Friday 13th must have had it’s effect today – it took us 4 hours to come up the 4 locks out of Stone and the 4 at Meaford! We queued at every one for ages, it was stinking hot, and it was hard work! Not so much the locks themselves but we seemed to be doing an awful lot of standing around. We met fellow bloggers Jeff and Mags on nb Seyella at one of the locks, and had a natter as we were working the lock.
Queuing for the first of the Meaford locks
At the third Meaford lock there were two men in full diving gear in a small fibreglass dinghy, using a small net to scoop out loads of dead fish from the canal. We had begun noticing them a lock or two back, and discovered from the chaps that pollution had caused the death of the fish. They believe there had been a slurry spillage further up, but didn’t know where it had originated. Not a pleasant job in this heat, and the top lock absolutely stank of dead fish. I did get treat as the younger chap stripped off his diving suit and undergarment at the top lock exposing a very well developed 6-pack! I invited him to carry on, but he didn’t, at least not until my back was turned operating the top paddles. Shame!
We then travelled the 2.5 miles to Barlaston, where we are now moored for the rest of the day – it’s just too hot to continue on, and there’s not much in the way of decent moorings until after Stoke.
Only 4 miles and 8 locks today
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