Down the Trent to Nottingham

Last nights mooring

We set off at 9am in cloudy but dry weather along Cranfleet Cut avoiding the weir on the Trent and down Cranfleet Lock to the river which was at Green and flowing smoothly.

On the Trent (1)

On the Trent (2)

The river is wide, isolated and tree-lined so provides a pleasant 1 hour cruise to Beeston on the edge of Nottingham where the navigation leaves the river to enter the city via Beeston Lock and the Beeston and Nottingham Canals.  This is really little more than a flood lock keeping the canal at a constant level despite chages in river level.

The canals provide a somewhat uninteresting entry to the city taking boaters to plentiful moorings near a large Sainsbury's within easy walking distance to the centre.  We will stay here until Saturday morning taking a break from boating.

Today: 8.15m, 2locks,3.5 hours travelling

Off the Trent & Mersey Canal, moored on the River Trent

 

Morred at Aston Lock waiting for the rain to stop

Shardlow

We woke up to a dismal day, with heavy rain and grey clouds.    The weather was forecast to improve and by 12o'clock the rain had changed to a murky drizzle.  So we set off down Aston Lock through the canal centre village of Shardlow, once a major transhipment port, to Derwent Lock, the end of the Trent & Mersey Canal.

Two boats leaving Derwent Lock

Pipe bridge on River Trent below Shardlow

M1 bridge below Shardlow

This lock descends to the River Trent close to its junction with the Derwent.  Although the water level was still at green there was a fair flow in the river helping Densie to increase speed to about 5mph.  The river took us below a large pipe bridge and then below the M1.  The river then turned left down a weir whilst the navigation veered right to take us towards the canal centre and marina around Sawley Lock.  Unusually the flood lock at the entrance to Sawley was closed although the difference in levels was small.

Leaving Sawley, the powered Sawley locks were operated by a CRT volunteer so we quickly descended back to river level, which was now at amber.  When we met the main river flow the boat was momentarily pushed sideways and soon treached 6mph, but there were no problems.   We have moored just out of the main flow at the Trent Lock Junction where the Erewash Canal and the River Soar meet the Trent.  Our shortest jorney this trip, but we were tired after the efforts of te past few days.  Tomorrow, river levels permitting, we hope to continue down the Trent to moor near the centre of Nottingham.

Today: 4.83 miles, 5 locks, 2.5 hours

Time off for boat maintenance then on to Aston

Yesterday evening we enjoyed  a visit to the nearby Dragon pub on the village green overlooking the canal. The small brewery beer was very enjoyable as was the food and the service was fast and efficient although the Dragon was very busy - we can recommend the place to anyone in the area.

Another cool and cloudy start to Tuesday.  As Willington provides the final chance to shop before we go into Nottingham in 2 days time Denise went to the local small Coop to stock up on basics.  We  left our mooring at 9:15 and travelled the short distance to Mercia Marina to buy a new set of batteries for the boat.

Densie has 4 large (heavier than normal car batteries) batteries with sufficient capacity to supply all the electricity needed for the fridge, lights, water pump etc for a day or two.   They are recharged each day by the engine in 2-3 hours.  This type of use can put significant strain on lead acid batteries which may only last perhaps 3 years if care isnt taken to limit the amount of current drawn before recharging.  Our current set are 4 years old and so we thought it prudent to change them.

The new batteries took us about an hour and a half to install.  This was very hard work as each battery is about as heavy as one would want to lift without straining ones back and their position on the boat does not allow easy access.  Anyway the job was done without damage to the batteries, the boat or us.  Then we moved over to the pumpout to empty our waste tank.

So 2 hours after entering the marina we were on our way again, now in warm sunny weather.  In this final section of the Trent & Mersey there are a series of deep locks of sufficient width to take two narrowboats side by side.  At the other end of the canal there are also some double width locks.  I have read that when theT&M was proposed in the 1760's it was intended that the whole canal should be double width, but shortly after starting construction at both ends the finance was found to be inadequate.

Entering Swarkestone Lock

In Swarkestone Lock waiting for the gates to be opened

After descending 3 locks we have moored for the night out in the coutryside just above Aston Lock.

Today: 9.2 miles, 3 locks,4.5 hours cruising time

Burton and WIlington

Joining the Trent below Alrewas Lock.

The weather forecast was much better today so we planned for a full days cruising with the aim of gaining an extra day.  We set off from Alrewas just after 9am with overcast skies and a cool wind.  First stop was Alrewas lock which takes one down to the River Trent.  The river forms part of the canal for a couple of miles  until Wychnor Lock which descends again to the canal.  In flood conditions the river can be impassable so we were a bit concerned that the river flow would have been affected by the recent thunderstorms.  Fortunately, as the photo shows, the river level was safely at green.

For the next few miles the canal was fairly busy with up to 4 boats going in the opposite direction to us queueing to enter the locks.  However we only had to wait for a maximum of two boats, so were not seriously delayed.

Dallow Lock, Burton upon Trent.

Eventually we entered Burton Upon Trent where the weather improved becoming sunny and warm.  Perhaps surprisingly the canal here is quite pleasant as it passes the large leisure area of Shobnall Fields and the tree-lined back gardens of the adjacent houses.  We descended Darrow Lock, the final one on today's journey.

Trent & Mersey Canal between Burton and Willington.

Clumps of flag irises line the canal.

After travelling through the outskirts of Burton the canal took us out out into attractive countryside.  We reached our intended destination of Willington at 15:10 and were lucky in immediately finding a mooring.  The village includes a now-closed river side pwer station and suffers from a significant amount of road traffic but the canalside is very different and well worth a visit.

Todays journey: 12.26 miles, 6 locks, 6 hours cruising.

Fradley and Alrewas

Armitage "tunnel"

On the Trent & Mersey near Kings Bromley

There were thunderstorms over night but our sleep was not seriously disturbed. The weather forecast suggested rain later in the day so we set off early at 8:30.  After leaving Rugeley the first point of interest was the very narrow section of canal passing through the former Armitage tunnel, the roof having been removed nearly 50 years ago following subsidence from coal mining.  Then through Armitage (the one in Armitage Shanks!), its more salubrious neighbour Handsacre, and out into wooded countryside.

Middle Lock, Fradley

Hunts Lock, Fradley

The weather by now was fairly sunny and warm as we continued down the Trent & Mersey  past our former mooring at Kings Bromley to Wood End Lock.  Soon after the lock the canal turns to the left heading north east.We soon reached Fradley Junction where the Coventry Canal joins the T&M opposite the Swan Inn, allegedly the most photographed pub in the country and well known in cards and jigsaw puzzles.  Fradley is a popular tourist spot where the visitors like to watch boats passing through a flight of 5 locks.

Beyond Fradley ts the oddly-named and attractive village of Alrewas were we moored for the night at 13:20 as we were tired and there was intermittant rain.

Today: 9.35 miles, 8 locks,4 hours 50 min travelling.

A long wait on the way to Rugeley

The sky was still overcast this morning but brighter than yesterday.  We left Ingestre at 9:30 and continued south down the Trent & Mersey, never more than quarter of a mile or so from the River Trent.

Creche of Canada Geese

Soon after starting we passed a creche of Canada Goslings supervised by a couple of adults. Like other geese, all the goslings in a flock are brought up together.  The adults accompanying them may well not be the parents.  The numbers of Canada Geese on the canals have been increasing significantly in recent years.  They now often outnumber the ducks and are really a bit of a nuisance to boaters.  They start loudly calling at dawn and deposit their droppings everywhere, particularly on boats given a chance.

We then descended Hoo Mill Lock and arrived at Great Haywood Junction at 10:40.  Here the Staffs and Worcestershire Canal joins the Trent & Mersey but we continued past the junction and moored soon afterwards.  Our main objective was the farm shop where there is a very good  deli and butchers together with freshly baked bread and a variety of specialist groceries.  Here we bought some meat for the next couple of days dinners, some local flavoured scotch eggs for lunch and a box strawberries grown at the farm..

Waiting at Great Haywood Lock

 Back on Densie we set off towards Great Haywood Lock where we were 6th in a queue.  This lock is one of the busiest on the whole canal system, and particularly busy this May bank holiday weekend.  We finally got through the lock about 90 minutes later.  A little further on we were delighted to get a good view of a kingfisher, our first sighting this year.

Distant view of Rugeley power station

Bridge 68 near Rugeley taking the towpath to the other side of the canal

A group of cygnets

Then the canal continued through the countryside to tractive outskirts of Rugeley, the first urban area since we set off.  It is a former mining town where local coal supplied the now disused power station, the first of many built alongside the Trent.  Its other key attraction is a Tesco next to the canal, where we moored and stocked up with more routine provisions than available from the farm shop.

Today - 7 miles, 3 locks, 4 h 20min travelling.

We leave Aston Marina and head for the Fens

Waiting to leave our mooring at Aston

Going through the marina

Entering Sandon Lock

 We are out again for our main cruise of the year which will take us from our temporary mooring at Aston Marina near Stone in Staffordshire across the country to our new base near Huntingdon.  It will be a 6-8week journey descending about 90m (300foot) through a wide variety of scenery from industrial cities to the flat fenlands and waterways from the narrow canals to broad rivers.

Sadly it did not start well.  We were ready to leave by 9am.  But it was raining heavily, and if at all possible we dont travel in the rain.  However the rain cleared soon after lunch and we left our mooring, turned the boat in the marina without difficulty as, unusually, there was no wind and set off south on the Trent and Mersey Canal.

After 2.5 miles of pleasant countryside we descended our first lock of the trip at Sandon.  Another 2.5 miles took us to the village of Weston upon Trent followed shortly afterwards by Weston Lock.  At 4 pm we moored up at one of our favourite spots near the village of Ingestre.  It is quite close to A51 but our new double glazed windows are proving very effective at reducing the external noise.

We will be staying on the boat this evening as we have an unfrozen chilli con carne we brought from home.  Hopefully the weather will improve tomorrow and we should get a full day's cruising.

Today: 6.25 miles, 2 locks, journey time 2 hours 35mins