The last dash

We’re still heading north aiming for home ground on the Macclesfield Canal for the winter. Heather now has a date for her knee operation and it’s the middle of November. The final deadline for stoppages that we needed to get past along the Trent and Mersey canal was 7th November. The last one was for relining the canal between a couple of the five locks at Stoke on Trent. This flight of locks skirt past the centre of the city, passing under the shadow of the Bet365 (Britannia) Stadium and then heads up to Etruria, where it meets the Caldon Canal from Leek and Froghall. Although there’s a lot of regeneration and redevelopment happening through Stoke, the signs of the original pottery and lime industries are still very visible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Built in the 1770s, this canal is one of the oldest It was the inspiration of Josiah Wedgewood, who wanted an inland waterway from the Mersey in Liverpool to the River Trent at Derby to improve the transportation of clay, flint and Cornwall stone as well as finished pottery. Wedgewood cut the first sod at Middleport but the designer and chief engineer was James Brindley. The canal embodies the resourcefulness of northern industry and the drive to progress, to fit things in and make them work.

Over the centuries, new roads and railway lines have been squeezed alongside the canal and around the locks. This makes for interesting viewpoints and constant reminders of the role that this canal played in moving raw materials and goods around the country during the previous 200 years.

 

Museums and signposts pay homage to this era. The remaining brick-built warehouses, chimneys and bottle kilns provide stark contrasts to the sleek new call centres and distribution warehouses that are replacing them.

We have made it through the 1.6 mile long Harecastle Tunnel and will make our way up to Congleton this week. The frosts have started and the trees are looking stark against the grey skies. It seems very strange to be back here after spending so much time travelling to Bristol along the Kennet and Avon Canal. It’s always a treat to see the local landmarks and have the sense of coming home- and yes, I have started my Christmas shopping !!