Careworn & Weary - but trying!: April 2023

13 April 2023

Canal: we'm gooin wum!

Given the time we were stuck in Hanley outwards...

we decide to stop at Etruria (Saturday), then Stone (Sunday) on return.

You just make the boat go... open locks... keep on!

We intended to walk to The Holy Inadequate for beer,

but were happily tired after the simple pleasure of a day's cruising.

A quiet night in the north of Stoke, gave us a short punt along to Stone,

where we had a wee pub outing, then bimble the boat short back to it's yard!

Titanic pubs is great!

It pissed down that last morning...

we only needed a few hundred metres!

Was this a good week?

It seems the jury is out on that!

A wander through Ladderedge Country Park

Ladderedge, a 70 acre park on the edge of Leek town,

wooded hills in a very soggy broad valley,

the Churnet River, & a canal feeder wending it's way to Rudyard Lake.

A lovely wander on a lovely afternoon...

some very good weisse bier,

then the woman threw chips at me!

Canal: via the Leek Arm

Once through Ivy House bridge & passing Milton (Walters Butchers & Bakers make magnificent pies - come on, HOT pork pies!) the countryside becomes oh-so-lovely!

We moored on the Hazlehurst Aqueduct - above The Hollybush Inn at Denford - 'proper' narrow boating... quiet, dark, frosty, & a great sleep after plenty beer!

Woke up to an icy, misty morning...

the journey up to Leek was great... through a beautiful, man-made landscape!

Moor 10-15 minutes from the town centre... & more great pies & pints!

Must come back here for a big chunk o'waterside walking.

12 April 2023

The Potteries museum & up the pub!

Took a stroll through Hanley - some lovely buildings, though shit-awful weather - & didn't, for some reason, try to find decent pies... to get outa the rain we went to the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery... I must say, it was a most enjoyable few hours!

(The Spyders of Burslem by Leonard Griffiths Brammer)

(Kitchen Chimneys by Maurice Wade)

(Potland by Victor Skellern)

(The Mutka Chor by Waswo X Waswo)

There's a Spitfire Gallery... R.J.Mitchell was born in Talke,

& started work as an apprentice at a Fenton railway engineering works.

It simply kept on raining... does it rain all the time in Hanley?

There was also a fantastic pub - which I cannot recommend highly enough - the Woodman, on the edge of town (10 minute walk from the boat). A Caldmore Taverns boozer, it had a fantastic beer offer & was beautifully appointed...

I look forward to visiting again - you should give it a go too!