A totally grey day! (At least, weatherwise) It was raining heavily when we awoke but this eased to light drizzle which persisted of and on for the whole day without even the occasional peek at blue sky for remission. With that, we took few useful pictures to include here.
Shortly after setting off we arrived at Engine House Lock. After that we cruised steadily back towards Etruria.
The burnt out cruiser has seemingly been inspected by CaRT as a boom has been put around it to contain any possible pollution.
As we approached Ivy House Lift Bridge we could see that a 'lady with a key of power' was about to operate the bride for a boat just the other side. We hovered and were allowed through before she closed it again. Just after we had passed the oncoming boat, the steerer asked if we were the Alchemy with a blog. Sadly, as we were by then negotiating the bridge, we failed to take a photo close up so we cannot remember the boat name or exchange any other details. If you would like to leave contact details in a comment it would great to know who you are and whether you too write a blog of your travels! We might even add it to our list of those that we follow.
A long wall of graffiti seems to have attracted the intellectual artists - Camus's novel L'Etranger is a well known story supposedly developing his ideas of the philosophy of the absurd. But we had better not rep tend to have rad it otherwise someone might expect us to answer probing questions, equally intellectual!
These two former bottle kilns have been preserved as part of a housing development. However, hey feel somewhat too clinical - when in use there would have been noise, bustle, heat and sweaty workers all around. As they now stand it is hard to imagine those times.
On the other hand, this old kiln has been incorporated into a modern redevelopment, possibly apartments.
As we approached the bridge just above the final staircase before the junction we could see no activity but little did we know that we would have to wait over three quarters of an hour before we could take a turn to descend! Still, there were pleasant boaters to chat to.
Below the locks there was room to moor - helpfully as it was now lunch time. Later we moved up towards the service point only to discover that a hire boat was already waiting for a space to clear. That happened quickly so that we could then take the space they had been waiting in. However, with six people on board, all of whom enjoyed their showers, it took some time for their tank to fill. Again, the time passed with pleasant chit chat.
Eventually it was our turn but the tap here is not the fastest on the network (nor the slowest) . We then made the sharp turn onto the southwards part of the Trent and Mersey - almost 360 degree turn. Still we had to wait was another boat had just started to descend!
We made good progress through the Stoke locks but, as it was still very grey, there was little point in trying to take many photos. We wanted to clear the conurbation before mooring so pressed on. We finally called it a day just before Trentham.
8.6 Miles - 9 Locks
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