Stoned again!
The owners of Trentham Gardens near Stoke have been spending a lot of money recently and now the visitors are doing the same in the convenient retail park. But there is no need to spend anything. To walk around the lake takes a good hour and a half and can be extended by climbing up to the monument. And to enjoy the gardens is free. We spent a lovely afternoon there yesterday and even spent some money in the shops. The usual culprits are there but one shop in particular took our fancy - it sells predominently local produce which is mostly unpackaged, including frozen fruit, and the shelves are labelled with the food miles involved in bringing the item to sale. We bought some asparagus that had travelled four miles. Some of it travelled a little further before it was consumed.
Thence to Stone where we filled up with diesel at Stone Boat Builders but did not see any stone boats - perhaps they had sunk. We took our first canal holiday in 1976 from Canla Cruising Co here in Stone and they are still going strong.This undoubted event of national interest has been overshadowed recently by the antics of Terry Darlington who hit the headlines with his Narrow Dog to Carcassonne . His boat was prepared for the loopy journey by CCC.
Stone is another interesting canal town which has suffered some redevelopment but managed to stop it before wiping out everything of interest. The Joules Brewery building is still standing and the pedestrianised High Street has much to keep browsers happy.