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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3071 |
22nd August 2018 Mt. Biking: Stockton Brook to Harecastle Tunnel Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: cloudy Max Speed: Distance Covered: 22.50 mile (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Wednesday 22nd August – Bike ***** Stockton Brook to Harecastle Tunnel – cloudy It was great to have an undisturbed night in the private driveway to Stockton Brook pump house, we even had the roof up!! We spotted the Sheffield narrow boaters we met yesterday cruising past early. With picnic packed and gps on we set off at 10.55 and were soon round on the tow path opposite the van and it was tarmac nearly all the way. So we whizzed towards Stoke to try and find the poppies cascading out of the bell-shaped pottery chimney! The hilly countryside soon gave way to urban scenery, with houses backing onto the canal, factories both derelict and current with, of course, the obligatory graffiti! As Stoke is famous for its pottery we were a little disappointed that there were not more old canal side factories, sadly we think a lot have been demolished:( The first bell chimneys we saw were restored in the middle of a modern housing development. We were not sure where we were heading but got to the main junction where the Caldon meets the Trent and Mersey Canal at Etruria sooner than expected having just past Hanley Park. There were Canal Trust volunteers assisting boats down the locks and I asked for directions to the poppies, famous in these parts and was told it was only a couple of miles further on. We also meet the Sheffield gang again for another chat:) We soon reached Middleport Pottery a large old and still working pottery housing all sorts of craft shops etc. We got our first glimpse of the poppies falling from the top of the old chimney, and lovely it was too. There was a good crowd enjoying it and making full use of the tea room:) The tow path had been bollarded off and we had to walk past the pottery. As it was still a bit early for lunch we decided to continue along the Trent and Mersey to Westport Lakes with its fishing spots, large visitor centre and path all around. I had noticed a sign saying that the Harecastle tunnel was only a mile on so we carried on there. This turned out to be a good spot for lunch and Mag read the information board saying that this was the longest tunnel in England and built by Thomas Telford. The tunnel doors are closed when boats are coming through and fresh air is pumped in so that the diesel fumes don’t suffocate people!! As the doors were shut and the fan was noisily blowing air into the tunnel we knew that there were boats coming our way. So, we sat on the grassy bank for our picnic and waited. Soon the fan was turned off and four boats slowly chugged out of the darkness after taking 40 minutes to travel the mile and a half. It was then back towards Stoke taking a detour around the lake and crossing the bridge to visit poppy chimney. We were expecting to have to pay but it was free if you didn’t want to visit inside the actual pottery – we passed on that and just joined the people taking pictures of the poppies. These are the first of the poppies from the famous display at the Tower of London that we have actually seen live and it was beautiful. Some were made in Stoke and others in Derby. These ones are going to be archived in September and kept at the British War Museum. We got talking to a nice lady volunteer with yet another lovely accent who in the end took our picture:) You could walk through the alleys watching real workers doing pottery stuff followed by some nice craft outlets selling some tasteful poppy themed items:) Then all we had to do was retrace the ten miles back, which didn’t seem to take too long at all! Back at the van with the kettle on I found out we had been out 4 hours 15 minutes covering 22.50 miles. We had agreed yesterday we were only staying here for one night so set the sat-nav for Middlewich - a bit nearer to Cuddington where I am picking up my new windsurfing trailer tomorrow. We were hopeful of finding a canal side parking spot at Middlewich but all we found were traffic queues so carried on. Again, there was a lot of traffic on the road but we came to a carpark at Winsford Marina on the River Weaver which although not ideal looked OK for the night especially as the gates would be locked at nine for the night. With tea finished and Mag settling down to her knitting while I sorted out my picture the pneumatic drills started!!! We then noticed we were surrounded by road works doing a nightshift, so we decided to back up and move off before we were locked in! The traffic management team had the let us out of the road closure and we had to follow the diversion out of town. We headed towards Cuddington as it was only ten miles away but saw the sign to the well-known Anderson Boat lift and although the main park was shut we found a spot near the canal next to another little van which will do for the night. We will visit the lift tomorrow, pick up the trailer and head for home as we have a haircut booked for Friday and are pet sitting at the weekend:) Photo Gallery Here |
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