded and we ourselves do not normally bother but on this occasions, knowing that since our last trip this matter had become much higher profile, Mike donned his before setting into the tunnel - which pleased the keeper, at least it fulfilled his tick list! So it was interesting to note that at the other end, only one steerer looked as if he would be wearing one and neither of the boats that came out before we could enter was using them.
By the time we emerged from the tunnel rain had arrived - not heavy but a persistent drizzle that made the afternoon look less attractive.
Despite the delay it was still rather early for a lunch stop so we continued down the first three locks and paused at Red Bull wharf to use the sanitary station. We moored for lunch just away from the water point. On the way down we passed nb Harnser just leaving one of the locks but, as so often happens, all we could do was to exchange a couple of sentences as we disappeared in opposite directions.
Beside one of the locks is a building that still shows its origins (OK, so we know that we have shown a similar picture in a much older blog!). Although the date here is hard to make out, it seems that the company was founded in 1856 or 1857. In 1871 it was managed by Mr J Davies. It was taken over by the local authority in 1905 and eventually nationalised in 1948. We found a suggestion that John Gater, the original chairman of the gas company, was also involved in the North Staffs Railway, but details were hidden behind a paywall!
Since timing of our roast dinner was a challenge (a six o'clock service occupies a large chunk of the normal cooking time!) Mike prepared most of it before we set off, with the beef on a slow cook in the oven.
After we had descended three locks and were within a shortish distance of Church Lawton - we could see the church across a field - Christine proposed that we stop on some moorings that we have used before but which are not signed or advertised. There was a winding hole just below the lock and the moorings were only a short reverse. However, the winding hole is rather silted up and so it took a but of effort - and two goes - to turn about. It is a long time since a full 70 foot boat has turned here!
4.5 Miles - 6 Locks
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