Stoke transit and what's in a name?

This morning Westport Lake looked almost mediterranean as we left, belied by the bitter wind that was whipping across.
Stoke on Trent is a fascinating place to boat through, the remains of old industry litter the banks of the canal,

old side arms,

the ubiquitous bottle kilns of the old potteries,

Why do this pair always make me think of Madonna?

Middleport Pottery is still in production and the Princes Regeneration Trust is involved in a project to turn part of it into a centre of creativity and enterprise. Click here for more info.
Of the mighty Shelton Steelworks, with its 10,000 strong workforce, five coal mines, steel works and rolling mills, blast furnaces and by-products factory, not a trace remains.

Just have to put this one in, a proud old English name but sadly in decline, research in 2009 indicated that there were only three hundred and twenty two Shufflebottoms left. As a child in Sussex our district nurse was Nurse Gotobed, another name that is disappearing.
Out of interest Shufflebottom probably originally indicated someone who lived at the bottom of a valley.
This one is especially for Geoff on Seyella.

Cockshutt's Lock with train.

Need a new replacement car door? Lots to choose from just by the site of the Burslem Arm.

We also passed the Brittannia Stadium, home of Stoke City F.C. A place where, for some unfathomable reason, people pay obscene amounts of money to watch overpaid prima donnas rolling around on the pitch.
What is the difference between football and rugby?
Football is where the players spend 90 minutes pretending they're hurt.
Rugby is where the players spend 80 minutes pretending they're not hurt.
Now moored near Barlaston, on to Stone tomorrow.

Watch this space..........