31st July 2013

We've done quite a bit of boating since our last post, moving finally from Cheshire to Staffordshire. On Sun 21st we awoke to discover that we were adrift on the wrong side of the canal! Along with every other boat over a half mile stretch of moorings we had been untied by, presumably, one of the local comedians! Oh what fun they must have in Middlewich!

Friendly fishermen?

We set sail soon afterwards and joined the Trent and Mersey canal, which we followed in a southerly direction for the next week. For several miles we passed a succession of [mostly grumpy] fishermen - clearly it must be irritating to have to move your rod for passing boats, but the canal was designed for boat traffic after all!
On Tuesday morning, having gone to sleep with the side hatch open due to the extreme heat, we were awoken at 6.00 am by a violent thunder storm and rain pouring onto the bed!

Sabrina in her floating home

At Rode Heath we encountered Sabrina, an amazing German woman travelling alone, in a canoe! She's been travelling the world, using various modes of transport for nearly 20 years. Her travels have included most of Europe, Ethiopia, Madagascar and many other places.


On Wednesday 24th we went in convoy with 5 other boats through the Harecastle tunnel. It is just under 2 miles long and takes about 40 minutes to get through.

Entrance to Harecastle Tunnel

 One of three parallel tunnels through Harecastle Hill it is a masterpiece of engineering by Thomas Telford, constructed nearly 200 years ago to replace Brindley's earlier tunnel which was prone to collapse! The third tunnel used to carry the railway but was closed in the 1960s.

Bottle kilns at Stoke

We moored for a couple of days in Stoke on Trent before continuing our journey and on Monday 29th we turned on to the Coventry Canal at Fradley Junction and we're now moored at Fazeley near Tamworth. The boat will be moored here for a couple of weeks while Jean, David and the children visit Alex & Co in France.


Finally, some boat names which have amused us over the last 10 days!  We've also added some more 'family and friends' names, so if you weren't there last time you looked, you may have appeared by now....