Friday Endon - Schloars Green - 8 locks, 3 lift bridges, Harecastle Tunnel, 14.5 miles, 9 hours

The forecast for today was beautiful so we planned an early start  if possible we wanted to get through Stoke and the Harecastle tunnel.

So at 7:00 we pulled pins and were on our way, it was sunny but still quite chilly.

As we got to Stockton Brook locks it appeared that a boat was probably travelling in the same direction ahead of us as all of the locks were against us.

It was a glorious morning with the sun shining and the sky a clear blue, made a lovely change from the ever present threat of rain that had been with us for most of the week.

As we headed closer to Stoke the sprawl of suburbia replaced the rolling fields that we had enjoyed on the majority of the Caldon canal.

George and I headed off to do the last lift bridge, luckily we didn't hold any traffic up today.

We continued to make good progress and arrived at Eurthia and the junction of the Caldon canal and the Trent & Mersey just after noon and stopped to fill up with water.  I was helped through the staircase locks just before this by a little boy Toby and his grandmother, for which I was very grateful as the middle gates were particularly heavy.

As we left the Caldon we would have to agree that it is a hidden gem, very quiet and well worth a visit.

Back on the Trent & Mersey we spotted what initially looked like a shiny stone, but as we got closer we realised it was actually a large Terapin.

We arrived at the Harecastle tunnel.  The tunnel keeper advised we had a good hour to wait as a boat heading in our direction had entered the tunnel about 15 minutes ago and three boats were waiting to come the other way, so we sat in the sun and enjoyed a nice chicken ceasar salad.

By the time we were able to go in there were 3 of us and we had the lead.

It was weird going into the tunnel from such bright sun light as initially you are not able to see anything. The main difference travelling north through the tunnel, is the doors closing behind the last boat and then when the fans kick in you get this rush of smoggy air and for a couple of seconds you are in a fog!

The tunnel us about a mile long but is incredibly straight so you can see the small speck of light at the end.

George wasn't that impressed with the tunnel and took himself off to bed.

Finally we are back in the day light.  There are several boats waiting to go through in the opposite direction, and you can just see the boat behind us emerging from the tunnel.

We then turned right onto the Macclesfield canal and moored up just after the first lock. Three canals in a day can't be bad.  I think Saturday will be a day of rest.