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.