A walk on the Caldon Canal in the Potteries

Gawd, isn't the  start-up of the Brexit Election depressing? Time for a cheery respite and a look back on a very pleasant few days Mrs P and I spent a month or so back with old (chronologically not temporally) friends just outside of Stoke-on-Trent. Because of its industrial past, this area is threaded with canals and it's always a pleasure to do a canal-side walk.  This time we took in a stretch of the Caldon Canal and here are a few photographs to prove it. If you get a chance, do the walk yourself.

The Caldon Canal (or to be precise, the Caldon Branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal) opened in 1779 to carry Peak District limestone from the quarries at Cauldon Low down to the Potteries and the industrial Midlands. Not long after later a short branch was added so that the Caldon connected to the town of Leek and improved water supplies to the main line of the Trent and Mersey (that's something that the casual canal-lover seldom thinks about - where the water comes from and how the levels are maintained).

The full length of the Caldon is 17 miles (27 km) long, has 17 locks, 3 operational lift-bridges and one tunnel and runs from Etruria in central Stoke on Trent to Froghall in Staffordshire.

Our route (just under 7 miles) took us from a pub, the Hollybush, at Denford along the main canal for a couple of miles, thence onto the Leek branch for a spell, up over a hill through a country park and then back along the branch to our starting point. And a delicious pork pie for lunch as a reward at the end.

Typical scenery for most of our route and, unlike our normal walking back home, almost completely flat.

Hazlehurst Lock Bridge (Number 37), with original iron work.

Some more iron work, this time supporting the walkway allowing access to either side of the lock.

Signpost at the Hazelhurst Junction where the Leek branch separates from the main Caldon Canal.

I know, I know - never take a photograph into the sun. But I thought my lens hood would remove the flare, honest. Having said that, I don't think it detracts too much from the overall effect. The infra-red picks up the ripples nicely.

The names given to canal boats are always intriguing. This one probably isn't a comment on the forthcoming General Election but rather a nod to what is probably the best Pink Floyd track of all time. Don't believe me? Take a listen below and I defy you to tell me I'm wrong.

I guess the owner of this one thinks there's nothing better than messing about on a canal boat. I don't agree with them. I can think of many things that I like better. Don't get me wrong, occasional jaunts are fine but to do it full-time? Nah, not for me.

Mr Google tells me that the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company was a freight carrying transport service from 1934 to 1948. We forget how important and extensive canal freight routes were up until fairly recently.

Who was Little Edna? And how little was she? Did she feel flattered at having a boat named after her?

This was an odd one. The dog (inset) was staring out of a porthole at us. No name was on the boat but could it have been called 'Badly Drawn Otter' or 'Even More Badly Drawn Terrier'?

A solitary Grey Heron that refused to look my way. Perhaps it thought that its side-profile was its best side?

Llama (pronounced 'yama') giving a David Bowie impression. Actually, and I mean this in an affectionate way, it reminds me of one of my grandsons.

A nice collection of chimneys at a mill complex.

Seed heads always have an interesting structure. Umbelliferous, that's the word that springs to mind.

In the absence of an adopted flag the banner of the arms of Staffordshire County Council have been used as a symbol of Staffordshire. The arms have a simple chevron and knot - the Staffordshire knot -  and a lion indicating the authority of the council.