The Shroppie Fly © Copyright Roger Kidd

Went to the food festival at Greenfeilds today to see if there was anything new or different this time, some olives stuffed with jalepeno peppers and some chilli jam. There were a few less stalls than the last time, most of the regulars were there no fish stall and only 1 new stall that i could tell selling pickles and preserves. That was just before lunch so decided to get a pub lunch. We almost went to the Junction Inn at Norbury Junction but Elianne said she wanted to go to the Shroppie Fly at Audlem, it is a regular weekend lunch place for us and has been part of our canal holidays for the last two years and will be again this year. Food was up to the usual high standard but a little slow coming out, but that is to be expected on a sunny sunday afternoon. Nice pint of Timothy Taylors Landlord to wash the roast pork down.

Then off for the obligatory walk on the towpath, had a chat with a couple on an Ownerships boat, nice idea but still dont think that a share in a boat will give us the freedom we want. Elianne managed to get a ride on a boat back up through lock 14 and that put a big smile on her face.

Leeky top gates on the trent and mersey

Anyway I’m giving up on trying to catch up on postings as yet again the connectivity is dire Google cant even post me a full set of results (hope this post makes it up) we will be at Norbury Junction for lunch on Sunday and I know the wifi there is good.

Middle gate of the Staircase at the start of the Caldon Canal

Caldon starts out in a very industrial way and eventualy breaks out into some very nice scenery. We got to stop the traffic at a powered lift bridge once we worked out how to use it, further on up and there is a five lock flight. Some muppet had left paddles open at both ends of one of the locks so the water was very shallow above it, the boat in front of us let water down from the next lock and all was sorted.

We ended up at the Holly Bush Inn for food (and beer) huge portions here, the mixed grill was too much even for me. We may well stop here again on the way back to the ring.

Today we are off to the Churnet Valley Railway at Cheddleton as its right next to the canal.

Also looks like I’m not going to be posting any pics as I seem to not have a USB cable with me

Moorings at Wheelock

Day 3 has been locks after locks 23 of them, this part of the Trent and Mersey Canal is called Heartbreak Hill. We tried the Romping Donkey at Hassall Green but apparently the chef quit last week so was only doing sandwiches still the beer “Abbot Ale” hit the spot. We decided to go to the lock 57 brasserie for lunch, not bad if a bit on the expensive side. We are now moored just north of Kidsgrove next to the Red Bull Inn, the menu seems a bit on the fancy side for a pub (roast duck with cherries)

Tomorrow morning brings us to Harecastle Tunnel…