Mooring in Stoke as a visitor?

[Ange]

15 hours ago, dmr said:

 

Trentham feels like a nice safe rural spot, but I have always wondered why there are handcuff keys on the lock ?????

 

There are still occasional reports of trouble in Stoke on Trent and I am aware of two incidents at Westport Lake over the last couple of years, one very serious. At Stoke selfish cycling and quite a bit of towpath motorcycling are very real issues, in fact I really would never stop there at all if not for the Holy Inadequate (and the cheap gas).

 

..................Dave

I can only speak as I find. When the roving winter moorings were in place we chose Trentham for two winters with our car parked in the lay-by nearby. We had zero incidents over quite a few months, absolutely zilch.

We took a mooring at the Black Prince marina one summer when I needed to work, not being over keen on marina life but constrained by my job to staying in a small area we spent a lot of time moored in various locations in and around the marina. Again no incidents.

We also took a winter mooring at Westport Lake once they'd done away with the roving winter moorings - absolutely no problems at all. I'm very surprised to hear about two incidents, one serious here. It's outside Stoke in an affluent newbuild area. Are these first hand reports?

Selfish cycling - endemic over the whole system - Birmingham was probably the scariest place for risking being mown down by the lycra brigade but the Leeds and Liverpool near Chorley was pretty grim as well.

Same with motorcycles on the towpath.

Trouble is if a motorcycle makes a nuisance of itself on the towpath in Braunston (where Carlt had his boat set on fire) they think lordy what an anomaly. If it happens in Stoke the think bloody Stoke - should have known not to moor here. Must tell everyone I know how horrible it is.

My point being that I am very familiar with the area - after we sold the boat we bought a house in Burslem which we lived in for two years. It was my health and the need for family support that brought us back to Kent - I miss our Stokie friends.

I'm sure people do have problems in Stoke, just as they do in many built up areas and occasionally in rural places but Stoke doesn't deserve it's dreadful reputation.

Too much credence is given to second, third or more hand stories that have a huge element of Chinese whispers.

Edited April 18, 2019 by Ange
to add a bit more

[dmr]

I was a bit hard on Stoke, and its unlikely that I would ever pass through without spending a night there.

Bad reputation is a difficult thing but anmy trouble I report usually comes first hand from people who I know and trust. Many boaters do get things out of perspective. A few rowdy youths shouting, a 7 year old throwing a pebble, a drunk youth thumping the steel side of the boat and running off, or getting untied in Birmingham all do NOT count as trouble, but for some boaters they do.  We have only had one bit of real trouble in ten years of boating, we were shot at several times!!. This was on a safe semi urban visitor mooring (nowhere near Stoke)  and I would moor there again because I believe this was an isolated incident.

 

Stoke is urban and a bit run down so the occasional incident is to be expected, that applies to most urban moorings. The motor bikes are a pain because it does happen more than it should and the towpath is very narrow, but Stoke is no worse than Birmingham or other popular urban spots, and as I said, the pub makes the small risk worthwhile.

 

................Dave

[Grassman]

 

We will be in Stoke next week and looking to moor by or near to the Red Bull pub which is by Lock 43 and the CRT depot just past where the Maccy goes off. Are there any suitable overnight moorings there and is it reasonably safe to leave our boat for a couple of hours while we go to the pub? I know it's amongst a flight of locks but there appears to be reasonable gaps in between them.

 

I've taken note of all the other moorings mentioned in this thread, and may well opt for one of them, but we have a specific reason for wanting to moor near the Red Bull  if possible which is too boring to explain here.

 

Another question - Someone has told us that we need to pre-book our transit through Harecastle Tunnel but I think they are wrong and that from this weekend if we arrive before 4pm we will get a passage through. Am I right?

[ditchcrawler]

2 minutes ago, Grassman said:

 

We will be in Stoke next week and looking to moor by or near to the Red Bull pub which is by Lock 43 and the CRT depot just past where the Maccy goes off. Are there any suitable overnight moorings there and is it reasonably safe to leave our boat for a couple of hours while we go to the pub? I know it's amongst a flight of locks but there appears to be reasonable gaps in between them.

 

I've taken note of all the other moorings mentioned in this thread, and may well opt for one of them, but we have a specific reason for wanting to moor near the Red Bull  if possible which is too boring to explain here.

 

Another question - Someone has told us that we need to pre-book our transit through Harecastle Tunnel but I think they are wrong and that from this weekend if we arrive before 4pm we will get a passage through. Am I right?

There are mooring rings in the pound by the CRT services and the pound below. Cant remember the last entry time for the tunnel but no need to book

Edited May 24, 2019 by ditchcrawler
spilling

[The Welsh Cruiser]

15 hours ago, Grassman said:

 

We will be in Stoke next week and looking to moor by or near to the Red Bull pub which is by Lock 43 and the CRT depot just past where the Maccy goes off. Are there any suitable overnight moorings there and is it reasonably safe to leave our boat for a couple of hours while we go to the pub? I know it's amongst a flight of locks but there appears to be reasonable gaps in between them.

 

I've taken note of all the other moorings mentioned in this thread, and may well opt for one of them, but we have a specific reason for wanting to moor near the Red Bull  if possible which is too boring to explain here.

 

Another question - Someone has told us that we need to pre-book our transit through Harecastle Tunnel but I think they are wrong and that from this weekend if we arrive before 4pm we will get a passage through. Am I right?

As has already been suggested: There's room for 7 or 8 boats just before (going east) CRT Red Bull services. Use the rings here, walk past the yard, the pub is alongside the first lock, just 2-3 minutes walk.

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, The Welsh Cruiser said:

As has already been suggested: There's room for 7 or 8 boats just before (going east) CRT Red Bull services. Use the rings here, walk past the yard, the pub is alongside the first lock, just 2-3 minutes walk.

Depending which way you are going, comeing from, mooring on the aqueduct above the T&M is another option or there is one pair of rings just above the pub on the towpath

[Pennine]

Just below the first lock of the flight (Lock 41 - just past the junction with the Macc) there is good mooring to pop round the corner to a large Tesco if supplies are needed. As said above, the rings by Red Bull yard betwenn Locks 43 & 44 (Water, Refuse, Elsan, Shower etc.) are fine for the pub (48 hrs). Harecastle Tunnel  - Last arrival for guaranteed passage through the tunnel 4.00pm - No booking required.

[Grassman]

Thanks for the very helpful replies. I should have mentioned that I will be approaching from the Harecastle tunnel direction and continuing up the T&M so it looks like I should be fine for finding moorings.