Beware low bridges

Densie & Denise in the 12 ft deep Trentham lock

In the evenings after eating we often like to go for a short stroll. Yesterday evening we walked around Westport Lake looking at the birds. Nothing rare of course, but what we did see was a pair of Great Crested Grebe displaying their mating ritual. They floated in the water facing each other. One would bend its neck down, peck its side and then straighten up. Immediately the second bird copied the behaviour exactly. This was repeated several times, and then the male bird dived down and reappeared with a piece of weed which he offered to the female. Sadly she showed little interest and swam off - such is life!

We left the mooring at 8:55 in glorious sunshine, though a rather cold wind. An hour later we stopped outside the Wedgwood/Royal Doulton/Coalport/Waterford Crystal/Minton factory outlet to have a quick look round. Following the collapse of the original Wedgwood company last year all these "brands" are now owned by an investment company. Some of the china and glass is made in the UK but most is imported from all over the world - we saw references to China, Indonesia, Slovakia and Poland, although I believe the designs are still controlled from the UK.

We then travelled on through Stoke stopping for 30 mins for lunch and are now moored near Barlaston outside the Wedgwood factory where production moved from Stoke in the 1930s after the original works was affected by mining subsidence. We were told that the Barlaston site is still working though we cant see any evidence from the boat.

A rather sad chimney

On the way we had a slight mishap. One of the bridges is known for being very low. Unfortunately I didn't remember how low it really was with the result that our chimney was damaged beyond repair. Chimneys like most parts of a narrowboat are readily replaceable so we should be able to buy a new one in the next chandlers we see.