Caldon 2011 - Leek to Froghall

Caldon 2011

Leek to Froghall

11th September 2011

10 miles - 6 locks - 5 hours

Having got my heart pumping with a brisk eight mile hike before breakfast I returned to Wand'ring Bark famished and thirsty, with Belle just waking up.

Hazelhurst Aqueduct

With a short trip to Froghall Wharf there was no time pressure so when the heavens opened there was no need to press on. We settled down and read the Saturday papers sipping some rather pleasant coffee - boating as it should be. The sun made a welcome return so we set off at 11.30, plodding slowly down the shallow Leek Arm to Hazelhurst and as we crossed the aqueduct I heard a rhythmic roaring from down below. Peering over the balustrade I saw a long chain of beefy blokes pulling a rope which was connected to a telegraph post with wheels at the top and a tub of cement on the other side. Either this is a local sport or its a tug of war team in training.

Tug of War training equipment

Belle has decided that today was the day to find sloes, a foraging objective which had so far eluded us.  We finally found some Sloe bushes by bridge four, its upper branches laden with the little blue fruit. We attacked it with the boat hook and were busy gathering as a couple wandered up bag in hand, clearly also on the foraging trail. The couple were Matt and Em who had just attended a foraging walk and had been tipped off about these trees. There were plenty of fruit so I hung on the hook whilst the three of them picked away. All went well till I discovered the breaking point of sloe branches - and ended up on my bum surrounded by giggling pickers! Matt and Em had never been on a narrowboat so they hopped aboard for a mug of tea and a trip as far as the Boat Inn.

Matt and Em - foragers

I have been down here a couple of times before but have never seen the steam railway working. Today the engine was chuffing its way up and down the valley, the sound of its chirpy whistle carrying for miles. The irritating thing was that whilst I could see glimpses of it through the trees, I couldn't get a decent photo.  Imagine my joy when we pulled away from Consall Forge water point only to see the train pulling out of the station. The photo's were a bit hurried but the driver seemed as pleased to see us as we were to see him.

Steam Train at Consall Forge

The canal narrows after Flint Mill Lock, its channel contained in concrete edging leading to a handful of moored boats just before the tunnel. Several curtains twitched when it became apparent that we had no intention of stopping and were heading through the tunnel - all curious to see if we could make it through.

Froghall Wharf

As before, we gave the height barrier a good clonk as we entered but buoyed by my success last time I went in at a fair lick, and therein lay the seeds of my destruction. Well, maybe destruction is a bit strong - I swerved a bit and caught the hatch on the brickwork, tearing it off the runners and breaking the wooden back stop and showering Belle with chunks of carpentry. Belle maintains that I was like a teenager showing off a motorbike with a wheelie down the street - I don't know what she means.

Froghall Wharf Circa 1900 with limestone bound for the Brunner Mond Works at Sandbach

Froghall Wharf 1910 before its closure in 1920

Having slowed down the remainder of the passage through the tunnel was uneventful, we had a good 1cm of clearance on both sides. 

Finger pontoons at Froghall

I was delighted to discover that the Froghall Wharf, set below the first lock of the Uttoxeter Canal, was unoccupied giving us sole use of this lovely spot. When I visited with Jeff last autumn the basin was very weedy and the jetties were covered with duck poo. There has clearly been some work done as the water was clear and the pontoons as clean as a whistle.

All in all this remains one of my favourite moorings.

Caldon 2010 - Froghall Wharf

Caldon 2010

Froghall Wharf

1st November 2010

Today was an 'off boat' day which included a trip to Alton Towers, which is only six or seven miles away down the old Utoxeter Canal. I know that boating and theme parks make for odd bed fellows, but I happen to like both.

Froghall moorings

Before we set off I took a wander around Froghall Wharf and its canalside visitor centre run by Staffordshire Council. The centre holds a good display of archive photos showing the canal basins in their heyday - all a far cry from the bucolic silence which hangs over the place like a thick blanket today. These weedy ponds once reverberated to the sounds of industry, the huge lime kilns which flank the site bearing silent testimony to a busy past. Where these was smoke, noise and massive enterprise now there is wildlife, tourists and an other worldly calm.

 Froghall inclined plane basin

Froghall Wharf and trip boat

The plan was to cycle to Alton Towers but no sooner has we climbed a steep mile up from the Wharf but Jeff remembered his forgotten padlock - and back we went. Maybe it was a sign or maybe we were just lazy, but instead of setting off again we packed the bikes away and called a taxi. £10 each way which was a bit of an extravagance but those hills are high and the drizzle was getting heavy.

Still 13 miles to go to Uttoxeter and Froghall lime kiln

It's odd how things come together. Call it serendipitity, fate or chance, but what are the odds of the taxi driver owing a narrowboat and not just any narrowboat. His boat was built and fitted out by the same company as  Wand'ring Bark. Rob and Gail of Oakamoor Taxis (0781 823 8356) previously owned a ferro concrete boat but recently bought a beautifully appointed 40 footer which is now moored at Mercia Marina.

We invited Rob to take a look inside WB on his return and it was no great surprise to see Gail his wife in the taxi when he picked us up at the theme park gates. There is a great common bond between boaters, and we spent a happy half an hour comparing boats and considering the pro's and con's of stretching versus sale and purchase. A lovely bonus at the end of the day.

Froghall trip boat - curently up for sale

As for Alton Towers, you get what you expect. Massive rides and a special pass gave us immediate access to all the main attractions without the normal waiting. This meant that we did all the major rides at least twice plus the Haunted House shoot em up where Jeff displayed his prowess and beat me three nil. A sign of things to come I suspect.

I'm not sure I have a favourite ride - they all have their specialities, but Nemesis probably holds the crown for the scariest. I have ridden it several times but that pause looking down, hanging in your harness then a vertical plunge into a black abyss takes my breath away every time. 10:10 for thrills but maybe I am getting a bit old for all this. I'll give up roller coasters one day - but not just yet.

And so back to Froghall Basin and another night of splendid seclusion in the mooring beneath the first lock of the Uttoxeter Canal. This really is a most amazing and under used site.

The one and only operational lock on the Uttoxeter Canal

Don't be put of by the gauges. If WB can get in with her 6' 4" internal headroom so can many other boats. The process of getting in reminds me of the Bible story where they had trouble getting a camel in through the Eye of the Needle (a particularly low gate in Jerusalem). Its a bit tricky, but with patience and a bit of faith it can be achieved.

I wouldn't necessarily compare Froghall Wharf with the promised land, but it is certainly a destination not to be missed.

Caldon 2010 - The farce of Froghall Tunnel

Caldon 2010

Froghall farce

Yesterday I left you with a question. Would, or wouldn't, Wand'ring Bark fit through the Froghall Tunnel given that we hit the profile gauge exiting Flint Mill Lock with a resounding clonk. The plastic drapes hung right down and didn't even clear the roof let alone the roof bars, cratch or the chimney collar which stuck up proud by about two inches.

Flint Mill Lock

This was the situation when we last visited Froghall three years ago and I resigned myself to the fact that WB is just too high and boxy to fit through what is generally accepted at the lowest tunnel on the open system (Dudley Tunnel excluded). All that changed when I read the Caldon and Uttoxeter Canal Society's website which suggested that the gauge is pessimistic, maybe by as much as two inches.

Armed with the seed of hope I determined to give it a go. WB was loaded with coal and other heavy stuff at the front together with an overflowing water tank to settle her down a low as possible. We made our approach in the gathering gloom in the hope that our flagrant disregard of the warning signs would go unobserved, but alas that was not to me. A group of walkers and canal enthusiasts were on the towpath and watched us brush past the entrance gauge with casual disregard. "Hey" they shouted, "can you get through there?" to which I responded "well, to be absolutely honest I don't know. It's 50:50 at best and we may well come a cropper - but we are going to give it a try". This was clearly excellent amusement because they all squatted on the towpath to watch our progress, probably hoping to see us come to the sticky end our cavalier attitude justified.

Froghall Tunnel - North Portal

WB was indisputably higher and wider than the gauges indicated was possible, both at the lock and to a lesser degree at the tunnel entrance. However, the chimney was dismounted an cast over the  side to dangle on its chain as we ghosted in, barely moving forward. The start seems fine but the roof soon crowded down leaving just a letterbox slot between the cabin roof and the top of the tunnel arch to peer down.

Not a lot of room - breathe in and think heavy.

The roof and the sides closed in closer and closer threatening to imprison Wand'ring Bark in a pincer like grasp. First the left corner would touch masonry and then the chimney on the right would scrape against the other. At the same time the stern drifted to the right with the top of the open rear doors adding to the steel on brick cacophony. The end of tunnel audience watched in amazement.

Phew - made it!

By this time we were on our knees but not in supplication to a higher power seeking redemption from the dark places of the underworld. No, we were forced down by a lack of headroom and even on our knees our hair brushed the brickwork above, picking up the dust and soot of ages past. All the time we were waiting for the moment when both front corners hit brickwork simultaneously, marking the end of our expedition and initiating an ignominious attempt to reverse out - or worse.  But the dreaded moment never arrived. Suddenly, against all the odds, WB's bows emerged out of the southern portal into the rarely travelled waters of Froghall Wharf - quickly followed by her stern with the hatch catching a last glancing blow on the brickwork before we were out. A ripple of applause reached us from the far end of the tunnel mingling with cheers as our audience hurried around to witness the damage inflicted on our paintwork.

Entering the southern portal

I wouldn't say that the Froghall Tunnel is a piece of cake or indeed a tunnel to be tackled by the faint hearted, but it is certainly passable by many more boats that the gauges would suggest. We made it through with clearance of about one centimeter but wow it felt tight.

We emerged with hearts pounding and a goodly amount of paint redeployed and it's therefore not a passage for the boatproud!

I do feel that there is something of a conspiracy going on here. The guideline dimensions should be the actual dimensions, not some form of sanitised dimension with a couple of inches of clearance added in for good measure. As a result uncertainty creeps in and people like me start to wonder just how much tolerance exists, and attempt passages which at first seem impossible.

As you can imagine, I was too absorbed with the task in hand to take many photos on the southbound leg, but was much more relaxed as we exited two days later and most of these photos covered the latter passage. Armed with confidence we tackled the return at full tickover speed,  sliding through from end to end without a single touch or scratch.

So was it worth it? You bet it was. As well as being exciting at the rides we tackled at Alton Towers the next day, the passage gave access to the exquisite seclusion of Froghall Wharf and the visitor moorings on the Uttoxeter Canal, but more of that tomorrow.

Go on - give it a go. You know you want to. Just remember to bring a pot of touch up paint!