We moved up onto the Trent and Mersey from Sawley Cut on Saturday. Not very far, just 100 yards above Derwent Mouth Lock in fact.
Sawley Marina on Saturday morning.
On the Trent again for a short while.
Upstream from Derwent Mouth the river is navigable only to Cavendish Bridge, just beyond Shardlow Marina, although boats of the Burton Boat Company used to be able to take cargo up to Burton. The opening of the southern section of the Trent and Mersey Canal in 1772 provided an easier and safer route, and the older navigation fell into disuse and dereliction.
For horse-boat traffic on the T&M heading to and from the Trent to Sawley a bridge crossed the river carrying the towpath. This original wooden Long Horse Bridge was damaged by floating ice in 1893 during a thaw, and replaced by a concrete span in 1932. This in turn was demolished in 2003 over safety concerns, and several years of wrangling and consultations took place before the new one, 400 yards upstream, was opened in November 2011.
The abutments of the concrete bridge…
…and the new steel span upstream.
Derwent Mouth Lock, Lock 1 of the Trent and Mersey Canal.
It was one of the fine days and I set to sanding the roof panels that I’d done the paintwork repairs on previously. Rain on Sunday helped wash off the dust, sun and a fresh breeze yesterday morning dried off the roof so I could get the panel borders and vent mounts masked off and the sanded bits painted.
All done by soon after lunch.
On Saturday, before we left Sawley Cut, I walked up to the Co-op in Sawley and on the way back realised that I’d crossed from Leicestershire into Derbyshire on the river bridge.
The Trent, Soar and Erewash form the traditional County Boundaries separating Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Heading downstream on the Soar the right (west) bank is in Nottinghamshire, the left in Leicestershire. At Trent Lock the north bank of the Trent is Derbyshire, the south in Leicestershire if you head upstream. Two and a half miles downstream the Derbyshire boundary heads northwest following the Erewash, so the Trent runs solely in Notts until south of Gainsborough when the Lincolnshire boundary becomes the west bank.
Upstream the Derby/Leicester boundary follows the river until Weston On Trent. The canal, being north of the river, is in Derbyshire and remains there until it crosses into Staffordshire between Willington and Burton.
Wet today, dry tomorrow so we’ll be off up to maybe Swarkestone in the morning.
Locks 1, miles 1¼
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