Are We There Yet ?

Hi gang,

This will be the last blog entry we make, for this adventure at least.

We left you at Tixall Wide and it was such a nice place we decided to put our feet up and stay another day and take it easy.



We set off again on Monday morning and turned onto our final canal, The Trent & Mersey.


Heading north towards Stone where we stopped for supplies and a splash of diesel before finding a quiet spot for the night.

The following morning we struck out for Stoke. The plan was to clear the town and wait near Harecastle tunnel for crewman Kelly to arrive. There were some very interesting locks, from the towpath, or pretty scary from the boat. Deep and narrow they seem to almost start to close in above you. There were plenty of low bridges too.



Plus the signature bottle kilns along the way.



The weather held fine and we were making excellent progress so we decided to press on through the tunnel.

Which started of fine but gets a little, challenging half way through !

Watch your head !

On the other side crewman Kelly was waiting,



so we put him straight to work and rattled off a few more locks.




Before mooring for the night at Church Lawton, in the exact same spot we had used early on in the voyage.



Today was the last proper day of the meanderings. Tomorrow we pack everything up and tidy Maya ready for Friday when we do the last few miles to Northwich and drop her off at the brokers. It's fitting that crewman Kelly was with us on the last day because he was there on the first day too, before this blog even began, and he helped us through Manchester as well.



We dropped crewman Kelly off in Middlewich and headed for the solitude of the countryside. Along the way we passed through this lock

it might not look like anything special, but it's the last narrow lock well ever do.

So this is it, the end. The meanderings are over. Thanks for looking after us Maya you've been fantastic.

Green and pleasant

We left the museum nice and early and plunged back into the prop cloying weeds and the ubiquitous graffiti. Fighting our way out to Wolverhampton and the 21 locks to the wide open countryside.



We had to balance our mooring between A road, Railway and motorway and after the passing boats had stopped bashing us against the bank we had a peaceful night.




We set off this morning and enjoyed the wide open green spaces the trees the rivers. We really took time to appreciate it all because we knew it was all fast coming to an end. Mid week it could all be over, certainly by next weekend.

If you've ever come off the M6 to get to the M54 you will have passed by Gailey wharf, you've probably seen this tower by the side of the road.


We had a very pleasant day of quiet, easy cruising interspersed by interesting locks.





We stopped off in Penkridge for supplies and happened upon ye olde sweet shoppe, a nice little cafe and a good local butchers, they all benefited from our patronage. Weighed down with provisions and goodies we headed back to Maya and continued on our way. Where we spied a potential new crew member, maybe more suited to a larger vessel, we'll have to see.




We have moored up at Tixall wide. Across the water you can see the " gatehouse " to Tixall House. The house no longer exists, but what must it have looked like if this is JUST the gatehouse !!



Tomorrow we join the last canal of this journey, the Trent & Mersey and truly the last leg home.

Birmingham

We had a long but not too difficult day getting into Birmingham and the 38 locks along the way. Luckily most of them were in our favour and we seemed to be on our own so no queueing. Plus the weather was glorious and nobody bothered us on our slow passage through the city. Which lead us eventually to Gas Street Basin slap bang in the middle of town. Full of clubs, pubs, bars and even a lap dancing club, what were we thinking. We found a quiet corner and did some people watching. The night passed fairly peacefully.

In the morning we set off for Dudley, passing of all things a roundabout in the canal !



We left behind the des res's and bright lights and passed through the industrial areas. These too soon faded away and the old industries have long since gone and nature has reclaimed the banks.


The canal is a proper bit of Telford engineering, "Right lads we are here we need to be there build it STRAIGHT and wide". Bit like an old time equivalent of a motorway. He even remarked on the existing canal as " that ditch"

The weather again was beautiful and apart from the occasional grand bridge passing over head you could have been anywhere in the countryside. Which brought us to Dudley where we visited the Black Country Museum. A living museum with a whole village to explore and staff dressed in period costume.

and a recreation of the old industries that made the black country. Chain making was it's biggest business, supplying 90% of all of the country's chain. There was even a chain making demonstration.



The museum goes from the the industrial revolution right up to the 1930's and you can find a little bit of each period around the site. We even got to ride two trams.




Highly recommended if you find yourself in the area.

Tomorrow we head for a bit of peace and quiet and green. Cities are interesting to visit but you wouldn't want to live there would you.