Summer Hols – Etruria to Scholars Green.

My bearded one was very very busy early this morning after I had taken him for his walk he was doing some general maintenance on my long kennel as was Mike on his kennel, Mickey Jay.

By 10:00 all chores were done and we were all Bristol fashion and we were off.

The big excitement today is the Harecastle Tunnel – 45 minutes underground in a hole that was built over 1350 dog years ago OMG.! I have to stay in my bed in case I am stupid enough to jump off! Dha..it is as black as your hat I remember from the last time and I don’t really enjoy it.

In case you, my reader, is interested Thomas Telford started to build the tunnel in 1825. it took him just 3 years to complete. It is 2.6 km long It was a replacement tunnel, the first was built by James Brindley some years earlier that had taken 12 years to build but it proved too low and too narrow and was nearly 3 km in length. Kennels had to be legged through and the charge for legging was one shilling and sixpence – about 7 pence in real money! It used to take three hours.

Our journey took 45 minutes and I was very pleased when we came out the other side. We were the lead kennel and this made the journey the more pleasant for my bearded one, we were a convoy of seven.

After a mile or so we left the Trent and Mersey to join the Macclesfield Canal and at our first lock we met a working coal barge with Butty, quite spectacular, see one of my photos today, the other is the entrance to the Harecastle tunnel. If you think you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, you can’t, that is the head light of a kennel approaching. It is one way only, we were waiting.

We stopped for the night at a little place called Scholars Green where Mr Marston has a house called The Bleeding Wolf. I will tell you about this tomorrow. I was a naughty boy.

Love Douglas x