Though we are starting to get some rain again, the impact of the long, dry summer is still being felt on the canal system. The Canal and River Trust is being forced to shut down some canals due to lack of water. The Middlewich Branch is closed due to a massive breach in an embankment at the start of the year, and the Macclesfield Canal closes tomorrow due to lack of water. This means the Trent and Mersey is the only way of getting from the Midlands to the North, so that is seeing more traffic and running out of water, too. We had planned on branching off the Trent and Mersey down the Caldon Canal, which goes up and then down again to Cheddleton and Frognall. In order to put more water in the Trent and Mersey, the downhill bit of the Caldon is being closed, so we will have had to replan our trip due to good weather once again.

The highest part of the canal is fed from the Rudyard Lake, a reservoir built in 1831. In 1863, a young couple met there, fell in love, married, moved to India, and named their child Rudyard Kipling.

Yesterday we turned off the Trent and Mersey onto the Caldon Canal. As I mentioned, bottle kilns are a common canal side decoration.

They are no longer used, since they were coal fired, and the Clean Air Act of 1968 said they were not tall enough. Potteries these days use gas or electric kilns. It took anywhere between seven and seventeen tons of coal to fire a single ton of china clay. The reason that the potteries are here in North Staffordshire is not because of the local clay, but because of the local coal. The clays round here make terra cotta or dark pottery. Here’s some historic china from the area.

The clay that was used for fine cream colored china was transported from the South West of England.

It’s not wonder that Josiah Wedgwood invested in the canal system. It dramatically reduced the cost of his raw materials.

Last night we moored near the village of Milton, a rather sad little settlement where the pub on the main street has closed and half the shops don’t bother opening on a Saturday afternoon. However, there are two other pubs, and the bowling club has a beautifully manicured driveway.

This morning it was raining, but we took advantage of a break in the showers to get a little closer to Leek. The locks are adorned with sculptures celebrating the potteries made by local schoolchildren.

That and the ready availability of ripe blackberries made working the locks a not unpleasant chore.