On the move again

Thursday: 0 miles (except by bus)
Friday: lots more slime
Saturday: 3.5 miles and 7 locks

On Wednesday evening we had our dinner in the Star. Very reasonable it was too.

The Star Inn at Stone; next to the bottom lock. 

Conversation with locals in the pub (including one lady with dementia and another who appeared to the be the last remnant of the Raj) elicited advice on how to get to Stoke-on-Trent (Hanley) by bus and Jo went adventuring to the sewing shop there on Thursday. The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery there was excellent.

On Friday Tankbusters came back with a flexible hose and found a great deal more slime hiding in the far corners of our fuel tank.

On Saturday the sun shone and we set off again with our hearts in our mouths. This time we managed to actually get through the lock and into the world beyond Stone. The 7 locks in the flight made a change - although there are a lot more to come over the next few days. We stopped for the chandlery and Elsan below lock 29, which has this horse tunnel under the bridge rather than a towpath.

We stopped just north of Barlaston, next to the Wedgewood factory, as we have been advised not to moor in Stoke itself. Jo visited the World of Wedgewood which, while interesting, was also pretentious in  the extreme.

The towpath here is quite busy and Scooby quite exhausted himself barking at everyone going past. In the end he gave up and fell into a dog coma on the sofa!

Tomorrow, slimy fuel tanks permitting, we plough on through Stoke to the entrance of the Harecastle tunnel.