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Saturday 2 April 2016

Away Day 2.

After a great nights sleep the day dawned with sun shining through the trees, and a decidedly warmer feel in the air. When I poked my head out the hatch to enable me to report back to Helen as to just how many layers of clothing she would require today it felt almost like shorts weather!

The boat moored behind us was glistening in the sun coming through the trees.

We were soon through the footbridge and making the turn to head north up the Trent and Mersey. All was quiet other than a couple of suspicious characters shambling past the pub.

We were soon through Middle and Shade House Locks. The voluntary lock keeper was just coming on as we passed. The nice, large house by Shade House is still up for sale. It seems that it is somebody wanting to downsize, and it comes with a mooring! In the distance the boat approaching appeared with a bow wave round the corner. The next time we looked it had disappeared! He may well have gone straight into the bushes on the outside of the bend, or at least very nearly. 

Woodend Lock in the sunshine.

Armitage or 'Plum Pudding' Tunnel had to have the 'lid' taken off due to subsidence caused by mining. I wonder if it was two way working in the day. Lea Hall Colliery was just to the north of the canal. When I was at school I had a trip down the mine for an economics trip. If I hadn't gone to sea I reckon I would have enjoyed going into mining. Similar sort of ethos without the travel.

No.1 daughter was feeling decidedly under the weather so we stopped at Rugeley to plunder the Chemists. We came back stocked up and with one or two other bits to. I do hope that somebody buys this old warehouse soon to preserve it for the future. It would be a loss to the canal, and they don't make them like that anymore.

At the top of the shopping streets are these four miners protecting the roundabout. I remember that when I visited Lea Hall we had to ride on man rider conveyors and it was a dusty place. All the miners were offering us snuff. I'm not sure whether it was to keep the nasal passages clear or a way of getting their nicotine fix with not being able to take cigarettes and matches etc down the pit.

We continued on through Colwich Lock and past Shugborough and up Haywod Lock to Hayward Junction. We winded there and headed back to a mooring that was waiting for us before the lock. As it was such a lovely afternoon we went for a walk. On the path up to the Tower Of the Winds and the Lodge this tree stood out beautifully against the blue sky. You can just make out a cluster of rabbits that seemed to occupy the foot of each large tree we passed.

As the light faded we headed back to the boat and stopped for the photo call on Essex pack horse bridge just after the confluence of the River Sow and the Trent. There was still quite a gurgle as the water surged past the piers.

We donned our finery and headed up to the Clifford Arms for a meal. It was curry night on Wednesday so I had a lovely beef Madras and a pint of Wainwright for £8-50. It wasn't long before the beds were made up and we were laying in them. What is that thing about being out in the fresh air!?

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Good job you went to sea Tony, I really can't imagine you as a miner! Great to have the daily blogs back :)

NB Holderness said...

Too late now Ann. Normal blogging will resume after 19th as we are back home getting the last stuff sorted out. Dentist, finances, beer festival, history walks etc etc. Have you been out for a spin yet? It would be a nice weekend up the locks to Devizes and back. It would certainly get you into the swing of locks.

Anonymous said...

Hello again!
The miner in your pic looks like a deputy, an 'official of the mine'. Deputies were (past tense I'm afraid) underground formen with responsibility for safety in a particular area of the mine, the 'deputy's district'. He's carrying a relightable oil lamp on his belt. This is a symbol of authority and was also used to test for gas, either by holding in the 'general body' of the airstream or by injecting an air sample into the bottom. The sample would have been taken using the rubber bladder, shown on his left lapel, perhaps raised high on the end of the yardstick (another authority symbol) in his left hand. The size of the flame in the lamp indicated the %age of methane present. The lamp would go out if there was a shortage of oxygen in the mine air.
You can also see his notebook in his breast pocket.
The bloke behind him looks like a rescue brigadesman. The harness he is wearing carries his breathing apparatus and you can see the oxygen bottle on his back.
I used to be a faceworker at Hatfield Pit. We took RW up to Yorkshire the summer before last. It felt really strange going along the New Junction as I used to work half a mile below it!

SAM

NB 'Red Wharf'

NB Holderness said...

Hi Sam,
Thanks for that insight into the statues. It prompted me to look a little deeper, especially as I don't remember them from previous visits to the town. It seems they were only unveiled in Sept. 2015 and were commissioned by the Lea Hall and Brereton Colliery Memorial Society and created by Andy De Comyn out of concrete and resin. The four figures are to commemorate 115 miners lost killed under ground at the two pits and are of miners through the ages. They cost £55000 and one has already been damaged by a 'hit and run' driver. I think they are really good and a fitting tribute to the miners and addition to the town. I will certainly take a closer look when next there. In my photo I wondered what the object on his left lapel was and now I know. Thanks again for your interest.