Up a bit further…..

Yesterday was a driving day, a trip up to Yorkshire by car (courtesy of Enterprise, Lichfield) for Mags' annual review with the Doc.

I’d picked up the car on Thursday afternoon so we could get off just after 7 yesterday morning. 2¾ hours saw us at the surgery, then we had a side trip across to Ingleton to see our friends Val and John and pick up the mail, and back down again. I was a bit bug-eyed when I took the car back to Lichfield at 3 o’clock, not used to that much driving in one day anymore.
Still, it’s better than the train. Thirty quid plus fuel for a 6 month old Corsa for 24 hours.

This morning Meg and I went up to Fradley village to the PO/General Stores for a paper, bread and milk.

I noticed that St Stephens has decided to diversify to attract people to the church.

St. Stephens, Fradley



The feature this week is a Julia Roberts film about a recently divorced woman who sets off on a world journey to “find herself” Sounds enthralling….







On the way back I knocked on the side of NB Robyn, The Graphics Boat, to inquire about having some mugs personalised.

NB Robyn
I’m pleased with the results….

Mug Shot
We’d had our 48 hour stay on the moorings opposite the BW office today, so we decided to move on, not far, just to the top of Shadehouse Lock.

Fradley Junction from the Coventry Canal entrance

Going up Middle Lock, Fradley

There are good, quiet moorings above Shadehouse, unfortunately others feel the same, and there was no room. So we squeezed in (almost) against the bank a little further on.

NB Flycatcher sitting on the bottom above Shadehouse
Looking back towards Shadehouse Lock
Didn’t want to go too far, it’s the qualifying for the Brazilian GP this afternoon, and we’ll probably stay put for the race itself tomorrow.

Locks 3, miles ¾

A good road……..

That’s what the proper boatmen used to call having a flight of locks set in their favour. And that’s what we had today.

In carrying days gates were left open when the locks were cleared, on the principal that half the time they’d be ready for the next arrivals. But paddles were always dropped.

It seems unlikely though that the boat last down from Fradley was adhering to the old way of working. Probably just idleness drove them to leave the bottom gates open and the paddles up on all of the locks from the junction to Alrewas.
I shouldn’t complain, I suppose. Their lack of consideration actually helped us. I would have been pretty miffed if we’d been following them, though.

Bagnall Lock, the first of our “good road”
We only had a short run today, and Common Lock was only 15 minutes further on.

Into Common Lock, you can clearly see the raised paddle racks.
Easing under the road bridge at Keepers Lock

We moored just above Keepers.

A drizzly start led to a spell of bright but breezy weather, but the damp stuff returned a bit later. It’s the wind that’s going to be a pain though.

As a spin off from the Olympic site development, there has been multi-million pound facelift of the towpath and navigation on the River Lee, which runs close to the main venues.
BW are already looking into the opportunities for letting premium short-term moorings on the river near the Olympic Park.

But that extra revenue won’t be available if the Metropolitan Police and the Olympic Delivery Committee have their way. For security reasons they’d like to see three miles of the navigation and towpath closed during the games.
OK, I accept the need for vigilance, but what’s changed since the refurbishment work started? If this was on the cards from the beginning, why bother spending millions on the upgrades that no-one can take advantage of during the Games?

View Larger Map Get Directions View Bird's Eye

I just hope that common sense prevails. Else this could be the thin end of the wedge. After all, the safest way to conduct the events would be to exclude the public completely, and just televise the popular bits…..

Locks 4, miles 2

Onward to Alrewas.

Rain again last night, but we had a dry day’s cruise, it didn’t come on again till after we’d moored up at 14:30.
It might have stayed dry, but it was dull and grey. We set off just after 9 this morning, with a longish run to the first lock, Dallow, in Burton. This is the first of the narrow locks which takes us up to the summit at Harecastle Tunnel.

Burton is rightly known for it’s brewing industry, but it’s also home to Marmite, and the recipe for the original pickle was devised at nearby Branston. During it’s economic peak, half of the town’s population worked in brewing related occupations, and 87 miles of private company railway shuttled full and empty casks and raw materials around.
There was also a major manufacturer of fairground rides, producing carousels, helter-skelters and “walls of death”.

We hadn’t seen another boat until we got Dallow, and were disappointed to see a couple in front of us. They must have pulled off the overnight moorings in Burton.

It didn’t get any better a little further on, we joined the end of a queue waiting for an opportunity to pass a BW dredging operation.

Dredging near Shobnall.
The boat directly in front of us pulled in at Jannel, so we moved up one slot in the convoy. Unfortunately we were behind a boat towing another, at no more than tick-over.

The gentle speed gave us plenty of time to admire the autumn colours as the leaves turn. In fact we were going so slowly that some of the green leaves had turned orange by the time we passed.

Autumn is here…
They took pity on us at the A38 bridge, pulling over to let us past. With only half a mile to Branston Lock, I was relieved that we would not be stuck behind them.

In fact Branston was with us, as was Tattenhill.

Picturesque Tattenhill Lock
Just along from here is Bridge 36, what I reckon is the narrowest bridge on the network, not counting lock bridges.

Bridge 36

The towpath swaps sides for a bit here, so I guess this must originally have been a roving bridge.

The locks come every half hour or so as the canal follows the gentle incline of the Trent Valley.
Barnton Lock is followed by Wychnor, which takes the navigation up to the short section where the river crosses from the north to the south below Alrewas.

Alrewas river section
We came back up off the river again at Alrewas Lock, and tied up on the VM at the end of the lock landing. We’ll probably stay here tomorrow, then move on to Fradley on Thursday.

Locks 6, miles 11½

Heading for Winter.

We’ve decided to spend the winter up in north Cheshire again this year. Although hopefully we’ll be able to get around a bit more this time. Not sure of the route to get there yet, I’ve been a bit remiss and not had a good look at the winter closures. Still, I’m sure we’ll work something out.

So now we’re heading up the Trent and Mersey Canal, which gives us a few options for alternative routes.

We had a quiet night at Weston, not beset by the undead or warty witches. Disappointed, really. The heavy rain probably kept them indoors….

Meg and I had a walk up to Weston village this morning. The church is set on a hill outside the village, and is an impressively solid looking building.

St Mary The Virgin Church, mainly 13th century.


The village has unfortunately been taken over by a lot of modern housing.

The rain had passed over by this morning, we just had a short shower before we set off. Surprisingly we’ve seen quite a few boats on the move, all but one heading back down towards Nottingham. Maybe they know something I don’t.

Although it’s been another dull day, the autumn colours are starting to come out.

Trees turning near Weston

With traffic coming the other way we were once again lucky with the locks, both of them being in our favour.

We passed through Willington without stopping, not needing supplies, and moored about a mile further on. The trains aren’t so noisy here, and we’re not close enough to the busy A38 for it to be intrusive.

Busy moorings (as always) in Willington
Locks 2, miles 8¾

An early start….

Unintentionally! Come on, own up. Who else forgot to put their clocks back and were up at half past six this morning?
It wasn’t until nine that I realised!

Oh, Happy Hallowe'en!

It was a bit of a grey day as we pulled out of Cranfleet Cut and turned onto the river proper. We had an interesting few minutes heading up to Sawley. The local sailing club was out in force, tacking back and forth against the wind.

Lee Ho!
We had to time it right to cross their courses as they moved across the river, to be clear of the next port tack.
Three times we slowed right down, then had to wind it on to get through the gap.

We made a fleeting visit to the services on the backwater alongside Sawley Locks, then swung around, back under the railway bridge into the lock.
Carol was there waiting for us.

Sawley Lock
This is the last one we’ll share for a while.

Coming out on the river again after Sawley cut we encountered more small craft, this time a canoe race of some sort.

Giving it some welly.
They had to portage their boats around the large Sawley Weir.
We waved goodbye to Carol and Sealy at Derwent Mouth, as she stayed on the river up to Shardlow Marina and we carried straight on onto the Trent and Mersey Canal.

Bye, Carol
We dropped lucky with the locks heading up through and past Shardlow. A boat had just set up Derwent Mouth Lock as we arrived, so we joined them. Then Shardlow Lock was empty ready, although we were solo from this point on as our locking partners had stopped for a pint.
Both Aston and Weston Locks were empty, invitingly with the bottom gates open as well. Both of these locks have very heavy bottom gates, and I think the last boat down (a Canaltime heading back to Sawley at the end of their hols) had had enough. Still, it helped us out a bit.

Approaching Weston Lock, gates open invitingly.
We pulled over for the night just above the lock. It’s a pleasant spot here, far enough away from civilisation to avoid trick or treaters!

We’ve had a very enjoyable few days with Carol. She’s good company, always cheerful. And I always enjoy a trip on the river. Any river.

Although it’s been dull all day the rain held off. Till now. It’s chucking it down at the moment.

Just picked up an article on the “This is Leicestershire” news website. Although it’s a tragedy that Mr Dillon lost his life in the canal, I’m pleased to see that the Safety Elves have not had it all their own way in this case. There’s only so much that you can do to protect people from themselves….

Locks 5, miles 6½

Back to Cranfleet

There was quite a bit of activity this morning as I jogged around the long rowing lake at the National Water Sports Centre. The centre is right alongside the lock, with the canoe slalom course just over a grassy bank from the moorings.

It turned out that today was a British Canoe Union white water event, so that was why there were so many folk about.

The slalom course
A bit wet!
We got away from Holme Lock at around 10, heading back to Nottingham. It was quiet on the river, but there were a few boats pottering about on the Nottingham and Beeston Canals through the city.

The entrance to the Grantham Canal, near the Notts Forest ground. This is another canal with an ongoing restoration campaign.

Heading away from Meadow Lane Lock. Mower World on the right, London Road on the left.
It’s a shame the city council don’t provide step ladders under the bridges. Vomie (or is it Vomit?) and his crew would have far more space to work with….

Under Clifton Boulevard
We had a quick stop at Sainsburys on the way through, then went back up onto the river at Beeston Lock.

Beeston Lock
Out on the Trent. Ratcliffe Power Station is on the horizon.

There are quiet a few riverside weekend properties on the south bank of the river towards Cranfleet.

Some are rather impressive…..
Some slightly less so.
The river must have been a good 8 foot up to dump this log here.

We left the river again on the short Cranfleet Cut, then moored after the lock.
It’s been a fine, mainly sunny day, but there’s been a cool breeze out on the water. Still, can’t complain. The clocks go back tomorrow morning….

Locks 4, miles 12

A short day….even for us.

We had a quiet night moored below Nottingham’s County Hall. Just the odd deedah as an emergency vehicle crossed the bridge behind us.

This morning, from across the river.
Today’s forecast was for rain, but it’s been dry although pretty windy.
We set off around 10, with just a short cruise downstream to Holme Lock. Carol was meeting friends there at 11:00.

On the left heading north are the old BW warehouses, built in the 50’s using concrete and little imagination. Functional they are, pretty they ain’t!

Cubist warehouses.This area was due to be developed as part of the Trent Basin scheme, with over 2000 new homes and retail and office space thrown in. The credit crunch has put it on hold, though.

Just a bit further downstream there’s the new River Crescent development. I think there’s a degree of art deco influence in the design.

River CrescentPrices for a 2 bed apartment start at £295k, but it’ll cost you close to a million for a penthouse with a river view.

More pleasing to the eye is the Georgian style of the next house.Now that’s more like it.

It only took about 45 minutes before we arrived at Holme Lock, and both boats were moored well in time for Carol’s visitors.

Holme Lock cut on the right, Colwick Sluice on the left.

Carol took her guests for a cruise up to Nottingham and back, we just took it easy, doing a few odd jobs that needed attention.

Locks 0, miles 2½

Old Woman Syndrome strikes….

Our plan was to head up the Erewash Canal today, taking 2 days to do the 12 miles and 14 locks to Northern Basin at Langley Mill, then turning around and coming back down again.
This particular canal runs through quite a built up area, being on the fringes of Nottingham, and has, in the past, had a reputation as “bandit country”, with youths targeting boats with abuse and missiles. This has changed now, things are apparently a lot quieter these days.
But it’s still half-term, and we’re rapidly approaching bonfire night. Boys and fireworks can make an unpopular combination, so we’ve decided to play it safe and head out down the Trent for the weekend. Call me an old woman if you want.

We had to turn around, so travelled just less than a mile to the winding hole in Long Eaton, before heading back and down Trent Lock onto the river again.

There are a couple of long established boatyards on the canal near the junction.

Mills Boatyard
And quite a few houseboats, too.

One along here is for sale, £135,000.

An unusual solution
Through Cranfleet Cut and Lock takes you back onto the river, with a 4¼ mile broad, winding cruise to the next artificial section starting at Beeston Lock.

Corbiere on the Trent
This bit was built to bypass the un-navigable river through West Bridgeford. It linked to the then existing Nottingham Canal at Lenton Chain, so called because the junction was chained off out of hours, to prevent unauthorised (non toll paying!) access to the canal.

Watching the boats go by on Beeston Cut …..
Lenton Chain, once the junction with the Nottingham Canal.

From Lenton Chain the Nottingham ran north-west to Langley Mill, linking up to the top of the Erewash and the bottom of the Cromford Canals. This section, and the Cromford, are closed.

There is still the remaining bit of the Nottingham though, running through the town below the castle to link up with river again below Trent Bridge.

Handy boat access to the Magistrates Court….

This is the through route, heading north, and the way we went, stopping for shopping at the canalside Sainsburys, then dropping down Castle and Meadow Lane Locks to the river.

Clear message on a building on the offside
But who would want to?
Meadow Lane Lock, back down onto the river
We turned right here, upstream, and moored below County Hall. There’re a few folk about, but I reckon it’ll be quiet later. We’re not the only boats here, it looks to be fairly popular.

Under Trent Bridge, the moorings on the steps just through the bridge.
Dog swap on the County Hall steps
Locks 5, miles 12.5