Sunny this morning, but very windy. Adrian had a call scheduled between 10.30 and 11.30 so wanted to stay put to ensure a decent signal. While he waited for that, I walked back to the junction above Swarkestone Lock to have a look around. It’s where the old Derby Canal used to go off, and is now used as moorings by Swarkestone Boat Club.
The old towpath is now the Derby Cycle Route, and just up from the lock is a mile post.
The water now only extends as far as the first bridge; beyond that, the bed of the canal is still there, but it’s dry and very overgrown.
Once I got back, I made a chili for tonight’s dinner. Adrian’s call came towards the start of the window, so we got under way at about 11. The first lock of the day was a few miles further on, and is the last wide lock on the Trent and Mersey. Stinson Lock is also the deepest of them, at 12ft 4in. When we got there, a boat was going up; I made sure I had the boat well tied up on the lock landing, because when the water is emptied it’s very powerful.
By the time the lock was ready for us another couple of boats had arrived, but they were travelling together so we went up alone. Again, the paddles need to be opened quite gently, because there’s a tremendous pull from the water.
The section between Stenson and Mercia Marina is very familiar because I have done numerous boat tests there. Beyond Mercia, it’s a bit of a mystery. We stopped at the rather short offside water point to get some more washing on and top up the tank, and we’re now pretty much caught up following the Crick Show. As we did water yesterday it didn’t take long, so we were stopped for only 15 minutes or so. Beyond Willington we hardly remembered any of the canal at all. We passed One Day going the other way, a Braidbar who’d been at Crick and must have come round the other way. Shortly afterwards we passed the Monk’s Bridge over the River Dove. It’s a pity the railings of the canal aqueduct get in the way.
On the approach to Burton-upon-Trent, the A38 is never far from the canal. Then there’s a big junction with another A road coming off and crossing over; the underside has been decorated with art by local kids. Then there’s A38 is right alongside.
The second (and final) lock of the day could not be more different from the previous one. Dallow Lane Lock is the first narrow one on the T&M and it’s only 3ft 6in. It’s also under a road bridge.
A boat arrived to come down as we were going in, so Adrian didn’t even need to wind a top paddle as they had crew. We moored shortly afterwards at Shobnall Fields, a big recreation ground where the IWA National Rally was held a good few years ago. We needed milk and a few other things, so walked into Burton to find a supermarket. Lidl was the closest so we went there. We came back by a different route which took us past the impressive town hall.
We came back along the canal, and as we crossed the bridge we could see that we’d been joined by two more boats, the two that were behind us at Stenson.
It’s turned into a really warm afternoon, and since lunchtime the wind has dropped too.
10 miles, 2 locks. (101 miles, 63 locks)
No comments:
Post a Comment