Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 17:30:21 +0100 From: Andrew Dyke Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Subject: Trip Report - From the Cut 3 [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Hi All, Third report on the way to the GIG Wednesday 16th August. Today will be a long day. I wake at 6.00am, my back is not good on the very hard bunk bed. I am up at 6.30 making the tea. Outside the air is cold and there is a mist coming up from the canal. The sky is blue and not a cloud in sight. We must away early to catch the best of the day. At 7.30 we leave the mooring. John steers. I intend to do the locks today and to take some video footage on the return journey up and down the Caldon. The canal looks super, the sun shines through the trees and shadows dance across the water. So different to yesterday when we saw this section in rain. I spy a Kingfisher, gone in a flash. Cows are in the fields. The pace is slow because of the twists and turns and also there re quite a lot of boats around. At cheddleton we stop for breakfast and a look round the Flint Mill Museum, which is very interesting. At Endon we stop for water and a shower for Wendy except the shower takes tokens and we don't have any and there is nowhere to buy them. We are informed that they can be obtained from the local Spa shop but that is about 15 minutes walk and it decided not to bother. The shower will be taken on board instead. At Stockton Brook the locks change and we are now going down again. We pass through Milton and Foxley, where we overnighted on the way, and ass the weather changes we enter the outskirts of Hanley and the built up industrial area of Stoke on Trent. It is now raining off and on quite hard. We hit the staircase locks at Etruria at 5.00pm ish. The top lock need filling needs filling but the bottom one is already empty, awaiting our descent. A short distance to the junction and to the junction and the tight left hand turn back onto the T&M. There is nothing about. John continues to steer. Wendy walks on to set the next locks in turn and Janet and I empty each lock. That is until Janet's windlass slips off the ratchet and Janet ends up with a large lump out of her arm. The locks are very stiff and I am beginning to feel weary. At the bottom is a man selling pictures. He is chatting to Wendy when we arrive, judging by his appearance the picture selling is to provide some money for his booze intake. Still seems like a nice enough chap. He offers to close the lock gates for us. We thank him and move off. At this point we are on the home run and the heavens open. John gets soaked on the back. At 7.28 we arrive back at Trentham. We have been on the go for 12 hours and we are all glad to have mooed up. The rain has stopped!!. Catch up with Coronation Street till 8.oopm and then we decide to dine at the Toby Carvery. The bar meals are excellent. Sausage and mash for me, fish and chips for John, soup for Janet ( for once she does not feel that hungry ) and ham and turkey pie for Wendy. We return to the boat well fed and ready for our beds. Its been a long and very rewarding day. Thursday 17th August Today will be easier. We wake gently and slowly come to. We leave at 9.10 after the usual checks. Its hot and sunny, with a slight breeze, I even have my shorts on. We weave through the countryside. The views on this stretch are far and wide. At stone we stop for Gas and John goes shopping. He returns will he wrong type of cream and is chastised for his lack of knowledge. John doesn't do shopping!. After Stone the canal continues in much the same way. I can sit on the top of Shy Talk and watch the world go by and steer at the same time. The others sit in the bow. Hot dogs for lunch. The fish that were floating in their thousands after the cyanide spillage have all but disappeared, wonder if the birds that have eaten the dead fish have been effected?. We pick up a very slow Nb in front of us and we proceed on almost tickover. Just before bridge 81 I have to go in fast astern as a Black Prince boat comes hell for leather round a bend and narrowly misses us. At 4.00pm we pull into our mooring for the night at Weston. I write this log and John sets up the TV with excellent results. Tonight we try out the Woolpack in the village. Its an early dinner and back for 9.oopm for John to watch Playing the Field. More soon. 'Don't Fall In' Andrew >From the Cut andrewdyke@thatcameraplace.freeserve.co.uk ---