Boaty Trips: Day 25 - Bosley to Trentham Lock via Harecastle Tunnel

Blue Adeline went through the first lock at Bosley, turned in the winding hole and returned down the lock saying goodbye to Jane and Mike. We aimed to get through the 1.6 mile Harecastle Tunnel that afternoon and on southward towards Stoke on Trent. By midday we were in the queue for the tunnel being briefed by the CRT supervisors on whether our roof box would need to be removed (no, luckily) and procedure and safety for travelling through: switch on internal lights; watch out for the lower middle section and don't crack your head (!); keep a good distance from the boat in front.

In the queue for the Harecastle Tunnel

It was fortunate that we were following another boat, because as in most canal tunnels there's absolutely no light inside the tunnel except the boat's headlight pointing at the tunnel roof, the light through the portholes and the handheld torch we had on the deck. We took turns steering and followed the light from the boat ahead - it seemed a long way ahead - to keep us straight, this being difficult to gauge otherwise. The lower middle section was also difficult to detect, but we kept checking with the torch and you certainly do need to keep your head down. After about 35 minutes, we could see the doors ahead and the light outside and hear the ventilator fans and were soon out (relief!).