Hail to the Hive!
After a few lazy days we left the lovely little town of Stone, in Staffordshire, and headed onwards towards Wales. We continued our snail pace cruise along the Trent & Mersey canal with no real timeline in mind. This is the best way to travel. No deadlines, no must be here stuff, just chug along.
We figured the only ‘must do’ thing we had to really pay attention to was the Harecastle Tunnel, or ‘SCARECASTLE’ as it’s fondly referred to. This needs to be booked and in the winter it is only open for a few days of the week. It wasn’t a big distance to cover but I didn’t want a deadline so I thought we would wait til we are closer. They can’t be that busy as hardly any boats are moving apart from the idiots like us in the cold.
I was a little sad leaving Stone as it was a lovely spot and I look forward to returning. It was even pleasant on the outskirts of town.
Lovely English cottages and doing locks in the cold as the day warmed up, steam coming off the water. Superb stuff that always puts a grin on my face. Absolutely worth the cold!
I wonder if 
Then as we neaered Stoke on Trent it all took on a more industrial quality. Not nearly as pleasant as the lovely English countryside.
But to be fair this was the very reason for the canals existence and remnants of the old industrial times still get a tip of the hat in new developments.
Like these old Kilns from the era when Stoke was famous for its potteries.
Badger continued to carve her way through as we navigated the locks running through the city.
Some of the industrial scenery wasn’t great but some
Looked pretty damned cool.
It was all interesting and thought provoking never the less. Old industrial era building and new industrial era wastelands all mixed up.
Once through Stoke on Trent it wasn’t far to the tunnel at Harecastle so we stopped and booked our passage northbound on the 26th January. The existing tunnel is 200 years old and there was an older one 250 years old that is no longer in use due to subsidence.
The new tunnels roof, we are told, is also subsiding meaning in parts it is very low.
To be sure your boat can get through theres a guage in black and white dangling from the roof of the entrance.
If your boat can lass underneath then you should be fine but… mind your head! You do have to duck. There was a fatal accident recently as someone hit their head and fell off the back of the boat in the tunnel. The gentleman didn’t survive….
Even though we’d filled up with water the day before we thiught we would top up anyway. Having the extra water is always good and it will make the boat sit a little lower in the water and may spare me a headache later ….literally!
There were inly two boats headed northbound at our allotted time and even though we were there first I suggested they go in ahead of us as our small propeller will likely make us slower than they and best they can travel at the speed they wish to. They seemed surprised but were thankful and I honestly wasn’t bothered as i wanted to 5ake my time.
Then in we went. They close the gates behind you at Harecastle, which feels a little odd, and then you plunge on. 1.6 miles of dripping wet dark, dank tunnel with a subsiding ceiling that is lower
Then a bit higher and lower again. “ Keep your eyes forward” they told me in the briefing. I bloody well did too!
And after what seemed like forever, but was only 45 minutes, we emerged at the north entrance. Very much relieved.
The water has a stranger rust colour to it,caused by iron oxide in the water that seeps through the hills and surrounding land into the canal. This adds another eerie quality to the transit through the tunnel.
We made it. We are another step closer to Wales!