The end of boating for 2020!

 We are now back home in Yorkshire, having left Leo near Nottingham for the winter. It seems a shame as the sun is shining today, but Ian has a hospital visit later this week and so we are both Covid self isolating at the moment.  So here is what will probably be the last posting for this boating season taking us from Barton Turn to Nottingham.

Soon after we set off on Sunday (20th September) we came under this turnover bridge. There is no towpath under the bridge because it changes sides of the canal here. There is a saying about passing elephants or camels through the eye of a needle and here we are having a go with a narrow boat through a narrrow bridge - just inches to spare on either side. No broadbeam boats here, though beyond Burton upon Trent (specifically beyond Dallow Lock which is the last narrow one) the canal becomes wide enough to take 14 foot wide boats.

This is us approaching Tatenhill Lock, one of our favourites. The lock is fairly remote with just the attractive lock house (now a B&B) beside it. Only 3 feet 7 inches fall, so an easy and quick lock to navigate with another of the very narrow bridges below it.

Apart from the noisy and tedious straights right alongside the busy A38 the passage through Burton is residential but pleasant. Having done the engine service a few days before, Ian took the cans of waste oil to the tip here. Over the years we've marked on our Nicholson's Guides the location of recycling tips that take oil and are within easy walking distance of the canals. As for the picture taken in the residential part of Burton, we liked the displays here done by a boat signwriter who presumably lives in the house and uses the end of his garden to advertise his work.

Here is Leo in Dallow Lock, the last narrow lock for this year. We had been on narrow locks for more than a week since we left Braunston and they are a delight. Dallow is even smaller than Tatenhill with a fall of only 3 feet 6 inches.
Just below Dallow at Horninglow Basin we stopped briefly to empty the toilet and then carried on. 

 After another spell beside the A38 the canal veers away to cross an aqueduct over the River Dove (yes this is the one that flows through pretty Dovedale). This view taken from the aqueduct shows the old road bridge alongside. The A38 is now a dual carriageway and its bridge is a little way to the north west at this point. We moored overnight near Willington and walked through the village and on to Mercia Marina where we moored one winter. Mercia has over 600 boats and used to be the largest marina on the system, but I'm not sure if it still is. Like Barton Turn Marina, Mercia has been developed into a shopping 'destination' with lots of shops and eating places and, on that Sunday, rather too many people not practising social distancing. We were hoping to have a cup of tea at the old Willow Cafe (not part of the new development) but sadly we were too late: they were just closing.

On Monday we tackled Stenson Lock shown here. This was our first broad lock on the Trent and Mersey and it is a big one with a fall of more than 12 feet. The bottom gates of Stenson were leaking so badly that we had trouble in filling the lock. It took ages and by then another narrow boat, "Bag of Nails" appeared so we shared this lock and Swarkstone which comes soon after. The white building in the photo includes a cafe but it was a bit early for customers when we came through.

As we approached Swarkstone Lock we passed the start of the old Derby Canal where the first hundred yards or so are still in water and are used for moorings. The Trent and Mersey continues to the right

We moored just below Swarkstone Lock and in the afternoon we got the Brompton bicycles out and cycled mostly along the disused Derby Canal into Derby. This view was taken from the first bridge looking towards the junction with the Trent and Mersey and shows the moored boats.

And this was taken from the cycleway just beyond the bridge and shows the disused canal and, beyond the bridge, is the portion in water.

Here, we are looking the other way from the bridge. Our impression was that it would not take a great deal of work to connect Derby once again with the national network of canals. There are indeed such plans, but no proposed dates for when Leo can get to Derby.

As we cycled into the city there were a few reminders of the old canal. This is at Shelton Lock and you can see the bolts in the stone to secure the heel post of the lock gate.

And here is a canal bridge which used to span the Derby Canal which is now a cycleway. We were really impressed with the provision for cycles in Derby and of the 13 miles we cycled, nearly all of it was on cycleways and bridleways.

After navigating an explosion of children coming out of school, we reached the River Derwent shown here. The Derby Canal used to cross the river on an aqueduct and then went on to Sandiacre where it joined the Erewash Canal. Along the Derwent was another splendid surfaced cycle path which we followed downstream for a few miles before heading back along a bridleway.

This is Elvaston Castle which came as quite a revelation to us. Coming to a junction of bridleways we saw a sign to the castle and country park so decided to go and take a look. It is owned and maintained by Derbyshire County Council and is entirely free to enter, though the house is not open to the public.

The estate is large and we only visited a small part but we were impressed by the gardens. This is the parterre in front of the house. We wheeled our bikes through here and then followed a long straight drive to meet a road. We came back mainly by road through Chellaston. We wanted to get back onto our outward cycleway in order to get under the busy A50 and had some difficulty because new houses had been built over the bridleway but we managed in the end. We both agreed that it had been an unexpectedly delightful ride in the sunshine.

On Tuesday we went just a short way and moored above Shardlow Lock shown in the picture. Ian set to draining the gearbox oil while it was still hot. Once the job was done and gearbox refilled with new oil we had lunch and spent a pleasant afternoon walking around Shardlow and across fields to Great Wilne. At one time Shardlow was a big inland port and many warehouses and wharfs remain together with some fine houses presumably occupied then by the owners of the trading companies based here.

This the famous Clock Warehouse which is now a pub and restaurant. Boats used to go inside through the arch to load and unload.

The River Trent does a big bend here and close by Shardlow Lock you can see the river. Tomorrow we would be out on the Trent in Leo.

While we were moored an old working boat, Darley, came past and went down the lock to turn, later returning to moor behind us.

On Wednesday we had a visit from our friends Rowan and Martin together with their 3 year old grand daughter, Freya. The day started out OK with only a little light rain as we came through Shardlow and out through Derwent Mouth Lock onto the River Trent. Through Sawley Locks the rain began and once we left Sawley it came down in torrents for the last half mile to Trent Junction where fortunately there was a space on the mooring pontoon outside the Trent Lock pub. The picture shows Leo moored on the pontoon with Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station in the background. We had planned to eat out in the pub garden for lunch but, with the rain, we had a salad lunch onboard instead.

While the grown ups were chatting over lunch, Freya drew this picture of Leo (with a little help from Grandma). The orange object in the middle of the boat is our china lion teapot which lives on the roof and at the stern you can see our plastic ducks. On the stern you can see Martin and Ian wearing his boating hat. Thank you Freya; we've put the picture up on the wall inside Leo. In the afternoon Martin and Ian cycled back to Shardlow to pick up their car and we moved our car (which had been staying at their house near Derby) back to Trent Lock.

So to our final day of boating on Thursday 24th September. We set off past the junction with the Erewash Canal onto Cranfleet Cut shown ahead of us in the picture. This short section of canal bypasses the Thrumpton Weir on the river.

Trent Junction, like Braunston, remains an important cross roads on the canal system. North lies the Erewash Canal which runs through Long Eaton to Sandiacre and Langley Mill on the edge of the Derbyshire hills. West (the way we had come from) leads to the Trent and Mersey Canal towards Stoke on Trent, Runcorn and Manchester. East (the way we were going) takes you to Nottingham and ultimately out to the North Sea via the Humber. And south leads onto the River Soar towards Leicester and back to where we had started this year's boating. The sign in the photo faces boaters coming out of the Erewash Canal. The 'no entry' is Thrumpton Weir.

At the end of the short Cranfleet Cut is the Nottingham Yacht Club. We liked the elevated boat and the lines of painted fish at the bottom of the railings. The building is next to Cranfleet Lock.

Cranfleet Lock (seen here looking backwards) lets boats down onto the river below Thrumpton Weir.

Below Cranfleet we had nearly 4 miles of open river cruising. There are some strange objects in the water known as the Chevrons shown to the right here. We had been told by a riverman who had helped us through Cranfleet Lock that there was a dredger at work on the river below and that we should keep between the dredger and the Chevrons.

Now we had read about some shallow gravel banks in the river which had accumulated during the winter. I'm hoping you can see this one just behind us. To the right of the tiller looking back you can see an orange patch in the water. This was a gravel bank which we missed! The water is very clear and we reckon you could stand on this in water about ankle deep - certainly not enough to float a Leo. We had just seen this one and congratulated ourselves on missing it (not that we had spotted it in advance), when the boat tipped sideways and we hit another gravel bank. Ian kept the power on and fortunately we slithered off.

And just round the corner we met the dredger coming very slowly towards us. Hopefully by the time you read this the gravel banks will have been dredged to a reasonable depth.

The River Trent is a big river and quite a shock after spending the last few weeks on tiny canals. It was a fine day on Thursday so we throttled back and enjoyed the trip.

Here we are approaching Barton Island. As the sign says you go to the left of it going downstream. The island is used as a scout camp, though there was no-one there when we passed. Some of the dredgings had been dumped on the upstream end of the island.

Round another couple of bends and then Beeston Marina comes into view.

The pirate at Beeston Marina is looking both a bit laid back and a bit in need of some TLC at the moment!

Here we are approaching Beeston Lock which takes boats down off the river onto the Beeston Canal towards Nottingham. The floating buoys mark the continuation of the river which would lead over another weir.

The pilings ahead are at the junction with the now disused section of the Nottingham Canal at Lenton Chain. The Nottingham Canal used to lead to Langley Mill where it met the terminus of the Erewash Canal. From this point into Nottingham we were on the Nottingham Canal, the 'Beeston' name only referring to the short section between here and the Trent. Why 'Lenton Chain'? The answer is apparently that the Trent Navigation Company used to close their Beeston Canal from Saturday evening to Monday morning with a chain across it. Boaters were expected to observe the sabbath and many did their washing on a Sunday because, without boats moving, the water was clear and clean.

Having cycled back to Trent Lock to recover the car we were safely back on the boat when the rain started and we were treated to this fine rainbow. The odd spots on the photo are of rain. A rainbow seems a fitting end to our boating for this year. We can't see Nottingham Castle from our mooring but we can see it from the end of the marina

And finally to the statistics: this year we have cruised from 8 July to 24 September (the late start due to Covid) and we have covered 452 miles and come through 309 locks.

Our plan next year is probably to go north. We may decide to keep this blog for any momentous boating events (crossing the Channel? No, only joking) but maybe it's time to stop doing a regular account. If you have any thoughts on this then let us know by leaving a comment. Many thanks for your attention and for the kind comments.

The Coventry Canal and so much more!

 We have now come down the Coventry Canal  and joined the Trent and Mersey as our boating season draws to a close for this year. The last posting took us to Hillmorton Locks on the North Oxford Canal and this will bring us up to date.

On Sunday (13th September) we reached Rugby. The canal crosses a couple of aqueducts over roads as well as crossing the River Avon. In the photo we are crossing one aqueduct and in the distance you can see a bridge rising over the Rugby Arm which is the home of Willow Wren cruisers.

After shopping at a big Tesco (easily reached from bridge 58) we carried on to Newbold where the photo shows Leo entering the 250 yard tunnel which has towpaths on both sides.

This is Hungerfield Bridge after which is a nice open place to moor. But we had decided to explore Brinklow so we carried on a short way to be closer to that village. After lunch, Ian installed the new tunnel lamp we had bought at Braunston and then proceeded to drop the screwdriver into the canal. So it was out with the magnet and, after almost giving up following many attempts, finally brought up the screwdriver.

Next to the village of Brinklow lie the remains of a Norman castle. There are no walls standing but the earth ramparts are still impressive. In this photo you can see the Motte. Just imagine the men required to shift the earth to construct such a structure.

A footpath led into the castle and we crossed the outer bailey before climbing the motte which is high enough to give excellent views across the valley.

Brinklow has some lovely old cottages in the main street and there are even remains of a canal arm branching off the main canal to serve the village.

On Monday we came to Stretton Stop shown in this photo. The boatyard here is home to Rose Narrowboats, a hire firm. There is a swing bridge here (the white bar we're heading for in the photo) but, as we approached, a chap from the boatyard swung it for us. What service! When we came through here last year, the narrow space between moored boats and the swing bridge combined to create a real bottleneck, but this time we were the only boat moving and it was easy.

Crossing under (or occasionally over) motorways is always a mark of progress. Here we are about to go under the M6 as we approach the end of the North Oxford Canal.

The chimney of the pump house is a well known landmark at Hawkesbury Junction where the North Oxford meets the Coventry Canal. There are usually lots of boats passing through here and we certainly met a few on Monday .

Here we are in the stop lock that precedes the junction. Once down this lock which has a fall of only a foot or so, we needed to turn 90 degrees right under the bridge you can see and then 90 degrees right again at a T junction with Coventry to the left and Nuneaton to the right. We turned right and right again and then reversed down onto the services to empty the toilet and rubbish. A tricky manoeuvre but fortunately there was no wind to make life even more difficult.

This gives a better idea of the chaos that can reign here. The green boat has come through the stop lock and is now heading onto the Coventry Canal under the bridge. The boat in the distance is waiting to go into the stop lock, there is another boat already in the stop lock, and the blue boat called "Providence 1901" is waiting for its turn, having come off the Coventry Canal. There can be even more boats in this small space.

Here is the sign at Hawkesbury Junction. The arm to the left leads into a basin in the city of Coventry (five and a half miles). This is a dead end, though useful for visiting the city. Rugby is where we've come from and Atherstone is where we are going.

Here is a close up of the engine house for the pump which used to bring water up from a well to feed the canal.

After servicing the boat, emptying rubbish and toilet and filling the water tank, we set off north on the Coventry Canal. It is only a few miles to Marston Junction shown here. Under the bridge is the start of the Ashby Canal which runs for 22 miles without any locks towards Ashby de la Zouch. But we cruised up there last year so this time we carried on past the junction and soon moored for Monday night.

On Tuesday we carried on through Nuneaton where some well kept gardens front onto the canal - not so sure about this one though.Hartshill Yard was built to service the canal and still does so to this day. CRT workboats are here and all sorts of equipment for repairing the canal. On Tuesday we moored a mile or so beyond Hartshill and spent the afternoon climbing up above the canal into Hartshill Hayes Country Park. Much of the land round here used to be collieries and spoil tips but has now recovered and the views from the top at around 600 feet above sea level were excellent.

On Wednesday it was just a couple of miles to the top of the Atherstone Locks. The picture shows Leo just going into the first of the 11 locks which take the canal down into the valley of the River Anker. The Anker flows into the Tame which in turn flows into the Trent and their valleys are followed by the canals.

Here is a view looking back up the locks taken from the third lock down.

And here is Leo in lock 8. The Atherstone Locks are a delight. 7 foot wide locks for a 6 foot 10 inch wide boat - it's what Leo is designed for. Somehow the boat glides in without touching the sides!

Coming into Polesworth where we moored on Wednesday evening we passed these alpacas. We had seen more  alpacas near Hartshilll the previous day where was a business which combined boat building and repairing with keeping alpacas. You could even stop on the canal to buy their wool.

Polesworth is a strange village which doesn't really seem to have a centre but it does have some lovely old buildings as shown here.

The Abbey Gatehouse in the middle of this photo dates from the 13th century and the Abbey Church itself goes back to the 10th century. The River Anker flows through the village and the canal makes a circuit of the village up above the river.

From Polesworth on Thursday we came through Tamworth and to the top of the two Glascote Locks. The picture here is the view looking back from the second lock but to get here was not straightforward. We arrived at the top lock and found some boaters standing by the lock who told us they were unable to close the top gate. So it was impossible to empty the lock to allow them to come up from below. We opened the gate and brought Leo in while giving a strong squirt with the propellor to try to shift the obstruction. No luck but we did finally shift it by levering with the boat pole.

When the lock was empty it became obvious what was causing the problem. This is a plastic gas main connector piece which has been squashed into an oval shape by the water pressure behind the gate. We had managed to lever it onto the cill and thus enabled the gate to close. No, we didn't chuck it back in the canal, we've now disposed of it properly.

Once down the locks,we crossed the River Tame on an aqueduct.

Very soon we came to Fazeley Junction shown here. To the left is the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal which leads towards Birmingham. To the right is the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal leading north which was where we went.

Here is the sign at the junction. We had come from Coventry and were heading towards Fradley. You might think we had now finished with the Coventry Canal but there is a strange history to this section of canal. The Coventry Canal was promoted in 1768 to link Coventry with the Trent and Mersey Canal and was part of the 'Grand Cross' designed to link the four rivers - Severn, Mersey, Trent and Thames. It was a slow process and the canal did not reach Fazeley until 1790. By then the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal had been built along some of the intended line of the Coventry to the village of Whittington from where the Grand Trunk Canal ran north to Fradley to meet the Trent and Mersey Canal. The section from Whittington to Fradley was later bought back by the Coventry Canal so there are now two sections of the Coventry separated by a bit of the Birmingham and Fazeley. Does this matter now that we don't pay for use of separate canals? Not really, but you can still find signs of the history. The bridges on then Coventry Canal are numbered but those on the B&F have names but no numbers. So bridge 77 on the Coventry is separated from bridge 78 by 5 miles of bridges with names.

We moored on Thursday at Hopwas and had lunch outside in the garden at the Red Lion which borders the canal. Afterwards, we walked up above the canal and had a look at Hopwas Church shown here. Unfortunately it was closed but it is an interesting brick built church with clear signs of the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement so probably dates from the late 19th or early 20th century.

Here is the River Tame at Hopwas. It is a significant tributary of the Trent.

On Friday we passed Huddlesford Junction where the Lichfield Canal used to go left to link up with the Wyrley and Essington Canal to the north of Birmingham. The start of this canal shown on the signpost as leading to "Ogley Junction" is now used for mooring.

And so yesterday (Friday 18th) we arrived at Fradley Junction which really does mark the end of the Coventry Canal. Ahead in the picture is the Swan pub and the canal to right and left is the Trent and Mersey. Left leads to Stoke on Trent and right leads to Burton on Trent and Nottingham. We turned right.

There are five locks at Fradley and the junction with the Coventry is in the middle of these. Here Leo is waiting to go into Junction Lock, the third from the bottom of the flight. We moored in Fradley which is a mecca for canal folk, tourists and also motorcyclists. We were pleased to meet up with friends Jim and Jenn from a narrowboat called Dire Straits. We first met them on the Leeds and Liverpool canal last year and we also saw them earlier this year at Oxford. It was good to meet and share our experiences.

Today (Saturday 19th) we have come down 7 locks on the Trent and Mersey and are moored tonight at Barton Turn. In this picture we are going through Bagnall Lock on the edge of Alrewas. Alrewas is a pretty village which we have often visited but this time we went straight through.

On the east side of Alrewas a lock lets boats down onto a section of the River Trent. This can be dangerous when the river is in flood but there were no such problems today. In the picture above we are passing another boat on the river.

And in this photo we are about to go left off the river and back on the canal while the river water flows past the big black floaty things (note the nautical terminology) and over a weir to the right.

Barton Turn where we are moored apparently got its name from being the turn off the Roman road - Ryknild Street - towards the neighbouring village of Barton under Needwood. We walked into the village this afternoon to buy a few things. An area of parkland here seems to belong to the huge Barton Turns Marina which is turning itself into a shopping destination.

The next few days will see us completing our boating for this year as we wend our way towards Nottingham where Leo will stay during the winter.