Wednesday 21st September

We woke up to a beautiful morning – such a difference to yesterday J We filled up with water and set off. We stopped off at Cheddleton Flint Mill which is right by the canal. The earliest record of a mill there is dated 1253. It was used to grind corn and was powered by water from the River Churnet. In the 18th Century the mill were converted to grind flint for the pottery industry. We then moved on back towards Hazelhurst Junction where we stopped at the Hollybush where we had an excellent lunch. We went up through the 3 Hazelhurst locks and then did a sharp left hand turn onto the Leek Arm. The Arm winds through lovely woodland and with the sun peaking through the leaves it was really beautiful. Just before the Leek Tunnel the canal opens out into, what is almost, a lake and looked to be a lovely mooring place. We went through the tunnel, turned the boat round and Richard tried to reverse up the last part of the canal but the wind was quite strong and Mary H would not go where he wanted her to so we moored up where we were. We walked to Morrisons in Leek to stock up, then back through the tunnel to the “lake” where we moored up. As we had had a proper meal at lunchtime we had bought some lovely bread and cheese in Morrisons so we had a real feast!