Day 6 - Handsacre to Little Heywood

Soon after setting off from Handsacre, the canal runs high above the road with a view of two pubs, Spode Cottage and the Plum Pudding.  A notice advises that crew must go ahead to stop oncoming boats, since the next section is very narrow - this is the former Armitage Tunnel which had its roof removed in the 1970s.  Steering is tricky since the tunnel obviously wasn't quite straight.

In the former Armitage Tunnel

Rugeley was the next stop, the birthplace of Henry Palmer, known as 'The Rugeley Poisoner' and a town with an ambivalent attitude to visitors.  Enticing canal side mooring rings there were, but when we attempted to use them we went aground and had to use two poles and plenty of reverse throttle to get off again.  A passing steerer wryly remarked that it happens all the time.  Once in town, we could find no working public loos, although in the town's favour we had a generous lunch at The Rose Cafe and found a decent laundrette on Lion Street.

The Old Chancel, Rugeley

Our overnight mooring was just above Colwich Lock, associated with another Victorian crime the 1839 murder of Christina Collins on a canal boat, a story later fictionalised by Colin Dexter.  

Blue Adeline at Colwich Lock