Kanga And Wombats Adventures

5.10.19

The day had arrived for our grand canal barge adventure to begin!
We left our Angel bolthole about 7am and lugged the bags up to Kings Cross and before we could blink we were on the fast train to Stoke on Trent.

It was fabulous to rendezvous with Jen and Grahame, who had arrived the day before after 5 weeks in Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium….
Amazing that you can meet up at an appointed time when you’ve come from either ends of the earth!
Unfortunately, the Black Prince Marina guru Stevie, told us that there were blockages on the canal at both Manchester and on the Macclesfield Canal, rendering our plans totally useless!
The best laid plans, however, always need a Plan B, and we didn’t have one!
It was a temporary hiccup, and after a hearty breakfast ‘all you can eat’ buffet, the Four Counties Ring got the thumbs up!
Time to meet our best friend for the next two weeks, Ellie the barge.



What a sweetie! Only 6 months old and still smelling new!

On the Inaugural Partybanks Barge Trip of ’16, our barge was named Morgan and we nicknamed him ‘Mad Dog’. Ellie, on the other hand, seemed way too gentle to have such uncouth treatment. After some discussion we all agreed she should be called ‘Ellie McBoatface’. God we’re original!



Ellie was driven out of the marina and after our mandatory briefing on the engineering and safety features of our home for the next two weeks, we were on our way. South not north!


After a few forgetful moments at our first couple of locks, like leaving the paddles up and pushing the lock  gates the wrong way, we were soon ticking along nicely through the outskirts of this historic pottery town and finding our canal mojo.


The industrial area of Stoke soon gave way to the beauty of the West Midlands countryside, and some typical canal sights- swans, duckies and eccentric barge owners!


Our stop for tonight was the village of Stone, less than 10 miles from Stoke on Trent. We had taken 4 hours to get there!