A day of multiple waterways. We started on the Beeston Cut, then the River Trent, then the Cranfleet Cut, then more Trent, then the Swales Cut, a bit more Trent, and then the Trent and Mersey. With the forecast looking good for the morning but not good in the afternoon, we were ready to go a bit before 8am; we had about half a mile before Beeston Lock, which always has a paddle open at both ends so the river keeps the canal topped up. The difference in level is only a couple of inches at the moment though.
This time on the River Trent we were going against the flow, and it definitely felt like harder work. I’ve never seen so many egrets — there must have been at least six along the five miles or so, all with their bright yellow feet. And there were loads of cormorants too, often deciding to take off as the boat came past.
As we neared Cranfleet Lock a little boat came the other way, very low in the water. He was already making quite a wash, and then sped up once he was past us.
We pulled onto the long pontoon below Cranfleet Lock and I went to work it. Fortunately it was already empty, as it’s a very big lock. At the top end there are only gate paddles, four of them, all operated independently, and all letting in a big jet of water. We started off using just the ones on the same side of the boat, which kept the boat fairly steady. Even so, the water looked like a washing machine.
At the other end of Cranfleet Cut, at Trent Junction, the sailing club had a couple of people getting ready to go out.
After a couple more bends of the River Trent, Sawley Locks came into view, with one standing with the gates open. A lock keeper appeared, so we could go straight in. She took a rope and put it round a bollard, and then went and pressed the buttons to work the lock — so we did it even need to get off the boat, let alone deploy our own key of power.
Outside Sawley Marina, a boat was just about to come off the service point, and I had to give him a quick toot of the horn when he set off without so much as a glance towards us. He apologise, and said if he’d been in a car he would have looked — probably! The next section of the Trent goes under the M1, which we drove up on Monday to Braidbar, and then under a water main pipe that’s very visible from the motorway.
At Derwent Mouthm the River Derwent comes in from the right, while the Trent actually continues to the left; there’s a marina down there. We carried straight on, to the Trent and Mersey Canal.
At Derwent Mouth Lock, a boat was just coming out, so they left the gates (both of them) open for us.
Beside the lock is the first of the T&M mile posts. People always make a big fuss of the one at Aston Lock, south of Stone, which has 46 miles to both Shardlow and Preston Brook, saying it’s the mid point of the canal. But the mile post here shows the canal is actually a little more than 92 miles long. The one with Shardlow at 0 is just along from where we moored.
We carried on into Shardlow and found the moorings empty. It was only 11.30, so we’d made good progress. We decided we’d go out for Sunday lunch, so I found a 30 per cent off mains voucher for the Clock Warehouse, and we booked. It’s a short walk away, through the next bridge.
After a decent roast and a shared sticky toffee pudding, we had a Quick Look in the quirky little heritage centre that’s across the car park, and then walked back to the boat as it began to try to rain. According to the lady in the heritage centre it was much wetter here yesterday than it was where we were in Beeston. It’s become increasingly blustery, so a few showers wouldn’t be unexpected.
9 miles, 4 locks. (85 miles, 57 locks)
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