Friday 14th August 2009

Alrewas (Trent & Mersey Canal) to Alvecote (Coventry Canal)

The four locks on the Trent & Mersey Canal were very busy this morning; there wasn't a dull moment between locks. Then an extreme change as we went onto the Coventry Canal, where for the first half an hour, I thought we were the only boat there. It was all beautifully green and pleasant, winding through woodland and farmland for a long stretch of the journey.

We stopped at Hopwas for lunch - the village seemed to consist of two large pubs, a canal bridge, some suburban housing and not much else. The food was unremarkable but the beer was good!

The photos show the busy scene at Fradley Junction and our lunchtime pub. Look closely at the latter (click for a bigger image), and you just might see a familiar boat...

15.5 miles and 6 locks today.

Thursday 13th August 2009

Willington to Alrewas, Trent & Mersey Canal

Well, there goes another day of pleasant boating. No boat lifts, no lock flights, no tidal locks, only half a mile of peaceful river that crossed the canal.

This bit of the Trent & Mersey is really nice, mostly wide enough to navigate with ease, but with one or two interesting "squeezes" to keep the attention in place. The first few locks were double ones, but now we are in the single lock section. Now we know that the "broad beam" boat can't be following us!

On the subject of following boats, we ended up meeting another boat several times at a couple of consecutive locks, which gave us a little amusement whilst we waited our turn. We also got to grips with the walkie talkies - or "banana phones" as we have taken to calling them. They've been extremely useful for everything ranging from avoiding trees to synchronising working the locks.

Since we brought the sat nav with us, we've been able to find a couple of geocaches near the canal as we passed them, which has been an added bonus. We plan to do more!

The weather has been lovely! Knowing English summers, we're enjoying it while we can.

8 locks, 15.5 miles.

(PS - We saw the Mon & Brec boat from Sawley Marina again!)

Wednesday 12th August 2009

Sawley Marina to just outside Willington

Backup crew here!

We've borrowed the boat for a while to give Bob & Nicola a well earned rest.
We have had a gentle meander along the Trent & Mersey canal; at times, it seemed very similar to the wooded sections of the Mon & Brec, which was unexpected.

It was quite busy at the locks, but the rest of the journal was very peaceful. At one lock, we passed what looked (in our ignorance of boating terms) like a double width narrowboat. Given the trouble the crew were having navigating along the canal, we were very glad that they let us past to share the lock with another narrowboat.

We had a nice pub lunch with Bob & Nicola in the New Inn at Shardlow, before leaving them to brave the canal by ourselves.

Time for a well earned beer!

Tuesday 11 August 2009

Sawley Marina

Today, we returned to Ripon by rail to retrieve our car - which took 4 hours and the car journey back to Sawley Marina took 2.5 hours, whereas it had taken us 2 weeks by boat to do the same distance (but much more exciting!) All the trains were on time, in fact the train from Derby was going too fast and had to wait outside each station for the platform to clear.

At York Station platform 5 showed the arrival of a charter train to Scarborough which turned out to be the Hogwarts Express hauled by a steam engine and full of people with their buckets and spades and champagne glasses.

So, no pics today other than this sign at the end of our jetty - big brother certainly watches everything!.

From tomorrow you may detect a slightly different blog style! Watch this space.

Monday 10 August 2009

Holme Pierrepont Lock to Sawley Marina

Having heard that there was a stoppage at the next lock up the Trent that meant that boats could only go through from 10-11am and 3-4pm, we set off early to make sure that we were first in the queue. There was only a short pontoon for boats waiting to use the lock, and by the time the lock opened there were four boats hanging on.

After a brief canal section through Nottingham, through a very nicely reconstructed centre, we headed back down on to the wide fast flowing Trent for the final section to Sawley.

As we approached Sawley Marina we were amazed to spot a boat from the Mon and Brec Canal that used to more at Cambrian Marina. As we passed the occupants came out and it was the same owner as before. Readers who know the boat will remember who the owners daughter is ( and what she was famous for!!!!)

Sunday 9 August 2009

Fiskerton to Holme Pierrepont Lock, River Trent

Another perfect boating morning with a cloudless blue sky, but our first sight of the river was like looking out on meringues floating by, as our pic shows. As we moved off from our highly sort after mooring at The Bromley Arms, at Fiskerton, it was akin to driving through a sea of foam, which seems to be mysteriously generated from weirs further upstream. At our first lock at Hazelford, which we operated ourselves as the lockkeeper hadn't arrived, other boaters seemed very reluctant to operate the equipment themselves, so we moved on through the lock alone, no problems. We were treated to some impressive RAF glider pilot training overhead as we made our way ever onwards upstream.

Along the way, we spied a large group of swans enjoying the white water falling out of a side stream.

This evening we are moored adjacent to the National Water Sports Centre, where there is a 2km long rowing length and a challenging canoe slalom course - thank goodness we haven't encountered conditions like the canoeists were, here today!

Saturday 8 August 2009

Muskham Ferry to Fiskerton

Todays journey took us through more great big river locks, through Newark and past an enormous unprotected weir.

The flow on the river was very fast when we set off but above Newark it was even faster and a strong head wind made life even more difficult.

Newark really seems to appreciate its position on the river with lots of new developments.

Upstream from Newark we really struggled against the wind and flow, barely making 1 mph. As we approached Fiskerton where we planned to moor we could see a gap on the jetty through the binoculars. Three plastic boats over took us as we approached but fortunately none of them stopped. However, just as we got there a very powerful boat overtook us and took the spot that we had earmarked. As we passed slowly, looking very fed up, the crew said they would move out so we could moor inside them. It meant that both boats had to make a very choppy turn in the turbulent water!! They had a white poodle he was left in charge while they were in the pub.

The mooring is outside a very pleasant pub that makes up for the afternoons struggle.