Caldon 2011 - Calf Heath to Tixall

Caldon Canal

Calf Heath to Tixall

8th September 2011

13 miles - 12 locks - 7 hours

Other posts in this series:


1. Calf Heath to Tixall - this post
2. Tixall to Hem Heath
3. Hem Heath to Leek
4. Rudyard Reservoir
5. Leek to Froghall
6. Froghall to Endon
7. Hazelhurst Locks
8. Endon to Meaford
9. Lady Hatherton
10. Meaford to Tixall
11. Tixall to Calf Heath


This is the first day of an autumnal trip to the Caldon Canal, a local favourite of ours. With eight days to play with there is plenty of time to get all the way to Froghall and back, taking in the Leek Arm along the way.

Sunset at Milford

We had a gentle start, packing and doing the big grocery shop on the morning, also calling in at Midland Chandlers to buy a new inverter to replace the unit which died during our Huddersfield trip in August. It's an 800 modified sine wave model from Sterling Power, very similar to the old one but more powerful - not that we can make use of its potential till it is wired in properly near the battery. For the time being it will be connected in at the front of the boat and suffer the same power drop problem we had before.

Stafford Boat Club with their new £60k bridge

The Staffs and Worcester is so familiar that there is no need for maps, each bridge and lock known and predictable. This familiarity can be a problem - sometimes I like the run but at other times I fund it tedious and dull. The overcast weather of the morning cleared in the afternoon and we soon reached our planned destination at Deptmore Lock / Stafford Boat Club.

Sunset over the River Sow

However, with bright skies above us and a warm breeze on our backs we continued on into the evening passing Baswich with its old link to the River Sow, and then Milford with its linear moorings before finding ourselves crossing the Sow Aqueduct beneath a glorious sunset and then mooring up in the winding 'river' section before Tixall Wide in the last glimmer of evening light.