Trent and Mersey Canal Near Stone

Slow cruising today! We left Rugeley around 10am with the plan to cruise until we had had enough. After passing lots of moored boats heading out of  town I was about to open up the boat to cruising speed but not before passing the last moored boat and a speed camera!

We cruised up to the lock landing for the last lock before Great Haywood when Rachael called back from the lock to tie up, it was going to be a wait. After tying up and wandering up to the lock a lady from a hire boat was lying on the offside of the canal with a broken ankle. Everything had come to a stop as she was lying under the lock arm, a boat in the lock (not hers) and two others waiting to come down. The ambulance was quite quick and after organising a stretcher we managed to move her across the boat in the lock and on to the trolley, things started moving again soon after that. A shame really, they had only hired the boat the day before from Stone, four hours away.

After waiting close to an hour to go up the lock we pulled over for the water point in Great Haywood and filled our water tank, not the fastest tap in the world! After dumping our household waste in the bins and completing the fill we were off again.

It's starting to get cool and dark early now so an hour out of Stone, just before 4pm, it was time to moor for the night and fire up the heating.