Today we headed for Kidsgrove on the far side of Harecastle Tunnel so Sarah can catch a train back to Oxford for her ‘supercharge’ drips at hospital. We cast off before 07:30 with the aim of getting there for the first passage at 08:00, and it all worked perfectly – we were the only ones there, moored up outside the entrance and ready to go! The lovely Derek from C&RT gave us our safety briefing and we were soon on our way.
After the tunnel we turned on to the much nicer Macclesfield Canal, and moored up just after the aqueduct that takes it over the Trent & Mersey,
Once we’d got settled in, Sarah packed her bags and we walked the short distance to the train station at Kidsgrove, where Sarah caught her train.
After waving farewell, I caught the bus into Tunstall (back on the other side of the tunnel) to get to Screwfix, and then walked back over the tunnel to get home. I paused for lunch to eat my sandwiches by Golden: the flame that never dies, Stoke-on-Trent’s answer to the Angel of the North!
The route over the tunnel follows the path that the horses used to take all those years ago, when boaters had to ‘leg‘ their boats through the tunnel. The cows in the field weren’t very friendly, so I ended up taking the long way around after they started moving to surround me!
I had an interesting encounter at the caravan park with a sweet young girl, maybe 10 or 12 years old, asking if I was looking for ‘greenies’. I politely declined, but had my suspicions… googling back at home shows them to be amphetamines (either that or her bogeys!).
I arrived back at the Kidsgrove side of the tunnel, where you can see the entrance to the older tunnel designed by Brindley, which is now unusable. There was also a queue of ‘yoghurt pots’ waiting to go through – presumably all together as it’s unusual to see one on the move, let alone a group of them.
I stopped by in the large Tesco nearby to stock up on the Pimms, and then it was back on board to do a few jobs, before settling in for the evening with a glass of red wine and the Europa League Cup final on TV to watch.
The tunnel keeper really did make an impression – he was called Dave! Good luck on the return trip to Screwfix, I wonder who and what you’ll see!
We look forward to the entry entitled Welcome Back Sarah and the accurate recording of peoples’ names.
We really enjoyed the Macclesfield and particularly the wonderful changeline bridges – hope you do too.
We also hope you get your drawers sorted out Toby.