East Mids Exploration: Day 20

We set off from Hopwas at about 8 this morning. It was pretty chilly to start, but the dramatic sky over Tamworth had just a hint that we might be in for a nice day.

When we got to Fazeley Junction, we stopped on the water point and while I dealt with filling the tank, Adrian went to the nearby Tesco to get some veg. Neither job took very long. As we approached Glascote locks, some ducks got a bit spooked, in the way they do. One of them took off alongside the boat, realised he was in trouble, took a couple of steps on the roof, and went down the other side. It reminded me of a triple jump.

A boat was just coming out of the bottom Glascote Lock when we got there. At the top lock, once the boat was rising, Adrian left me to it and walked up to the Co-op in what used to be The Anchor pub at the next bridge, to get the things Tesco didn't have. He reports that the Co-op is about four times the size of Tesco, and better stocked. At Glascote Basin, it looked to me as though Dave Moore was in attendance doing some sign writing.

The next stretch is through the back gardens of Amington, although it didn't seem quite so tedious today, perhaps because the sun came out. At Alvecote Marina, Chertsey looked very shiny. A little while later Bath passed us.

We went round Polesworth, then out into the country again, which looked very attractive in the sunshine.

When we got to the bottom of the Atherstone Locks, there was a boat going up, one to come down, and another waiting to go up. As it was 12.15 we decided to have lunch rather than following straight up. Of course while we were doing that, a single hander came past and started going up the locks, so when we were ready to go there were quite a few in front of use.

The single hander was very efficient, and kept catching up the couple ahead. We also helped each other out. Then two of the boats in front stopped in the long pound below Lock 5, while we carried on. It is a very attractive flight, even if the locks do take a long time to fill.

At Lock 3, we experienced rudeness without a word being spoken. We were just going into the lock when a downhill boat appeared round the corner, accompanied by three crew on the towpath. One of them walked straight past to the next lock without saying anything; the two women stood next to their boat, rather than coming up to the lock. I worked us through, opened the gate, wound the paddles down, and left the gate open for them. As I approached the women I smiled, and they looked at their feet, while the helmsman turned his back. He turned away from Adrian as he passed on the boat too. I don't think we'd done anything to upset them -- but they certainly weren't a good advert for the BCF, whose flags and stickers adorned their boat.

We cleared the flight in two and a half hours, not a record by any means, but not too bad considering we were following people up. We continued to a mooring we've used before, at Hartshill.

15 miles, 13 locks. (318 miles, 157 locks)

 

East Mids Exploration: Day 19

Today was a complete contrast to yesterday, weatherwise. This morning was miserable and wet; the rain was never particularly heavy, but it was still capable of making you quite wet. Tatenhill Lock is still pretty, even in the rain.

We stopped at the water point below Barton Lock and started a wash load. When we were ready to go up, a boat from the moorings above was almost ready to come down, so we waited for them. At Wychnor Lock, the lock landing is set back, as there's a road bridge in front of the lock.

Before Alrewas, we had our last encounter with the River Trent, as it crosses the canal here, meaning this section can sometimes be closed when the river is high. As I've said before, the weir is better protected today than it was in the 1960s, when my parents and uncle and aunt apparently almost went over it.

There are some nice houses in Alrewas, and there were also lots of spare mooring places; previously when we've been through it's been pretty packed.

Above Bagnall Lock we, as expected, found Bruce and Sheila on Sanity Again. We gave them a toot, and they came out for a chat as we hovered alongside. We had enough time to catch up on the big news from the Braidbar owners' weekend.

At the locks up to Fradley there was plenty of traffic, so we found boats coming out of locks so that we could go straight in, and boats then arriving to go down. It meant the locks passed pretty quickly. We spotted Nev's boat, Percy, on its mooring at Hunt's Lock. We moored above Keeper's Lock, where the moorings were almost empty, and walked up to the junction. There we found James and Donna, lately of Boating Leisure Services, and now joining the Braidbar team. They're moving their boat up to Higher Poynton, so it was great that we bumped into them and could have a chat. They then headed up to the next lock, while we went to the Kingfisher Cafe for lunch.

As we walked back past the junction a boat was just going down Junction Lock, so Adrian stayed to help while I walked down to bring Briar Rose up.

Once up the lock we turned left onto the Coventry Canal (although the bit from there to Whittington was actually built by the Trent and Mersey Company, and the bit from Whittington to Fazely was built by the Birmingham and Fazeley Company). Adrian walked round and swung the little bridge out of the way.

Then comes the long lock-free section -- although it didn't seem short of excitement. A boat pulled out of King's Orchard Marina in front of us, and we followed it through the moorings before Huddlesford Junction. At the junction, there was a bit of a squeeze with a boat coming the other way, which took a bit of time to sort out. The canal through Whittington always seems to be problematic. Some of the bridges are close together, there are moored boats on both sides, and you always seem to meet boats at the most inopportune moments. It certainly happened today, and that half mile or so felt as though it took an age.

Between Whittington and Hopwas I was rather taken by a field of yellow and purple flowers. It would have looked even better in sunshine.

We carried on to Hopwas, and moored just south of Dixon's Bridge, at nearly 5pm.

16 miles, 9 locks. (303 miles, 144 locks)

 

East Mids Exploration: Day 18

Last night we had a lovely sunset -- just about the only time we'd seen the sun all day.

Today we've had a really nice relaxing day. It was pretty chilly this morning, and when we set off at 8am there was a bit of mist rising off the water.

We timed our arrival at the first lock of the day just wrong. When we got to Stenson, a boat was just going up (it was the Kate Boat we'd seen several times yesterday). It's a huge lock, wide and more than 12 feet deep; there were a couple of volunteer lock keepers on duty, and they were properly taking the filling of the lock steadily. Then it had to be emptied before we could go in. Once in, one of the lock keepers lowered a rope with a loop in the end, so I could pass up our centre line, which he kept hold of the whole time.

The significant amount of time we'd spent at Stenson Lock meant it was very nearly 10am when we arrived at Mercia Marina. We turned in, found the visitor moorings, reversed in, and then had some debate about how to moor on such a short pontoon. We were at Mercia to meet regular blog commenter KevinTOO, who lives just a few miles away, and friends Jayne and Stephen who live on a boat in the marina. We went to the Willow Tea Rooms and had just about the most complicated coffee and tea order it was possible to get, with all five of us having something different. We sat outside, the sun came out, and we had a good couple of hours chatting. It was a really enjoyable morning.

The other reason for going to Mercia was to get diesel. In the end, Jayne came with me on the boat round to the diesel point, which is by the entrance, while Adrian went to have a quick look in the Boardwalk shops with Stephen. We managed to get 150 litres of fuel in. Mercia has a clever little credit card reader which links to the phone of the staff member, and also emails a receipt.

It was about 12.30 when we finally left. The entrance to the marina has a fairly tight bridge, particularly for pedestrians using the path through, who get an amusing bit of advice.

We turned right out onto the canal and went through Willington on tickover because of the number of boats. At Bridge 24, which is at a funny angle, I sounded my horn in good time, and heard nothing back. Then when I was nearly at the bridge hole a boat was coming the other way, and was already half way through the bridge -- at which point they sounded their horn. I managed to come to a halt and get out of their way, but it took quite a lot of doing.

Just before Burton-on-Trent we crossed the border into Staffordshire, which I guess also means we're now in the West Midlands rather than the East Midlands. At Dallow Lane Lock, the first of the narrow shallow ones, there was a queue in both directions. The boat waiting above was Hang Loose, which was the subject of a boat test. Further on, I always like the little bridge over the entrance to Shobnall Basin.

Branston Lock is in a nice countrified setting, as the busy A38 moves away from the canal temporarily. Again, there were boats going up and down.

After the lock there's a huge construction site on the offside, with another one before Bridge 34. We continued through the bridge and moored up at the Branston Water Park moorings. We went for a walk around the lake, having an ice cream on the way.

We haven't gone very far or tackled many locks today, but it was really nice to see new and old friends, and have a very laid back sunny day.

12 miles, 3 locks. (287 miles, 135 locks)

 

East Mids Exploration: Day 17

We were up fairly early this morning, and set off a little before 8am. There's not really much to say about the retracement of our steps along the Nottingham Beeston Canal. At Beeston Lock, the rise up to the River Trent was again just a few inches. Along the next stretch of the Trent, there are some quite nice looking houses, all of which seem to have a boat outside as well. You can seen how much the river floods, as the houses are up on stilts.

As we approached Cranfleet Lock, there were again volunteer lock keepers on duty, who prepared the lock for us, gave us a green flag, took our ropes when we were in, and worked the paddles. It's quite a deep lock.

The Cranfleet Cut is a little over half a mile of straightness, which ends at the big junction with the Trent, the Soar, and the Erewash Canal. It's a week since we were last here; then we were going from the Erewash to Cranfleet Cut, this time is was Cranfleet to the Trent. We're now on waters we last did three years ago, although in the opposite direction. On one side of the river there's a Scout adventure centre, with lots of tents and lots of kids (and quite a few adults) in lots of boats.

At Sawley, we decided we'd take the right hand channel where there's a full range of services. So we were able to fill with water, get rid of rubbish (there are even recycling bins), and I did an empty of the composting loo. I'm getting good at this now, so it didn't take too long.

We were stopped for half an hour or so. We needed to turn around, then go back through the railway bridge, then turn again to get into Sawley Lock. A couple of boats had not long come down, and there was a volunteer lock keeper on duty, so we could go straight in. We made a further brief stop outside Sawley Marina, as we need diesel. But if you don't want to use the automated system (which does a 60/40 split on propulsion/domestic), their attitude seems to be that it's really too much bother. So we decided to go elsewhere. We'll stop at Mercia Marina tomorrow instead.

The next stretch is back on the Trent again, going under the M1 and then a much more impressive water pipe.

Derwent Mouth Lock takes you up onto the Trent and Mersey Canal, and we had to queue for a lock for the first time since Foxton (and I don't really count queues at Foxton and Watford, because the staircases mean there's nearly always a queue). Next comes Shardlow, with some attractive buildings.

We shared Shardlow Lock with a Kate hire boat from Warwick doing the Leicester Ring. We told them we did that ring on a Kate Boat ten years ago. By Bridge 7a there's a tree down, giving just enough room to get through. It looked like a crack willow -- and I thought they were supposed to have been dealt with, following an incident a few years ago when a boater was swept off her boat by a willow which happened to crack and come down as she passed underneath.

One of the following bridges has suffered quite a lot of damage, with half the parapets gone, and big cracks elsewhere. The farmer or someone has decided to prevent further damage by installing barriers on the bridge.

There's a nice looking church near Weston, and before Swarkestone you can see the Swarkestone Hall Pavilion, or The Stand, which is available for holidays.

We carried on through the deep locks at Weston and Swarkestone, and moored above Swarkestone -- where we moored three years ago. It's been a funny sort of day weatherwise -- dull, not very warm, and with brightness always just on the horizon, but never getting any closer.

Once I'd written this blog, the engine was cool enough but still warm enough, so I did an oil change which was a few hours overdue.

19 miles, 8 locks. (275 miles, 132 locks)

 

East Mids Exploration: Day 16

There was a fantastic sunset over Gunthorpe Bridge last night.

Then an hour or so later, at the stern of the boat, there was a beautiful moon.

This morning was anything but beautiful. There was rain, which was heavy at times. Every now and then there appeared to be a lull, but then the heavy stuff returned. Having done so many miles yesterday, we were content to sit it out. Then as lunchtime approached we could see the end of the cloud. We decided to go over to The Unicorn pub just over the road for an earlyish lunch, then set off. So we were underway at 1pm. It was turning sunny up ahead, but still really dark behind. There was plenty of water coming into the river from a stream near Stoke Bardolph, and the swans appeared to be enjoying the ride (or the food).

The VHF radio proved invaluable again today. The two Trent locks we did were both against us until I radioed a few minutes before we arrived, and by the time we got to them, they were open and ready for us. The lock keeper at Stoke Lock said it had been the quietest day this month! The approach to lots of these locks going uphill can be tricky, because of all the water coming over the weirs. At Holme Lock, there's the weir stream coming in from one side, and the end of the white water course at the Holme Pierrepont watersports centre coming in from the other.

Holme Lock is deep -- the lock keeper said that with summer river levels, the rise can be up to 18 feet. When the lock is full, it holds a million gallons of water.

Our next lock, we had to work ourselves. It's the one up from the river to the Nottingham Beeston Canal. Then we did one more lock before mooring in central Nottingham, just a few boat lengths from where we were last Saturday. We had planned to go further, but the lunchtime start put paid to that. We made use of the very nearby Sainsbury's to stock up for a few days.

11 miles, 4 locks. (256 miles, 124 locks)

 

East Mids Exploration: Day 15

The problem with needing to go on a river in the fairly early morning in the autumn, is that it'll be misty. And it was this morning. In fact, it was a bit more than misty in places. We needed to set off at 7am to catch the tide; the visibility wasn't great.

The conditions meant a great deal of concentration was needed. We were following the charts, and to make sure we knew where we were and where there were shallows we needed to avoid, we needed to look out for the red and green markers on the corners, the km posts, and the warning signs.

After a while, I noticed that emerging out of the gloom behind us was a large boat. We recognised it as the tug, Exeter, pushing a couple of huge empty pans. They'd all been on the pontoon at Torksey Lock. Then I noticed that a small cruiser we'd met at Torksey was also behind us. They came past first.

Exeter gradually caught up with us, and at a suitable point we slowed down and let it pass.

Then some boats appeared coming the other way. First were three cruisers, then a bit later a narrowboat. We also heard on the VHF radio the Cromwell Lock keeper telling Torksey the names of the boats heading his way. It confirmed my belief that you shouldn't pick a silly name for your boat, because it may need to be used on the radio. One of the cruisers was Vino Collapso.

The VHF proved very useful as we approached the end of the tidal section at Cromwell Lock. Exeter told the lock keeper he was on his way, and that he had us behind him. He said he'd need to use the whole lock -- rather than the middle gates on the lock, which they'd use for narrowboats and cruisers -- and suggested we go in first, with him behind. So on the approach to the lock, Exeter slowed down, we went past into the lock, and then he came in behind us. We've shared locks on the Thames with some big boats, but nothing like this.

Egrets: I've seen two. One in the gloom this morning, another after the sun came out this afternoon.

We carried on through Nether Lock and Town Lock at Newark, each time using the VHF to tell the lock keepers we were coming. We had lunch on the move, then at some point in early afternoon the sun finally burned off the mist and fog. The reach up to Fiskerton seemed to take ages, but once we got there, there's plenty to appreciate. We liked a modern riverside house, and the pub looks good too.

It was now nicely sunny and warm, so we carried on, aiming for Gunthorpe Lock. The scenery does look different going the other way, but as we did the river only the other day, it did seem sensible to try to get plenty of miles under our belt. We moored up for the night at the visitor pontoons at Gunthorpe at about 4.30. I'm not sure we've ever done this many miles in a day before.

36 miles, 5 locks. (245 miles, 120 locks)

 

East Mids Exploration: Day 14

We had a very quiet night in Lincoln; those moorings might be a bit different next week when all the students are back for Freshers' Week. This morning was misty and murky. With very few miles to do we were in no rush to get going, but set off about 9.15 on the return trip along the Fossdyke Navigation. The first landmark outside Lincoln is the Pyewipe Inn, seen here yesterday when it was sunnier.

We stopped half way along the navigation at Saxilby, where there are good visitor moorings. We'd been warned by a boat going the other way about some anglers there; they were on the offside, and took vocal objection to any boats passing too close. We walked into the village and found a decent Co-op. Saxilby has a heritage society, and the more interesting buildings have little plaques on them. We did a circular route round the village to get back to the boat, where we had lunch. Setting off again, there was a man in the water by the railway bridge. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was checking the bridge hadn't been undermined in any way.

Before long the cooling towers of Cottam power station came into view. By now the sun had burned off the mist and it was getting warm again. We moored on the visitor moorings before Torksey, as the tides mean we can't go down the lock until the evening.

We moved to the top of the lock later in the afternoon, then at a bit after 7pm we were called to go into the lock. There was a lovely moon over Torksey Basin.

One of the sets of centre gates at Torksey Lock has been filled with tea pots. There are more all along a wall by the cafe, too.

By 7.30 we were tied on the pontoon below the lock. We'll need to set an alarm for the morning. We are taking the tidal Trent back to Cromwell Lock, and will have to go with the tide -- which means setting off at about 7am. Particularly having read tonight's blog by Sue on No Problem XL, once we'd moored up I checked the weed hatch, and removed a few handfuls of weed from around the prop shaft.

11 miles, 1 lock. (209 miles, 115 locks)