The water point in Shardlow is just through the bridge ahead of where we’d moored, so once we’d had breakfast we moved forward to fill the tank and get some washing on. Once that was done we went up the lock, which is pretty shallow.
All morning we’d been watching a Ryanair plane doing circuits out of East Midlands Airport.
The next lock is Aston Lock — not to be confused with the other Aston Lock on the Trent and Mersey, which is up near Stone. In fact you can’t really confuse them, because this one is a wide lock.
We think it was at Aston Lock in 2006, when we were on a hire boat, that the boaters we were sharing the lock with told us about shared ownership, which led to us buying a share in Debdale, and then to owning our own boat.
The countryside round here is pretty but unremarkable, with plenty of farmland and views across the valley. But we also spotted big marquees up on the hill the other side of the river, and worked out they’re for the Download music festival next weekend at Donnington Park Circuit. After Weston Lock, the scenery changes and there are cliffs one side of the canal.
On the approach to Swarkestone there are glimpses of The Stand, a 17th century pavilion with a distinctive roof.
When we got to Swarkestone Lock a boat was just coming out so we could go straight in, and then another arrived to go down. These are deep locks, at nearly 11ft, as well as wide, and you have to be careful with the paddles. We moored up just past the junction and the restored crane. After lunch, we had a visit from David Oakes, who was the Canal Boat boat test photographer when I first started doing them. It’s a long time so there was a lot to catch up on, and it was really lovely to see him.
6 miles, 4 locks. (91 miles, 61 locks)
David photographed both Caxton and Yarwood I believe
ReplyDeleteThat correct remember both well...i think my favourite was Yarwood. It was also a cold daye for that shoot, but sunny. It was also the day of the aweful coach crash for the locals schools ski trip.
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