Wednesday 5th May.
Here I am again! We are now at Froghall. Due to a lack of a 3 mobile internet signal I have been unable to update until now.
This canal is truly spectacular! I cannot describe it adequately. The scenery has been stunning, after leaving the confines of the outskirts of Stoke and there is so much of interest. Lovely isolated flights of locks, tiny low bridges, sections only wide enough for one boat. Beautiful countryside and steep forested banks as well. A working flint mill to visit at Cheddleton and the Churnet Valley Steam Railway runs alongside the canal for the last few miles. Consall Forge station is actually cantilevered out over the already narrow canal! There are 3 old fashioned stations to see complete with trains. The steam trains only run on Sundays so we missed them but the diesel ones have been running today.
The terminus of the canal is at Froghall where there is a TINY tunnel 5ft high by 5ft wide and 76yds long. We couldn’t take our boat through it. Well, we could have at a push, if we’d have taken everything off the roof but we moored nearby and went for a look. Beyond there is a new lock which is the start of the restoration of the Uttoxeter Canal and a basin with pontoon moorings.
Unfortunately, due to the demise of my two cameras (as previously mentioned), I am unable to provide a pictorial record of all this and I am gutted! I tried my phone camera but it was not very successful so we will just have to come back here again. I’m sure we won’t be too upset at that prospect.
We did have a bit of a disappointment today, finding that having got George to walk into Froghall the pub, called The Railway, was closed for refurbishment! Undeterred we took George back to the boat and set off in search of the Fox and Goose, which was 1.5 miles up the road, we were reliably informed by a couple of workmen on the bridge (and they do good food they said). The walk was steep – very steep! But we persevered and lo and behold after 25 mins (only about a mile we thought) there was the Fox and Goose. It looked a nice pub, with panoramic views over the countryside ……………. but it was closed, aaargh! We had to settle for a couple of cans on the towpath.
Tomorrow we start the return journey to Stoke and as I have had no success finding a signal on the way here I will probably update again at the weekend.
