Back off the Erewash

We woke up on Saturday morning sat on the bottom, leaning at a shallow angle. The pound between Pastures Lock and Sandiacre Lock had dropped by six to eight inches overnight. With low pounds above, there was no water coming down the bywashes to make up any lost through the lower gates. A good shove off the underwater rocks got us floating again, and we were on the move just after 10:00.

We crept along to Sandiacre Lock, keeping the revs down and in the centre of the channel, only scraping obstacles a couple of times. The worst was just under the A52 road bridge, a metallic screech as we encountered something thrown off the bridge, maybe a bicycle.

I felt a bit guilty drawing another lock-full of water from the pound to fill Sandiacre Lock, but there wasn’t anyone else moored below Pastures and anyone coming down from above there would be bringing water with them.

Approaching Sandiacre Lock, next to the junction with the currently un-navigable Derby Canal.




The water was back up to normal levels below Sandiacre, and we cruised past the old lace mills, through Dockholme Lock and Long Eaton.

A froth of blackthorn blossom that wasn’t there when we went up!
Blackthorn flowers before the leaves appear, hawthorn does things the other way around.

Lace must have been a profitable commodity, there are some rather fine buildings along here.

Across the way from Long Eaton Lock stands Harrington Mill, built in 1885 in the same style as Springfield Mill in Sandiacre.


South of Long Eaton, just before the main Derby to London Railway Line, is a small basin on the towpath side.

This is Sheetstores Basin, used as moorings by the Long Eaton Boat Club. It was originally built in 1840 as a transhipment point for coke used as fuel for the Midland Counties Railway engines, and also to ship unprocessed coal south by rail. But within a few years the railways were extending north into the Nottingham coalfields, negating the need for fuel to be brought down by boat. The basin and buildings were repurposed, becoming the place where wagon tarpaulins, “sheets”, used for covering open freight wagons, were manufactured and repaired. More buildings were constructed alongside the basin to accommodate the activity, but the basin was still used for transhipping goods from canal to rail.
With the introduction of covered wagons the sheet stores became redundant and was sold by British Rail in 1965 and the buildings now comprise part of Sheetstores Industrial Estate.

Flood gates and bunds protect Long Eaton from the Trent if it becomes a little frisky…

Now that’s a houseboat!


We moored above Trent Lock. With Storm Freya moving in we didn’t want to down on the exposed river.

Today we decided to drop down Trent Lock, with the winds a little lighter. We descended to river level with a single-hander on NB N-Gauge, who was a bit disappointed that we weren’t going up the river and through Sawley Locks too. Instead we pulled in on the floating pontoon just out of the junction. Turning out onto the river with the current and brisk wind both coming in from the right caused us to heel over quite sharply, but nothing fell off the shelves. We’re expecting wind and rain again over the next 48 hours so we’ll be staying put.

So, thoughts on the Erewash Canal. It’s worth the trip, although it’s mainly built up the last couple of miles are rural and the junction at the current end of navigation deserves a look around. The boaters at the moorings there, and Vicky at the boatyard are friendly and helpful. As are the locals met on the towpath. You have to get used to being called “Me Duck”, though…
Downsides, well, the locks are heavy, but we’ve done worse. And there are 15 of them over the just-under 12 mile length. Apparently in summer weed can be a problem, but not this time of year. I think the water level problems we had on the way down were the exception, rather than the norm. All in all an enjoyable trip. Especially, if like us, you’ve time to take it steady.

Locks 4, miles 3¾