Trent & Mersey Canal

The Trent & Mersey (T&M) Canal is 93 and a half miles long and has 70 narrow locks and 6 broad locks.  It connects the River Mersey (via the Bridgewater Canal) to the River Trent.  Whilst we have done the T&M before, we've never done it from one end to the other in one go before.  If you were to do the trip by car, it would take you about an hour and a half - but it has taken us just under a month to do it via boat.  We could have done this quicker, but we have taken days off from cruising:-

1.  to avoid rain (we are fair weather cruisers), 
2. to explore towns and villages we've come across en-route,
3. and to nurse failing body parts

 When I last left you on 8th May 2012 we were moored near the Wedgewood factory.  From there we cruised to Stone - which is arguably one of the nicest towns along the T&M, and certainly one of our favorites, and is the home of the best Pizza take-away we've ever had.  From there we cruised to Great Haywood, which is a small village with a grand name on the outskirts of Shugborough Hall, the home of Lord Lichfield.  We've stopped here quite a few times in the past, and there are too many dog walkers for Tonni to get off the boat, so we only stopped here for one night.

From Great Haywood the canal goes through a few little hamlets, the town of Rugley and through Armitage (where the toilet factory is still going).  Along this stretch of canal British Waterways have introduced new handrails to old bridges that cross the locks.  The main reason for this is due to a teenager riding his bike over a bridge with no handrails at Stourport and falling in to the water and drowning.  So Health & Safety now decrees that we must have handrails on all these little bridges that have been safely used for 200+ years.

This bridge isn't one of the worst - some have been designed without thinking about the boater and boat going underneath the bridge - with large metal bolts protruding downwards ready for the unsuspecting boater to hit his or her head on.

Rant over!


At Fradley Junction the T&M meets the Coventry Canal.  In the past we have often left the T&M here and cruised along the Coventry Canal, heading South - but this year we are finally braving the North, so we continued straight on.  Fradley Junction is a popular place with gongoozlers, it has a very old and well known pub - The Swan Inn, also affectionately known as the Mucky Duck.

This is the view down to the junction, the pub is opposite the junction and in the middle of the buildings on the left.

After Fradley, the T&M continues to another lovely village - Alrewas, where we enjoyed a very pleasant nights stay.  A must for any visitor to Alrewas is a trip to the butcher - we had a great pork pie, some pork, asparagus and Stilton sausages and some delicious duck breasts from him - three great meals.

From Alrewas, we cruised to Willington - where we stayed for a few nights - holed up against the rain and wind.  And from Willington we cruised through to Sawley, which is very near the end of the T&M, and here we stayed for 3 nights due to sore body parts.


And finally for today....

This is the first time we've seen a boat take a wheelie bin - do the bin men come and collect it?