Back In Signal Land

Tonight, we are back moored in Milton (Stoke-on-Trent); we have been down to the end of the Caldon Canal (nearly) for the last 4 days and there is absolutely no signal for Internet or Phone! Coming closer to Milton we started getting reception on the internet and the phone came to life again - it is nice to be back in signal-land !!

On the way down to Consall Forge we passed this boat on the bank ... I think he had been practising his James Bond stunts!

We were the only boat moored at Consall Forge, probably because some people check the weather forecast before they moor on potentially dodgy spots!

It was very peaceful in the daytime but poured  with rain all night.

 This part of the canal shares with the river River Churnet. When we awoke in the morning the water was fair racing by! We decided the best plan was to chuck a u-ey (wind the boat) and get back to safety through the lock back onto the canal.

We had to go down stream to wind ... that was some busy water to pass by !

The river had risen a fair bit and it was quite tight getting under the bridge.  Duck !! 

After we turned around, we were going against the current, so the boat was easy to control but it was a very slow trip at much higher engine revs. 

When we got back up to the lock the river was well and truly in the red (marker) but we were soon back on the canal and moored up safely back in Cheddleton.

In the red !

Some other boaters at the lock were trying to decide whether to go down or not !  We recommended that they didn't !

Explanatory sign re the red marker at the lock !

On Saturday. we decided to walk to the end of the canal at Froghall as there is also a steam train that runs from Cheddleton to Froghall at the weekends and we decided we could catch that back if we wanted.

The steam train also stops at Consall Forge ...

Plus there is the Black Lion pub at Consall Forge, which you can only get to by canal, walking or steam train; so we had a swift half there and took some pics of the passing train...

We walked to the end of the basin at Froghall - which was a fairly long walk all-up, so we decided we would definitely get the train back to Cheddleton !

There was only one boat moored up at the Froghal basin - the reason being that the river was flowing too fast for any boats to get down there! 

It is a really nice preserved railway at Froghall and well worth a look. 

The station tea rooms were very well decked out ...

There was a wedding going on at the station. The wedding ceremony was held in the station waiting room and the wedding party then boarded the Pullman dining car for the reception. Even the engine was decorated!

We boarded the train - travelling in second class (!) and waved at the drinkers in the Black Lion (Consall Forge) as we passed by again ...

Bombo and Sam also enjoyed the trip!  It was a little bit slower than the last train they went on !

After our little trip on the Steam train we were now back at Cheddleton Station which was saved from demolition in 1978!  What a brilliant building !

So, it was then back to the boat, stopping at the Boat Inn for a quick one ... 

The dogs were knackered so we took them back to the boat, scrubbed ourselves up and went back to the pub for dinner. Dinner was fantastic, best so far since arriving in the UK and very well priced. (In Elaine's words it is the kind of meal she 'doesn't want to eat, because she doesn't want it to end !)  It is obviously really popular there as you have to make a booking well in advance!

  

We also met our 'old' friends, Mike and Sue, from Barn Owl No. 6 - 'Ta-Jo', who were also down in Cheddleton, so we had a few good chats with them along the way !

Today (Sunday) we left Cheddleton and had a good trip to Milton; Elaine did her quota of locks and lift bridges for the day!  We nipped up the Co-Op when we got here, for a few supplies, and very shortly we are off to the pub to watch England vs Italy......Cmon England!!!!!

It's so nice to be back in signal-land !