Slow, slow, slow

Help at Stoke Locks

The fire went out late last evening because the Captain fell asleep. He relit it and stoked up with coal. At 1.00 he woke and found the fire overheating so that the nearest wood surfaces were hot. Even an enclosed fire can be dangerous in the tight confines of a narrowboat. He shut it down and opened the door to cool the boat down. In spite of that in the morning it was still burning, which was just as well as it was a hard frost last night.

Locking under the railway

It was sunny all morning but the cloud built up quickly midday. We reached the Stoke locks to find volunteers operating the top three. It was a lot easier with their help but actually took longer than working it by ourselves. This was partly because we were following a single-hander who wanted them to only open one paddle half way which lets the water out very slowly.



passing the Britannia stadium

The Captain and the boaters behind began to get frustrated and it was like watching paint dry waiting for his boat to inch down when I helped him ant the lower part of the flight. Even though I closed the gates for him we still caught up before he had entered the last lock. And the boat behind arrived when he was only half way down.

Where did these come from?

He had just started descending when a cheeky walker crossed the rear of the lock and vaulted over the gate into the old lock keepers garden in spite of it saying PRIVATE NO ENTRY. A German shepherd dog rushed out of the house and chased him across the yard. I’m not sure if he was bitten but the walker shot head first over the wall and landed with a heavy thump on the other side. He got up an hurried away with the dog barking over the wall at him. I doubt if he will take that short cut again.

Trentham Lock

As we cruised by the deserted towpath by the Britannia Stadium I noticed unusual canal furniture. The benches appeared to be attached to some kind of railway rolling stock. were they the remnants of a factories trolley line?

locking down into Stone

We caught up with the single-hander at Trentham lock where he told me his story. His newly bought old boat’s steel had grown wider with age and had jammed in one lock so he was letting the boat down slowly in case it happened again. Before that he had been ‘helped‘ by some hire boaters who had whizzed both paddles up. The boat had shot forward in the lock, slammed into the gate and cupboards had burst open leaving smashed cups and glasses on the floor. No wonder he was extra cautious.

locking over

We moored up behind him before the next set of locks but had a short dinner break to move on ahead of him. In spite of the threatened rain it stayed dry all afternoon. We got down the first four locks at Stone quickly as we met boats exiting the locks and moored up as black clouds built. However it didn’t rain but the Captain felt he had done enough locking. As his back is much better he was probably wise not to push on. 


time to moor up