Messing about on the river: Discover the joys

From gritty Stoke-on-Trent to the idyllic Churnet Valley, Chris Wiltshire discovers the origins of Britain’s pottery industry on a watery meander

You turn if you want to, the lady’s not for turning.

Carole has been behaving impeccably for two days, navigating the tight turns and narrow bridges of the ancient Caldon Canal with commendable dexterity.

Her good looks and classic lines are drawing admiring glances from fellow cruisers and amblers out enjoying the Staffordshire countryside.

But 17 miles into our journey and confronted with the Froghall Tunnel, which is too small to squeeze through, she is forced to make an about-turn and shudders to a halt.

Carole then lets out an almost audible groan and slides to the bankside with the stubbornness of the former Iron Lady in her pomp.

You see Carole, our Black Prince narrowboat for a few days – and not my wife of the same name – is simply not built for turning. At 64ft and weighing more than 20 tons, she’s like a mini oil tanker.

At least that’s my excuse as I try to coax her to perform one more manoeuvre for the day before we can bed down for the night in the heart of the Churnet Valley.

Fortunately, Neil, a friendly, Covid-19 lockdown and giving seen-it-all-before guy, emerges holidaymakers a taste of what it from Curly Sioux – the only other was like to travel in the 1950s and narrowboat for miles – to talk me 60s in their heritage carriages. through the tricks of the turn. And off to the left, remnants of “Press the bow hard into massive, 500ft-wide lime the bank, keep up the kilns, slowly being revs and let the boat devoured by slowly turn. There’s “I take a moment brambles and ivy, no rush, remember you’re on holiday,” he to savour the timeless beauty of the valley, give a hint of the major quarrying exclaims with a where ancient oaks and knowing smile. Minutes later, Carole (the towering sweet chestnuts straddle the canal” narrowboat) is facing back towards our base at Etruria in central Stokeon-Trent and I’m tucking into a welcome brew.

I then take a moment to savour the timeless beauty of the valley, where ancient oaks, hawthorn and towering sweet chestnuts straddle the canal that once carried limestone for the iron works and flints for the pottery industry.

A solitary turquoise kingfisher darts from branch to branch and shimmering dragonflies flit over the water.

To my right, I can make out tracks for the Churnet Valley steam trains now emerging from the industry that took place in the area towards the end of the 18th century.

I learn that limestone was loaded on to canal boats or burnt in the kilns and then transported to the potteries or further afield, saving horses from performing the arduous task.

It’s not hard to see why the Caldon Canal, a tributary of the

Trent and Mersey Canal, is large Friesian cow that is stuck in regarded as one of the most mud just two miles into our trip, interesting of the 2,000 miles or recover an old barge that is so of waterways that criss-cross somehow separated from its the country. moorings and retrieve my flat

Any narrowboat cap from the water after I holiday is an adventure send it flying when but few offer 17 locks trying to put up an – including a daunting staircase lock – mechanical “We help the fire brigade to rescue a umbrella – a scene the watching mallards clearly and manual lift road large Fresian cow think is hilarious. crossings, an aqueduct/viaduct from the mud” There is certainly plenty to chuckle and countless beautiful over at one of several small road bridges, many hostelries along the way, with inscriptions dated in the our favourite being the Black mid-1800s, over such a short Lion at Cheddleton, which distance. rewards guests who manage the

To add to our own excitement, steep climb from the canal with we help the fire brigade rescue a tasty pub grub and a good

selection of real ales.

Despite the dramas, I can feel work stress quickly evaporating, no doubt helped by the fresh air and the fact that canal boats have a top speed of just 4mph – no more than walking speed.

It’s also a relief not to have to wear a Covid-protecting mask for almost the entire trip.

Friendly families we meet at locks along the way keep their distance and share their experiences. One couple of similar age to us say they’ve taken early

Black Prince Holidays (black-prince.com; 01527 575 115) offers narrowboat holidays from the company’s Stoke-on-Trent base from £675 for four midweek nights in October. Diesel is extra and costs around £10 per day.

retirement, bought a narrowboat demand for its renowned from a friend and now spend their dinnerware, as well as days traversing the country. construction products. “Narrowboat holidays are a bit Before jumping on board at like Marmite – you either love Etruria, we visit the Emma them or you hate them,” says the Bridgewater and Portmeirion sun-kissed wife. “Come rain or pottery outlets to pick up some shine, we absolutely love them.” pretty but reasonably priced mugs

I’m not sure theirs is quite the and tableware, and stop off at the life for me, but our two-year-old huge Trentham Home and Garden six-berth boat has all the creature Centre for a browse and a bite to eat. comforts I could wish for and I’m And we finish the week with a thoroughly enjoying being trip to the vast World of Wedgwood immersed in the countryside. site at Barlaston in Stoke. It’s eerily

The contrast between the gritty quiet, with the factory shut down Stoke section of the canal and the for its annual holidays and the Churnet Valley – often called coach park devoid of tourists Little Switzerland because because of Covid. However, of its unspoilt we spend an enjoyable landscape – is hour in the museum crystal clear. Dotted along “I can feel stress and marvel at the beautiful the route are quickly evaporating, craftsmanship in preserved relics of the famed ceramics no doubt helped by the fresh air and that canal the V&A Collection and Wedgwood store. industry that was boats have a top speed We also have a a powerhouse of the industrial of just 4mph” stab at designing our own pieces of revolution, such as a pottery in the pair of listed conical decorating studio under kilns close to the Black the watchful eye of a friendly Prince boating base that proudly assistant, who tells us how the stand out against the surrounding company have learned to adapt new-builds. and are making specialist pieces,

And the iconic Cheddleton including a dinner set for a Dubai Flint Mill, which used to ground sheikh’s private yacht. flint for the pottery industry and It’s the first painting I have done has now been fully renovated since school, and now, with the thanks to the work of the onset of an unexplained tremor in Cheddleton Heritage Trust. a hand, there’s absolutely no

During its heyday in the 1920s, chance of my piece joining the more than 100,000 people fired guests’ all-star gallery. millions of products a year before Driving out of the site, we cross a the industry slumped spectacularly bridge and watch a family pottering in the global recession of the along the canal, their brightly1990s, faced with severe painted narrowboat sparkling in the competition from the Far East. mid-day sun. It makes us all

Although now only a fifth of nostalgic and we vow to return for that figure work in the factories, another blast one day, even if our there remains a worldwide Carole is not along for the ride.