Brindley Statue

With it being windy and the occasional strong gust we decided to stay put for the day. My lovely (half) clean roof had become disguised overnight with a thick carpet of leaves and the towpath has nearly reached good leaf kicking depth.

Before heading up the Caldon we needed to restock on a few bits of food, so the two of us walked up the hill to Hanley where the glowing Tesco sign sits on the hill. We did a reasonable shop, but not too much for Mick to carry back down the hill. I then headed further upwards in search of another wool shop at intu Potteries. Google maps is very handy apart from when it can’t tell you what floor a shop is on. It had me walking through the shopping centre, around the back, then back down the side I’d already walked from and I’d apparently reached my destination outside a chip kiosk! Inside I visited each floor in turn and eventually saw signs for the Market Hall.

Sadly my original thoughts on Hanley knitters were just reinforced with only acrylic yarns available, at least Abakhan had one or two 100% wool yarns. Hunting through all the wools I managed to find some that I could double up to make some hats with.

Having walked up into Hanley via a different route today I found myself in the Cultural Quarter, museums, arts centres and galleries. Worth having a proper look at another time. One building stood out which is currently empty on the corner of Albion Street and Bethesda Street. Originally the Staffordshire Potteries Waterboard Company offices built in 1858, it is Grade 2 listed. A very pretty building with it’s tiled archways over the windows, it looks like it’s been iced by an expert. The area it sits in has had a lot of work going on, new offices fill the area and opposite it is planned to install a Spitfire to commemorate Hanley born Reginald Mitchell who designed the plane.

Sadly our plan of getting a new pump delivered to Tim Tylers today hadn’t come off as they don’t work Fridays. Mick had been trying to work out where else we could get it sent to, but in the end we decided to stick to the plan of Tim’s and one of us will catch a bus there when it arrives.

My second lot of bags arrived with my friend Julia today, even before she put them on her Etsy shop one was already sold! So I’d better getting ripping up more fabric. A check on Post Restante at a Post Office a bit further up the canal, they actually knew what I was talking about, came up trumps so I’ve placed an order for some proper wool to be delivered to me there. Looks like the dark evenings are going to be busy.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 uphill walk, 1 down hill walk, 5728 leaves, 2 many people, 1 very interesting mill, 1 slightly dusty cat, 1 water pump on its way, 3 projects run out of wool, 3 balls on the way, 1 hat made.