On to Endon.

It was a fine misty rain when I took my first cup of tea on the stern deck around 7am but by 8am it had dried up and had the look of an overcast but dry day.

I cast off around 9 and headed up to the Engine lock (4) to set it for Rod to go through, once I had locked him through he stopped on the lock landing to lock me through.

Engine lock, 12' 1" the deepest on the Caldon canal.

I then headed off ahead again to work the first of two lift bridges taking my windlass with me and being pleasantly surprised to find that it had been ‘electrified’ since my Pearson’s guide had been published . We adopted our usual method of the first boat stopping and opening the bridge allowing the second boat through who then stopped and walked back to close it after the first boat had gone through, sort of leapfrog boating style.

Rod closing up after I had gone through.

Shortly after I came up to the second lift bridge, this one had the windlass control on the non-towpath side and would have been challenging for the solo boater due to a lack of landing area on that side, but as there were two of us I moored and opened for Rod to go through, I then closed the bridge to allow Rod to walk across it and open it for me to pass through, he then closed it again and returned to his boat.

We then cruised some open countryside before arriving at the Stockton Brook flight of five locks taking us up 41’ 1” to the summit.

Lockside artwork depicting various industries.

A masons mark on one of the lock chamber stones identified the
 individual mason, many different examples could be seen.

It was then back into open country, with some very pleasant views,

and this lovely house with its narrowboat on the cut.

It’s not often you get a traffic island on the canal, this one is what remains of a light railway swing bridge, long since disappeared.

A well placed arrow marks the direction you need to head to avoid gate crashing the moorings of Stoke on Trent Boat Club in Endon basin, which once saw Cauldon Lowe limestone transferred from the light railway to canal for transport.

We stopped briefly on the visitor moorings at Endon which were 24hour only before moving up a bit on to a towpath mooring ahead which gives us the option to stay longer if need be.

Current mooring:

Totals today: 3 miles : 6 locks : 2 moveable bridges