Time for Tixall

We were going to take our time heading south on the Trent & Mersey (T&M) to Great Haywood, but with the promise of a sunny Easter weekend, we opted to push on in the hope of getting a good spot at Tixall Wide before the Bank Holiday rush. As we headed into Stoke-on-Trent again, it’s always a joy to see these iconic bottle kilns. During the 19th century and at the height of production in the “Potteries”, there were over 2,000 of these kilns in Stoke. Sadly, these are two of the 47 left standing.  Many can be seen in the Longport conservation area and they are still used in Middleport Pottery, but this pair aren’t far from Milton China in Hanley.

Descending the Stoke Five Locks, we were fortunate to have help from a chap known as “Rob the Lock” who cycles along the tow path helping boaters through them. Apparently if you’re lucky enough to meet this gentleman he’ll also offer to help with shopping, water and laundry runs. He’s been doing this for 20 years, but despite this being our home area, this was our first meeting!

Heading south, we got to Stone, the site of 2 previous breakdowns. This time, we didn’t need to get the tiller welded back on. And the alternator didn’t give up. Success!

 

 

 

Back in February 2022, Tixall Wide was our first destination as liveaboard boaters  and we were hit by two storms during our stay. The muddy tow paths were horrendous, and the lake had a couple of potential breaches (small leaks), which we did photograph and report to CRT. So we were pleasantly surprised to discover that remedial work had been done and the complete length of the tow path from Great Haywood to Tixall Lock had been re-laid and new Armco (steel piling) inserted along the edge of the lake to prevent those scary little leaks.

This was quite timely as the land around has become waterlogged over this winter and the adjacent pastures have been flooded for many months creating a new wetland. This has given me a chance to use my binoculars and spy out a few wading birds such as egrets and oyster catchers.

As usual in the UK, the Spring weather has been rather mixed, but we are loving the occasional warmer days. We’ve opted for a longer stay here and Ian’s been off on his barefoot walks whilst I’ve been knitting, baking, reading and bird watching. It’s a hard life.

 

 

Over the Easter weekend, there’s been a Floating Market down by Hayward junction of the T&M. This is always worth a visit, there was a lovely atmosphere and we HAD to stop by the cheese boats and a few of the crafty ones (including Snoot Loot selling boxes of dog treats). It was great to see children filling out quiz sheets and shuffling around the sellers looking for names of the boats and their wares. Lunch was freshly cooked stone baked pizza followed by coffee and cake at one of the café boats before the mile walk back to our boat.

It’s also been a time for reflection (pun intended) with some very dramatic sunrises and sunsets. Despite some spells of very wet weather, the sun has been resilient and we’ve soaked it up along with the birdsong and enjoyed chatting with the gongoozlers who wander along admiring the boats. Unfortunately we do have one visitor who’s not so friendly. There’s a young swan who attacks the side of the boat with his beak, the noise inside our steel home is rather loud and my only mode of retaliation is to wave the washing up brush at him through the duck hatch – I don’t think he’s getting the message and I probably look like a wild washer woman!! (Probably??? – nothing probable about it – Ian)