Day 78 - onto the Caldon Canal and I'm melting in this heat.

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4 locks, 366 in total.







We woke up to grey skies and the prospect of rain so decided to walk round Westport Lake before setting off. It was formed in the 19^th century I believe when old coal workings subsided and has been updated more recently with a bias towards nature; the all-round path is ideal for prams, joggers, toddlers on bikes, etc. There is a visitor centre showing all the wild fowl that use the lake.







We approached the old industrial area of Stoke-on Trent on the T & M canal; the canal was very wide here, almost certainly because of the amount of traffic there would have been in the Potteries heyday. All goods in and out would have been transported by boat. So many of the old potteries have gone, buildings either lying derelict, or demolished and the land given over to nature, or in some cases the land has been levelled in preparation for more buildings. There is an industrial museum at Etruria, the junction of the T & M and the Caldon canal; as we are meeting people tomorrow further along the Caldon Canal, we decided to visit this site on our way back in a few days time. It was also going to be very difficult to moor as not only were there boaters going to the museum but also wanting water, rubbish disposal, and showers at the Maintenance Yard on the same site.







The Caldon Canal also served many potteries but quite a lot of the land has now been used for housing developments. At Hanley is the beautiful Hanley Park, harking back to the Victorian vision for parks with decorated cast-iron bridges across the canal and a bandstandAs we went further along it became increasingly rural, often with far-reaching views to Derbyshire across a mixture of moorland and housing that was at a lower level than the canal. By this time the promised sun and soaring temperatures had arrived and it's still too hot for me, even at 6.30 pm.

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Photos

Etruria Industrial Museum site....
.... statue commemorating James Brindley.

Arrowhead plant.
I'd never heard of it but the leaves are shaped like arrowheads and the flowers are small and white with a black centre. It's everywhere on the Caldon.

Hydraulic lift bridge with a difference....
... I had to lower and raise the gates across the road and one of them wasn't too well counter-balanced.