Day 2 Friday

Friday

An early start was required and after a modest breakfast NB Martha slipped her moorings at 0530 and our lunatics were on their way. There were no particular plans as to where to stop for the night. It would depend on the weather, our progress and mood of the crew. A fantastic time to start the day with the birds chirping away and no other sound except the engine purring. As we left Stone and headed into the country Trev appeared with tea's all round and the world seemed a better place

The well maintained locks of Meaford soon came into view and Dave and Trev soon had the boat onto the pound that leads to Stoke on Trent

The Famous Wedgwood site

Super moorings for those wishing to visit Wedgwood. The site is but a short walk from the canal and whilst this place was not on our itinerary for a visit we did see one group venture forth only to return because the visitor centre is closed. What a shame they had looked forward to seeing the place and were disappointed. A notice at the bridge might have helped them and others from making a wasted journey. To be fair there may well have been a notice at one time although there wasn't any evidence of one. The Wedgwood website does inform that the visitor experience is closed until mid July. Here's a link to the Wedgwood Visitor Experience website

Stoke on Trent household waste and recycling centre at Hanford

You can hardly miss this place. It dominates the skyline well before you get anywhere near it. Whatever you may think these things are essential in modern living and whilst its picture on the Blog may be questionable. It's one of the largest canalside structures that we will see this trip

The Civic Centre
Headquarters of Stoke on Trent City Council

The wall may not look great but it hides a very busy road from the canal
Shame about the graffiti along its length

Entering the general area of Stoke on Trent it's clear the city fathers have done their best to look after their canal and we believe they do it rather well. It isn't their fault that some people don't care and use the canal as a dumping ground. Mind you it's nowhere near as bad as some folk would have you believe

One of the five locks at Stoke

It is surprising how much greenery is to be found in the midst of a major conurbation  and as the canal meanders through the area there is a lot more good than bad, without a doubt

Dave shows respect for Malc as he doffs his cap
Grateful no doubt for the words of advice being shouted
from the stern

Trev no doubt thinking "I wish I was at the Alex"

Always liked this view. Stoke Station is just away to the left
and we always watch the train filled with people looking
and perhaps feeling a little bit jealous

Meet 'Rob the Lock'

At Stoke top lock we met Rob. It seems he spends his free time voluntarily helping boaters through the locks. This might not be appreciated by all but we certainly didn't mind. In fact some boater that are single manned would be grateful for his help. Also. when double manned which is more often the case, the man steers the boat whilst the wife does the locks a bit of help is welcome. Some of these lock gates take a bit of opening. Malc broke into a sweat just watching Dave and Trev working away

As always we pay a silent tribute to the great man as we glide past.
Without his engineering skill this canal might never have been built
James Brindley (1716 - 1772)

Looking at the surrounding area it's hard to believe we are in
the midst of the Potteries five towns

Approaching the superbly engineered and well maintained
Bedford Street Staircase lock

Dave and Trev rest whilst Malc takes many tons of narrowboat
from the bottom chamber to the top
This great responsibility is known as the burden of command
as Malc keeps telling us

Rob even came around to the Bedford Street staircase to set them for us. He gave us one of his cards in which he is depicted as 'Rob the Lock' At this stage we bade him farewell and set off along the Caldon.

Another fine piece of engineering. This time modern. The bridge
has improved even more since last time, then you had to manually
close the barriers before hydraulic power opened the bridge.
Now everything including the barriers work at the touch of a button

As we approached Ivy House Lift Bridge it's clear that the developments we noticed three years ago whilst doing the same trip are carrying on at a fair old rate. A lot of what would otherwise be derelict land is being used for new housing and whilst the designs might not be to everyone's taste there is no doubting some of the waterfront properties will attract a premium price tag. 

The Village Kitchen cafe at Milton

Eventually we arrived at Milton. It was 1:30pm and we elected to go to the excellent Village Kitchen cafe which we have visited before. We were due a surprise at this stage when Malc noticed missed calls on his phone and a text message from the Hire boat base. Oh dear we thought what's up? On phoning the base Karen informed us that one of our cars had been parked with a window open. She immediately offered to come and get the key, no hesitation at all. This saved one of our crew an expensive taxi ride. (Not mentioning his name but it might have been Trev) In the meantime we set off for the aforementioned cafe. Now there was an all day breakfast on offer and Malc fancied that he also asked for the bacon to be very well done as he hates it undercooked. The waitress on bringing the breakfast asked him to try the bacon as they were concerned it was overdone, it was perfect. all in all a fantastic breakfast and in an establishment we would recommend to everyone. Aside from the cafe Milton has a lot to offer and is a good place to stock up on provisions if you are not going on the Leek arm

Peter came from Canal Cruising ltd to collect the offenders keys. Apologies are due here Peter because we didn't even offer you a cup of tea. We decided we would spend the rest of the day here at Milton. Thank you Karen and Peter. That's what we call customer service

After a tea time snack, the breakfast we had in the early noon meant we were not particularly hungry, it was time for a cuppa  and an episode of Spartacus on the DVD whilst Trev indulged in a spot of fishing

and so to bed