Stone to Barlaston.

   

After a grey start the sun came shining through as we negotiated the lock next to The Star with it’s magnificent copper lantern light. The plaque says that it is in the Guinness Book of records for being the pub with the most different levels and mind your head.

As we passed Stone Boatyard we noticed that the entire fleet of  Canal Cruising Club hire boats had ventured out onto the canal network. After all it is the school holidays now, so getting quite busy.

Next we saw the old brewery buildings with the painted lettering of ‘Joules Stone Ales’ still visible from the canal.

  Moored outside the Stone Boatbuilding Chandlery was the beautiful Dutch Barge style narrow- boat called ‘Emma Louise Too’, very nicely proportioned she was too!

Bridge 95 has an unusual narrow Horse Tunnel beside it leading under the roadway. We were moored here and almost full with water when another boat cruised passed us into the lock, never mind eh.

   

This is what it looks like inside the Horse Tunnel, the large cobbles have all been rounded and smoothed by the horses hooves over the years. We had some different gongoozlers at the next lock, a pair of friendly white ducks.

In this garden is the Stoneycombe Sidings Signal Box complete with a signal. It makes a wonderful garden shed don’t you think?

Bridge 100 is a turnover bridge, where the towpath crosses from one side to the other. Unfortunately the interesting bit of it is obliterated by the bushes. These cyclists have ridden under the bridge and curved up over the top without having to dismount. In the past horses towing boats would have done this, without having to detach their tow rope to do so. There are some useful little footbridges at the tails of some of the locks with a slit through the centre where tow ropes could pass through without them being disconnected. These bridges would have saved a great deal of time for the working boat people. Anyway, it’s been an interesting mornings cruise for us today, exchanging with other boats at most of the locks making it easier.