Stories about boats and waterways
Having stocked up with provisions at Endon I carried on down the Caldon canal, stopping briefly to empty the loo and top up the boat’s water tank then going to Denford where the canal splits into two branches. I took the Froghall branch which soon after runs underneath the Leek branch. It gets very dense, there are deep locks, a heritage railway and I bumped into Aussie Boater as well as going past a historic mill.
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With Jasmin now gone back to her own boat in London, I carried on along the Caldon canal out of Stoke on Trent towards Endon where I’d stop to get some supplies from a convenience store. Along the way I had to deal with two lift bridges, the first of which was easy and the second quite the nuisance.
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A video in which Jasmin (who is still my guest at this point) and I turn off the Trent and Mersey canal and onto the Caldon, going through the suburbs of Stoke on Trent and I get very grumpy about how many narrow sections and tight, blind corners it has not to mention a distinct lack of convenient spots to moor up.
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Day two with Jasmin aboard and we headed up from Stone through Stoke on Trent. There are several rather deep locks to traverse but the day was fine and we stopped to pick some towpath damsons as we went along.
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When I reached the town of Stone in Staffordshire, I paused to pick up a special guest – Jasmin from YouTube channel “This Narrowboat Adventure” (link below). Battling the mighty forces of wind, rain and vicious swans, we made it through the town until calling it quits for the day.
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In this episode, I set off from Handsacre and squeeze through the tiny narrow section just after the town where it’s only just wide enough for one boat and you can’t see if anyone’s coming the other way. Then I went through Rugeley, which was very busy and moored near Weston, waking up to an emergency involving a sheep. Yes, really.
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The end of August meant the resumption of my travels on the canals so I set off again from where I left off in Vlog 184 – Fradley Junction – and went up the Trent and Mersey canal towards Handsacre, in the process managing to look like an utter incompetent as I bashed into another, stationery, boat at a lock queue.
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No, this is NOT a vlog. Hence the title. No, there is no commentary, that’s deliberate. No, it wouldn’t be “better with music”. This video will not be for everyone – they never are – but for those who enjoy a few hours of uninterrupted slow TV from the bow of a canal boat: enjoy!
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By mid-July it was time for the final gentle amble up the last bit of the north Coventry canal to Fradley Junction. The main thing of note was how thick the overgrowth was not only on the offside but the towpath side as well – and quite a lot of weeds growing up within the canal itself. I’ve been told this whole area is earmarked for a good cut back by CRT’s volunteer team and you can see it really does neeed it!
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Filmed at the end of June and start of July, this video captures the very few miles I did in the narrowboat between Fazeley Junction and just past Hopwas. En route I picked up food supplies from a supermarket and plumbing supplies from a DIY store.
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