Back to the Trent

No blog yesterday as we stayed in the Great Northern Basin because of the very wet weather. We did venture out twice. In the morning we visited Lidls across the road from our mooring to stock up for the next few days. The afternoon was more interesting as we took the bus to Ilkeston, a large Victorian industrial town 5 miles away.

As I have mentioned before, a joy of boating is the opportunity to visit places of some interest that one wouldnt bother going to see by car. Ilkeston does fall into that category with its long High Street stretching up a steep hill with many small shops as well as a few of the nationals.

Cruising down the Erewash on a misty morning

Entering Eastwood Lock

Today was very different as we awoke to a sunny but misty morning in the GNB. As Friday is forecast again to be very wet we decided to spend the whole day travelling to reach the start of the Erewash at Trent Lock. We set off relatively early at 8:30. We were rewarded by delightful sight of the mist rising from the water providing a blue-green haze to the scene.

A maple turning red beside Potters Lock in Ilkeston

When the sun cleared the mist there were good views of the canalside trees turning to their autumnal colours.
This trip down the canal was much faster than Tuesdays journey up as most locks were set in our favour and the flow of water coming down the canal caused by yesterdays heavy rain significantly aided our progress.

We reached the moorings on the Erewash above Trent Lock after 11 miles and 14 locks at 15:30 and were soon to be found in the Navigation Inn enoying a well-earned pint of Deuchars IPA.

Great Northern Basin

Moored north of Sandiacre at 8:30am

A harder day than usual today, we travelled 7 miles and 11 locks in 6 hours cruising carrying on north up the Erewash Canal. We left our moorings at 8:50 and stopped for lunch at Ilkeston some 3.5 hours later. After a 0.5 hour stop we set off again arriving at the top of the canal at the perhaps over-extragently named Great Northern Basin in the industrial town of Eastwood at 15:45.

The journey was pleasant enough, helped by the warmer weather. The large locks continued to be surprisingly easy to operate despite being almost entirely set against us (ie we had to empty each lock before we could get the boat in and then fill it again to get to the next section of canal). The canal travels up the valley of the River Erewash past countryside, light industry, and the mill town of Ilkeston, formerly a major textile centre.

Densie (the blue boat) moored in the Great Northen Basin

The Great Northen Basin was formerly the junction of the Erewash, Cromford and Nottingham Canals, only the Erewash being navigable here. There are moves to reopen the Cromford canal through to near Matlock, but this will certainly take many years although parts are still in water.

Th ex-mining town of Eastwood is not the most attractive of places but has a claim to literary fame as it was the birthplace and childhood home of D H Lawrence. A further claim to fame is a very large IKEA store.

We plan to eat this evening in a local pub, our first meal out this journey. Tomorrow we may well stay in the GNB as the weather forecast is grim.

New territory- up the Erewash

Our first ever journey on this canal although it's not that far from our home base. The Erewash Canal is little known except among its local boaters and the more adventurous canal enthusiast. It has none of the fame nor lure of canals like the Llangollen but we are finding it interesting and attractive despite its passage through the industrial outskirts of Nottingham and former Derbyshire mill towns. The canal itself appears well maintained with wide locks which despite being heavy are not too difficult to operate.

Radcliffe on Soar power station seen from the Trent through the mist and drizzle

We left Sawley late this morning for two reasons. The weather looked pretty grey and miserable, not quite raining but then not quite not raining. Secondly, we are running short of the kindling we need to light our smokeless fuel stove, an important piece of equipment at this time of year. Unfortunately a visit to the Sawley marina chandlery was unsuccessful as they had run out so I will have to be frugal when I light the stove.

After a mile's cruise down the Trent from Sawley we turned onto the Erewash at the complex junction of Trent Lock where 5 waterways meet, 4 of which are navigable. The canal then passes through Long Eaton, not that interesting from the boat but noteworthy as being the centre of the furniture industry where there are many small workshops making bespoke furniture as well as some larger names.

Sandiacre Lock

This urban area merges into the next one of Sandiacre, again an unexceptional town although the lock preceding it is attractive and of some interest. Here there is a unique (for the Erewash) toll house dated 1778 and the start of the now derelict Derby Canal. We stopped for lunch and a bit of shopping at Sandiacre at a convenient Lidls, no kindling here though. By this time the weather had improved somewhat.

After lunch we moved into the countryside beyond the town where we have moored for the night.

Back to Sawley

On the Nottingham Canal in Nottingham

Nottingham done, it was time to carry on our journey. After leaving Sainsbury's we travelled further up the Nottingham Canal through Castle lock to a winding hole where we could turn round. The canal is too narrow to turn in except at designated points.

Castle lock provided some excitement as just before the lock the boat became jammed against a small weir controlling the water level in the canal. The amount of water flowing over the weir provided more pressure than the engine could overcome. We only got the boat off by brute manual effort, Denise at the front pulling on a rope and myself at the rear pushing it away from the exitting water.

After turning we went back through Castle Lock again, avoiding the weir, past Sainsburys and retraced Friday's journey up the Trent. We stopped to fill up with water at Cranfleet Cut and a bit later stopped again for a quick lunch. Then back to Sawley where we pumped out the loo. We can now last the rest of our trip and only need pump out again when we reach our home base.

Weather changes plans - into Nottingham

Today the weather let us down. We were planning to travel up the Erewash Canal, one we have never visited before. However we awoke to strong winds and decided that the next section of canal along the River Trent with a sharp left turn onto the Erewash was too difficult under the conditions. Boating in strong winds is difficult and uncomfortable as the long flat sides of the boat act as a sail.

We stayed at Sawley in the morning and walked to the local coop to buy some urgently need provisions. However most of what we wanted wasnt available so we returned to the boat intending to wait for the weather to improve. Fortunately after lunch the wind abated and we decided to travel into Nottingham and visit the Erewash early next week as the weather forecast looked better then.

So we cruised down the Trent and then up the Beeston Canal which took us near the city centre. With the moorings being next to a large Sainsburys our shopping problem was solved. We will stay here for a day or two and look around Nottingham.

Interrupted journey to Sawley

Despite the overnight rain the weather looked reasonable when we got up this morning. We started off at 9:20 and stopped at Swarkestone Wharf for 15 mins to fill up with water. Then we set off again passing through Swarkestone Lock, another deep and wide lock, and towards the next lock at Weston on Trent.

Fallen tree blocking canal at Weston

Shortly before the lock we were flagged down by a moored boater who gave us the news that we would have to stop as the canal was blocked by a fallen tree. British Waterways had been informed and had sent a surveyor to assess the situation. He confirmed that the tree, a large willow, had fallen and had blocked the canal, and arranged for tree specialists to be called out.

Nearly gone

Within 30mins of our arrival the tree men turned up rowing down the canal in a punt. It took then about 2 hours to clear the obstruction and we were able to move on. Their view was that the fall had been due to work being carried out by a digger in the field behind the willow and that the farmer concerned could expect a large bill.

River Trent near Sawley, Naga Queen and M1 Bridge in the distance

Another narrowboat, Naga Queen, had stopped behind us in the queue and we were able to descend Weston lock and the subsequent Aston, Shardlow and Derwent locks together. This final lock took us onto the River Trent for about a mile and then off the river to Sawley where we have moored for the night.

Swarkestone

The moorings at Branston

A really good days boating . The weather was perfect - sunny but not too hot and no wind. We left our moorings at Branston after a fairly late breakfast and continued north through Burton on Trent, which is quite attractive and interesting from the canal.

Soon after Burton we stopped for lunch on the boat at the busy village of Willington where there are good moorings. After a quick trip to the local Coop to buy some bread we set off again at 1:30.

We have now left the narrow canal with its 7foot wide locks. The section of the Tent & Mersey from north of Burton to the junction with the River Trent has 14foot locks able to take two boats side by side. The first one is the 12 foot deep Stenson lock. Fortunately another boat arrived soon after we did and so we were able to descend together and share the work of operating the lock.

Densie moored near SwarkestoneSwarkestone Bridge

At 15:45 we moored and then walked to the small village of Swarkestone where we visited the Carew&Harpur Arms, named after the local gentry, for a rather good pint of Ringwood bitter from the New Forest. Swarkestone's main feature is the 18th Century bridge over the Trent which connects to a 13th century causeway to the opposite edge of the flood plain.

The village is also significant as it was the most southerly point reached by the armies of Bonny Prince Charlie in 1745. He ordered the retreat from here back to Scotland as the supply lines were getting stretched and he mistakenly believed there was a large Hanoverian army blocking the route to London. The canal was built only 30 years later.

Out for a couple of weeks

We are on the move again! After 2 months at home we were feeling the call of the canals.

On Monday we packed the clothes for two weeks and food for a couple of days and drove to the marina. By 13:30 we were unpacked and ready to cruise. 2 hours travelling took us to Fradley Junction where we moored on the Trent & Mersey just north of the junction with the Coventry Canal. On the way we were delighted to have several good views of a kingfisher flying up and down the canal.

After mooring we went straight round to the renowned Swan Inn which overlooks the junction for a pint watching the boats go by. Then back to the boat for dinner.

This morning after a late breakfast we set off at 10 and moored at the attractive but strangely named village of Alrewas, (pronounced ol-rue-us). As it was a bit early for lunch we visited the village shops. I can recommend the butcher, Coates, who sells a wide range of very good quality meats (this time he had veal, duck and venison available), home made pies and cheese. We bought some lamb kebabs and feta cheese which will form the basis of a sort of Greek style meal on Thursday, and some farmhouse Derby, a cheese that can be very difficult to find, particularly in Derbyshire.

After a leisurely lunch we moved off again at 13:30 to travel the 4 miles to Branston Water Park where good moorings are to be found alongside the lakes created by gravel extraction, but now a nature reserve. This section of the canal was surprisingly busy and we had to queue to pass through each of the 3 locks. The countryside is quite pleasant but for 2 of the 4 miles the canal is alongside the very busy and noisy A38 which somewhat spoils the effect.

We reached the waterpark at 16:30 and after a short walk to the very uninteresting village (well really a suburb of Burton on Trent) of Branston we returned to the boat for dinner and perhaps a small glass of wine.