Jolly Boating Weather

On Sunday morning I managed to tear myself away from my chair in the shade and my lovely book (see my last post) for a couple of hours to visit the local Canal Festival which was based at the Etruria Industrial Museum (formerly the Jesse Shirley bone and flint mill) where the Caldon and Trent and Mersey canals meet - an ideal place for a canal festival deep in the industrial heartland of the potteries. We decided to park at Hanley Park and walk along the Caldon canal towpath towards the museum.


We walked past Stoke College and the student accommodation by the first lock and under the road bridge as we headed towards our destination.


There were loads of these pink flowers along the canal banks I feel I should know what they are but I can't place it - has anyone any ideas?

Below are a few scenes from the Festival. It was warm and sunny and people were strolling around eating ice-cream and thoroughly enjoying the weather, the atmosphere, the noise and colour.

As well as narrow boats there were vintage vehicles and steam engines, all being polished and displayed with pride by their owners.

These boats were on the Caldon Canal, the one below was on the Trent and Mersey Canal.

On the festival field there were many other activities like a fishing competition and archery, too.

Many of the canal trusts and waterways organisations had stalls and there was a music tent where local bands would be entertaining throughout the day.

It was just the ticket to rouse the spirits and a good way to spend a couple of hours on a warm Sunday morning and the last day of May.

The Meerbrook Scarecrows

After our walk on the Roaches and a picnic lunch we headed down into the village of Meerbrook where there was a Scarecrow Festival happening. We had passed several scarecrows on the edge of farm lanes on our drive up to the car parking near the Roaches and now we were to discover many more. It is such a pretty village and it was great to see that almost all the residents had entered into the spirit of the Festival. We found a few other people wandering around and chatted to a couple who were visitors to the area and had just happened upon the scarecrows and stopped to look.

Here are just a few of the ones we saw, there were many more along the lanes where it was impossible to stop and take photos.

The one above was close to where we parked for our walk on the Roaches.

A very colourful milkmaid in a farm drive.

This bird watcher or 'twitcher' was peering over a hedge just in the village.

Mary Poppins on a lamp post on one of the roads out of the village.

A lady potting plants outside one of the little cottages in the village.

An inebriated cleric outside the vicarage.

A lady resting on the corner of the street near the Lazy Trout Inn.

There were pretty plants for sale outside the cottage with the "For Sale' notice board.

Just outside the village is Tittesworth Reservoir which is well worth a visit. We quite often walk here as there is so much to see. Below is the reservoir as seen from up on The Roaches.