intrepid pony: Stone and Flint

Stone art at Stockton locks

At 6.30 Lottie demanded an early morning excursion. Paul was not amused but struggled out of bed and took her out. At 8.15 instead of letting him eat his breakfast she took him out on a second walk but he got his own back by taking her into the village on a lead to find the local shops. She was relieved to get back to the canal away from the traffic. After breakfast we took a short cruise to a mooring by the newly discovered shops and bought more supplies. Then we cruised on enjoying good weather and lovely views.

Beautiful but dangerous

There were two lift bridges but they only required a windlass to work them so I had no problem – and no audience. We moored for lunch after our first flight of locks which were decorated by substantial stone work. Sadly the local vandals had defaced the work, one with red paint, the other had china pots inlaid and these had been smashed . I understand them attacking the crumbling concrete bridges, and sometimes graffiti brightens those dire areas up but this seemed petty.

Our second set of locks lay where the Leek arm turns off to the right. Strangely it then crosses the canal on a massive stone aqueduct after the main branch has done the three locks.

Cheddleton Flint Mill from the canal

water wheel

When I pushed the gate open I must have been addled by the glorious scenery as I nearly fell down the flight of stone steps into the muddy canal below the lowest lock. I stumbled down three steps and managed to grab the stone wall as I missed the next. I escaped with a scraped finger but it could have been worse. I could have been knocked unconscious then fallen into the water unnoticed by my husband who had popped inside the boat.

We passed some Canada geese, but one had a longer neck almost like a swan and had slightly different markings. Perhaps it was a crossbreed - a Canada sweese! The cruise was slow and idyllic. Our mooring for the night was by Cheddleton water Mill. It is a lovely mill well worth a visit. Hopefully it will be working when we return at the weekend.