The making of the Canal

 

It was in 1765 that the engineer James Brindley and pottery manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood met at The Leopard public house in Burslem and resolved to build a canal to take production from the potteries to Runcorn before meeting the Port of Liverpool to ease the distribution of their wares.

This is a local section of it showing on the left the "Homes Ashore" from the late Victorian era the Lock and with it the lockkeepers cottage as we exit the city region to the countryside of Cheshire.

Sadly we lost The Leopard which goes back to the Eighteenth Century to a catastrophic fire on Saturday afternoon but it was here on Market Street, Burslem that one of the most important drivers of industrialization in this region that lent the unofficial nick-name "The Potteries" was born.

The road ahead inspired from the past

After Friday's 500th edition, we'll get what this is about, and why currently we are on a three posts a week cycle which is issues around availability of good vintage scouting images not least Tumblr removing many blogs that collected them make doing what i used to do difficult.

As well I decided to try to up the user generated content on here so this blog really would stand out for being more than just a collection of  old scouting pictures but be about Scouting and my own explorations and activities.

Exploring can take you to odd things that survive like this Seveneenth Century cottage, actually three farmers cottages knocked into one nearby with it's thatched roof and tastefully restored some years back with a lovely big garden.

Not being able to at the time to the larger planned gardens due to the coronavirus restrictions was a drag but having that on my doorstep to spend time around enjoying the view and seeing the birds and insects was just lovely.

I also got during lockdown a few original Wolf Cub annuals of which this is one that cover the sorts of activities Wolf Cubs did as well as having fascinating information and inspirational stories.

I'm not of what you might call a collectors mentality, keeping them under lock and key but I have them for what any boy then was grateful to have them for, as things that inspire me to "Do Your Best" and grow as that person.