September Cruise - Day Seven

Consall Forge is a great mooring, and we had a very quiet night. We were on our way again by 8.15, heading back to Hazelhurst Juntion. At the Cheddleton Locks we met Waterway Routes again, filming this time. Apparently, we'll be on the Caldon DVD. The canal seemed much shallower than yesterday, and many of the turns were even trickier heading in the other direction. At the top of the Hazelhurst Locks, I did a spin turn onto the Leek arm. For some distance, you can seen the locks on the lower level.



The turn onto the aqueduct is a right angle, but Adrian managed it without touching anything. (We noticed on the way back that a boat moored in a rather vulnerable position has a number of dents down the side).

The Leek arm is lovely, with several wide lake-like areas, with trees down to the water. At one, we saw a woodpecker. We went through the tiny tunnel, winded at the final winding hole, and moored up. After lunch, we walked into Leek to find the supermarket, and stocked up for the next few days. We set off again, retracing our steps, at 2.30. We made a brief stop for water at Park Lane Wharf, then made our way round the obstruction in the middle of the canal near the Endon Arm. It used to carry a light railway swing bridge.



The five Stockton Brook Locks were mostly in our favour, and by working ahead we completed them in half an hour. We moored for the night at 5.30 just before Bridge 22, a mooring recommended by a boat we passed on the Stoke flight a few days ago.

14 miles, 12 locks. (85, 62)