The Big Cruise Day 44: ...All ye who enter here...

Harecastle Tunnel is one of the oldest in the land. This one is the third they built, the others having fallen into disrepair.

The last time we came this way the boat in front of us broke down and we had to push it through. Quite an experience which we hoped we wouldn't have to repeat today.

Not for the claustrophobic!

The tunnel is about 1.75 miles long and is "one way". It takes around 40 - 60 minutes to pass through. Tunnel Keepers at each end control the traffic. We had to wait about an hour - 3rd in the queue - for northbound boats to clear the tunnel before we could proceed. This time we did it in double quick time - 40 minutes. Then we emerged into the sunshine once more - in Stoke-on-Trent.

I could have shown one of many pictures I took inside the tunnel. The water hereabouts really is the colour of oxtail soup due to the ironstone around here leaching into it.

[Explanation: Big Cruise Blips begin on 9th April [u](where there's an introduction)[/u] and last nearly 8 weeks with a break in the middle. I am catching up with the back-blipping]