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Had by far the most unpleasant experience of my boating career last night. We spent yesterday boating from south of Barlaston on the T&M through Stoke and onto the Caldon. Around bridge 14 we seemed to have moved out into the country, it was getting late, and starting to rain hard, so we found a deep bank and moored up, just past the railway bridge. Big Mistake. We subsequently found out the that largest council estate in the country is just across the valley: described as "Feral" by a Staffordshire PC. As it got dark, the attacks started: jumping in the back deck, followed by pulling the pins and throwing them in the canal, serious verbals. Feeling very insecure we phoned 999. It took a lot of effort to get the police control room to understand where we were. They don't do canals well. Then we started to be stoned: serious stoning with ballast from the railway line. No sign of the promised police. When the windows started to come in, it became obvious that we had to get the hell out, and fast. Not easy on a narrowboat. In the dark. I started the engine and got on the back in a hail of stones and set off. The inevitable happened and I took a rock in the face. It hurt, but I had the presence of mind to ham up how much and bellowed like stuck bull. That seemed to work and they ran off. Either that or they couldn't be bothered to transport ammo from the railway as we got further away. In retrospect I should have pretended to be half killed _before_ I was hit, but you only think of these things later. We made it in the dark to the offside pub moorings at The Foxley, where the police eventually found us. We got a few flash photos, but they're not good, and don't really ID the hoody-wearing scrotes. Damage to me is bust glasses, bloody nose, contusions and a black eye. Damage to the boat is lost pins, broken windows and serious paint damage. Add two lost nights sleep - we didn't rest well last night - and a certain amount of peace-of-mind. The lesson for boaters on the Caldon is not to stop anywhere before you get to Engine Lock. I'll be contacting CRT and suggesting that they make this advice available at Etruria. I shall be starting The Campaign to Nuke Stoke-on-Trent. If anyone is around later in the week and fancies riding shotgun when we have to head back that way, it would be much appreciated. Cheers, MP.