When I told to my children where we were going on holiday, the first question they had was: “Why Stoke-on-Trent?”
OK, it’s not a mainstream summer holiday destination. But it was the jumping-on point for our holiday on the Trent and Mersey Canal, the first of the UK’s long-distance canals to be built, connecting the Mersey to the Trent so that goods could be moved inland from the port at Liverpool.
It spans 93 miles and passes through Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire. We started at the Black Prince canal boat base in Stoke, not far from the spot where Josiah Wedgwood marked the very start of the construction of the canal in 1766, and spent the next seven days on the water.
Wedgwood was one of those pushing hardest for the canal to be built, with his business booming thanks to an order from Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. His pottery was not suited to being transported along 18th century roads — a canal would be much better and he had the means and the connections to make it happen.
We set off from the former site of Wedgwood’s Etruria Works, home to the iconic ceramics firm for 180 years, and pass some of Stoke’s famous bottle-top potteries along the canalside. But it is the countryside beyond that we are aiming for.
Time slows down on a canal. The speed limit is 4mph and the canal locks slow things down even further. So being just a few miles from somewhere doesn’t mean you will be getting there any time soon.
Within minutes of departure we arrive at one of the deepest locks of the trip. The principles of operating it had been explained to us before we set off but making it happen in real life was a challenge.
These are amazing 250-year-old pieces of engineering, which I thought about as the skipper while watching my wife and children grappling with it.
With the help of a passing couple, who happened to be narrowboat owners, we soon had our first lock under our belts. The current Wedgwood factory, five miles (or three canal boat hours) from the old one, is well worth a visit.
The factory tour is fascinating, even if you’re not interested in ceramics. We spend the night in Stone, where Proven Pizza is a hit with the kids. We pick strawberries at Canalside Farm and wander around the National Trust’s Shugborough Estate.
At Rugeley we abandon ship for a few hours and hire bikes from John and Diane at Rugeley Bicycle Repairs for a lovely off-road trip across Cannock Chase. Holidays always seem to involve lots of waiting for people to get their stuff together at the start of a day. But here the mooring ropes can be slipped in minutes and everything we need is already on board.
Steering is simple enough but concentration is required. Things can go haywire pretty quickly, even at 4mph, and reversing is a lottery. The crew soon get the hang of the locks. Which was just as well as there are 40-odd on our trip. We are told one story, possibly apocryphal, of a family of canal-newbies like us who moored up for the night in a lock.
We laughed but it does feel unnerving to be given responsibility for a 20-tonne lump of floating metal, even if it does move at walking pace.
The last time I went on a canal boat holiday I was a one-year-old and my dad apparently found himself caught out with one leg on the canal bank and the other on the canal barge as the two slowly parted company and dad ended up in the canal.
Five decades later and it is our older dog Eli who finds himself with two paws on the shore and two on a boat that is inching away. But he soon dries out again after a run along the towpath.
At times, our journey transforms into something akin to a civilised pub crawl, leisurely moving from one delightful riverside pub to the next, with some truly stunning countryside in between.
The canals are brimming with wildlife. We encounter families of ducks, geese, swans and moorhens. We spot the flash of a kingfisher and, we believe, a glimpse of a mink sneaking across the towpath.
Our home for seven days and nights is Mabel, a 52ft modern, clean and comfortable narrowboat rented from Drifters.
She is spacious but not so long as to be difficult to navigate. The front of the boat houses the living and cooking area, complete with a table and fully equipped kitchen.
Cooking is done on gas but there is a microwave which operates when the engine is running. The table folds down to create a double bed, while the rest of the sleeping quarters are located towards the back of the boat.
The living space is snug. And with two dogs in tow even snugger. Let’s just say it is best if the family makes an effort to get along nicely.
But once underway, and if the weather is favourable, then there is room to stretch out. There are outdoor seating areas at the front and back.
If you fancy a bit of solitude, you can hop off and stretch your legs. We quickly realise that canal life is quite appealing.
We even start to feel a twinge of envy for those we encounter who have swapped their land-based homes for a narrowboat. That is, until they share tales of harsh winters, being frozen in and running low on diesel.
Then comes the moment to select a winding hole to manoeuvre Mabel around and leisurely make our way back to Stoke.