Left at 08:20
arrived at 19:00
Up to a bright day,breezy but
promising to heat up. At Barton Turn
there were two boats,one in the lock and the other waiting to go down, so we
were in a queue again. The first boat
went through so I got out and went to give the next one in a hand, the man was
really chatty and said the boat in front was a bit slow as he was acting as if
his boat was gold plated, I told him that Derek says boating is a contact sport
so he might get the idea eventually.
Whilst helping them through another boat came to go up, so the water was
being used well, them up and us down on to the next one. Tatenhill Lock, there was a NB coming up
again, this is one of my special locks, the house at the side is gorgeous, it
has a vintage barge moored at the side of it before the lock, a lovely garden
with a summerhouse in it, a large double garage with a lovely border leading
down to it, statuary,( two water features)? a stream created by the bywash and the
canal and lock at the side , they have even planted the side near the lock up
with a flower boarder, its lovely. At
Branston Lock there was a queue, three in front of us, there was a steady flow,
ups and downs but it all went well. Dallow Lane lock is a shallow lock, it has
a park leading down to it which goes
behind the houses, there are always a lot of fishermen along the
towpath, today was no exception, mostly young lads some with their dads. The Lock had a NB just going down, but no one
coming up, so when they left I filled the lock up for us. There is a mural on the side of the locks and
a lovely fence on leaving , its metal and has swans and ducks cut out of the
metal, there are also lots of real wild
fowl here, particulary moorhens. We
entered the lock and the queue behind us started, luckily a NB came round the
corner and the flow was starting again. Willington was as busy as ever, The
Dragon Pub which has been renovated, has lots of tables actually on the green
overlooking the canal, there were lots of happy eaters there and couples
sitting on the benches dotted along the towpath. There are also Waterways facilities here,
bins, water, toilet emptying etc. and the moorings on both sides of the canal
were busy. Bridge 22a, Stenson Belle a
broadbeam trip boat was coming through, we pulled over to let them through, it
seemed very large, Derek bumped the towpath edge as its not very deep there,
the people on the boat were having fun so why worry about a little bump. Stenson Deep lock 12ft 4in, we are now back
on Broad Locks, there were 2 boats in and guess what! I ended up by
myself. The cafe at the side wasn’t as
full as usual, but the traffic over the bridge at the end of the lock, was
horrendous. Derek got off to give me a
hand, and I ended up with a Grandad, Grandma and Grandson helping me, whilst
telling them of our exploits, it all went well, just very very hard. Derek decided to stop at Swarkstone to walk the
dogs and then go on to Shardlow, I prepared tea and will put the oven on when
we are nearer our destination. There
were some boats coming through the lock, up, a cruiser and a NB, it took them
an age and there was one NB waiting to go down.
The man from that one helped them up (they were a bit farty? But the
paddles were very hard)Next NB went down, then Derek decided that we would go
with the next NB to come along. 2 Families were on it and the two boys, one in
training, came to help, we filled it up and then let our boats in. The man was very interested in our engine so
he had a nice chat to Derel whilst me and the two boys struggled with the very
stiff right hand gate paddle and the very heavy gates, the paddle was even hard
to put down. We sent them through quite
quickly and efficiently, it I say so myself.
Weston Lock, 2 out, 1 in,NB Kookaburra, we met them before, I don’t know
where, there was a man, who came to do
the lock, his wife and two dogs (the dogs were patrolling on the top of the
boat) they were doing the Leicester Ring.
They were lovely, the lady took the boat into the lock and then climbed
on the boat, joining the dogs, threw the centre line to her husband to put on
the bollard and hung on for dear life. (
I wouldn’t recommend this as a maneouver but they were happy with it) I told
the man that the boys were very helpful but a bit enthusiastic with letting the
water go and he would have to give them instructions. They worked well and he came up and out with
no bother, just a slightly damp front deck.
We went in with the boys boat, went through quite quickly and then on to
the next one. As we were going along to
the next lock a NB pulled out in front of us so when we got to Aston lock we
went in with another NB, the people were Scottish and had their family with
them. Shardlow Lock, the Scottish couple
said I should let them do it, the lady and her son actually, I got off anyway
to have a nosy at the house there, its still gorgeous. They were heading for their permanent mooring
at the Marina on the way out of Shardlow, they were going home for a while
dropping the family off and then coming back to the boat to go out on the water
for a month or so by themselves. I
ignored Derek and have put the oven on, one more lock and stop!!? Shardlow is a
lovely place, very boaty but also a nice village. We had another lock to do
Derek had been saying we were stopping at Shardlow all day, he meant Sawley
Cut? We did Derwent Water Lock, where you go on to the River Trent with a
little help from a guy waiting for his buddy who was having trouble with his
boat. Its 7 06 I am *********, tea
smells good its started to cook now.
Roll on tele and Monty, I might even partake of a sherry. Oh and its just started to rain.
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