I woke at 6am to the sound of rain on the windows. I had another 30+ miles to do today. The forecast offered some hope, but whether running or cycling, there is nothing worse than starting off in the rain. I left the pub at 7:20am when there sounded like a break in the rain and wandered down to bridge 58. I passed an intriguing inscription stone.

I soon settled into a steady plod out of Handsacre. After seeing the Canal and River Trust guy trawling the canal yesterday, I think that he must have already been up here.

Round the corner I came across my first tunnel; the partly covered / uncovered Armitage Tunnel, wide enough for just one boat.

Brindley Bank is a famous structure where the T&M crosses the River Trent. It also, as I learnt, has a particularly gruesome past when in 1839 a dressmaker was murdered and those responsible hanged.

Little Haywood marks the junction with the Staffordshire and Worcester canal and was my first stop of the day after 9 miles at the Canalside cafe for a coffee and cake. This thankfully this coincided with a blustery downpour. Leaving Little Haywood the effects of the blustery conditions were evident as a large branch had broken off s tree blocking the canal.

The next photo stop was at Hoo Mill lock a couple of miles further on. This was where my parents bought their canal boat in 1974. My lasting memory is of the owner shouting at a boat travelling well over the 4mph speed limit, swearing (whatever that meant in those days) and by means of an apology, giving my mother a traditionally painted wooden spoon. We then spent a very cold and dark Christmas week moving it to it’s permanent mooring in Hatton.

Unfortunately the boatyard has become derelict and overgrown and no doubt taken over and subsumed into the larger Great Haywood marina I had just passed.

From Great Haywood the canal twisted through open countryside with sunny intervals in between another 4 hail storms. There were loads of Canadian Geese, generally in pairs, most of which ignored me but some of which were intimidated / intimidating and were seething / hissing.

All the way from Shardlow there had been mile marker posts and I was particularly looking forward to getting to halfway. This turned out to be at Aston lock, just before Stone.

Then a mile or so later I arrived in the outskirts of Stone in threatening conditions.
Stone is a really nice canal town celebrating itself as the birthplace of the Trent and Mersey canal in the 1770s. I got to the centre just as another hail storm was arriving and quickly dashed into the Star after 19 miles. Luckily they were doing lunch.

It’s still incredible to me to think that the canal here is over 250 years old.

After lunch I got caught in a couple more hail showers. Hail is actually better than rain in the context that you don’t get too wet, but the battering is miserable. The policy was to just carry, although the canal bridges do provide occasional respite.

I passed the Wedgwood factory during a sunny interval and the welcome to Stoke sign at Trentham lock. It’s important to remember that Josiah Wedgwood was instigator behind the canal. It took 11 years to build and cost £300,000, which make me ask many questions about HS2 and whether it will be as transformative.

It was a long drag through Stoke. On the long straight featureless section leading towards the Bet365 stadium the cold rain was constant and miserable. When the so-called football experts talk about possible overseas signings and whether they can ‘do it on a cold and wet Tuesday night in Stoke’, I know what they mean now.

Towards the end of the long drag through Stoke, Etruria museum / junction with the Caldon canal and Middleport Pottery provided brief highlights, but at this stage I was flagging.

After passing Westport Lakes, I eventually made it to Harecastle Tunnel, southern entrance for @4:30pm. It was interesting to note the colour of the canal change to a rust colour, caused by iron ore leaching from the local geology.

The route from here would now be ‘over the top’ where I had conveniently booked my Travelodge. It had been a tough day, 34.5 miles and 70,756 steps. On trips like this I find it difficult to consume enough calories which had made it tougher and looking back, there have been a lot of photo stops, making it slower, but interesting.

In the evening it was great to meet up with Chris and Kate (from my years in Hong Kong) who are embarking on their own canal adventure by retiring buying a boat. Living locally they know all about the weather in Stoke, so should be fine !