Barlaston to Stone - Trent & Mersey Canal

 

Thursday 19^th August

We had a nice few days at Barlaston.  We found a good butchers in a small row of shops near the pub and we had breakfast in the pub which was very good.

                                                                   

                                                                                    

We went to the World of Wedgewood which was about a 15 minute walk from where we were moored and had a wander around the museum which was really good then we had afternoon tea in the tea room, Jane joined us and we had a lovely afternoon.  The afternoon tea was fantastic and they have lots of different teas and you can try as many as you like, we really enjoyed it, it’s a great place to visit and we would highly recommend it.

                                                    

Today we are on the move back to Stone, about three miles and four locks.

We left our lovely mooring and chugged on along the canal passing the Plume of Feathers pub and going under a few bridges.  The canal seemed to be quiet today and we didn’t see many moving boats. 

                                                       

We were then approaching Meaford locks, there are four in this flight but very close together so quite easy to do.

                                                   

The bridge by this lock is being worked on and is closed at present.

I walked out onto the road and down to the next lock.  This one was empty as well so again I had to fill it up.   

                                                  

We got through this lock okay and went on to the next one.  All the locks were against us today so we had to fill each one first. The bridge by the lock here is a turnover bridge where the bridge takes the towpath from one side of the canal to the other. No boats were coming up at all and just us and the boat behind us coming down so all quiet today.

                                                     

                                                                                       

We then moved on to Meaford bottom lock, filled it up and then down we went. 

We went on along the canal and then was approaching Stone where there is a nice Welcome sign.

                                              

We went under a couple more bridges and moored up in the visitor moorings before the next lock.

In the afternoon, we walked down to the town and went to the butchers, outside the butchers shop there was a hog roast cooking away and the butcher said it was for the food Street market which was on today from 3pm, we didn’t know about it but decided to hang around for it and glad we did, it was really good, stalls selling all sorts of street food and the cafes and bar in the town let you sit at their tables with food bought from the street stalls as long as you bought a drink from them.

                                                       

We got a hog roast from the butcher’s stall and I asked if there was any crackling, he said yes of course and gave us a load, it was really good crackling, so crispy and the hog roast roll was delicious.

We sat in the square where there is a cafe/bar and had a drink there while we ate our food.  It was a great atmosphere and plenty of people around, we really enjoyed it and a nice surprise as we didn’t know it was on.

                                                                           

                                                                                                                   

We are staying here in Stone for the weekend, hopefully doing some trading and Kev has a couple of orders he needs to do.  Also on Sunday evening we are out for a meal with Jane and Malcolm and Jane’s cousin Sue and Hubby Brian who live in Stone so looking forward to that, then Monday we will move on.