Willington to Alrewas

Fri 26^th Aug  Willington to Branston

Leaving our mooring in Willington

The first stop today was to be the facilities at Willington, or so we thought.

We set off under the footbridge, and as we passed the entrance to the small marina marked in my Nicholson Guide, James suddenly realised that this was actually Mercia Marina, one of the largest in the land. This houses Midland Chandlers, from whom James had ordered spare parts for our cassettes.  We went into reverse and managed to turn into the marina, mooring at an angle on Midland Chandlers pontoon, as there was another boat there already, leaving little room.

Into Mercia Marina

They had the parts we had ordered, and James remembered in time his IWA discount of 5%. This brings their prices in line with other chandlers we found online.

Leaving the Marina

Setting off from there again, we saw the cooling towers of Willington Power Station, now closed. Strangely, even after being here for seventy years, the towers are not marked in our Nicholson Guide, which have OS maps as their basis. Online OS maps do have them showing as five circles.

We stopped at the facilities building in Willington, where James emptied two cassettes, and disposed of rubbish. Meanwhile, Hazel did a quick route march to the Co-op to buy some milk and yoghurt. We didn’t need water, so James departed again and met her under the bridge.

Willington

A house with an observatory

The trains seemed a lot quieter than last time, and we wondered whether it was a rail strike day. We passed the usual sights such as the seven aqueducts, including one over the River Dove, with an old bridge in the background. Then came Horninglow Basin, followed by Dallow Lock.

Arrowhead plant

Dove Aqueduct

Medieval bridge over the River Dove

The River Dove

Bantam Tug Will Scarlett

Horninglow Basin

Up until now we had only seen one boat moving. At the lock there was one boat in front going up, and two boats coming down. This was the first of the narrow locks, and was a delight compared with the last lock at Stenson. It was good to have help though, as the bottom gates tended to open by themselves.

Help in Dallow Lock

This was the start of the moorings for the IWA Festival of water, so we cruised very gently past all the boats. We saw Jan Halford on Jubilee, and were pleased to learn that the song sheets James had produced had come out OK. Stephen and Gwyneth Carter appeared to say hello on Chyandour. We passed Springwater but Sue and Andy were elsewhere.

Jubilee

Not much room to pass

The moorings extended as far as Shobnall Basin where we passed under a pipe bridge to the Marstons Brewery. Visitor moorings here were all taken, as we had expected.

Shobnall Marina and the Marstons pipe bridge

We continued through the rural Branston Lock, where the walkways on the bottom gates are mounted very high, and are not designed for walking across when the gates are open, although James managed it, with an undignified downwards leap.

Branston Lock

We moored soon after the Bridge Inn, which is now an Italian restaurant. We popped in for a drink, and obtained a taxi phone number for tomorrow. We had a meal there later. It was lovely food, and the place was very popular.

Bridge Inn

Italian meal

We were treated to the sight of a flock of geese against the evening sky

Evening sky

Evening flight

2 locks, 8 miles. Dep 0920, arr 1310.

Sat 27^th Aug  Branston

We took a taxi to the IWA Festival of Water, where we soon found the BCF stand and joined the team of people in a time of prayer.  We took the first two hour slot, and much of it spent chatting to other team members. However, we did have some good conversations.

James spoke to a man who made a beeline for our stall. He had been the mayor at the time of our mission here in 2005. It had been raining hard on the day of our open air event, so we had been invited to the local Baptist Church instead. the mayor was there, and he was presented with a beautifully bound Bible as a memento of our visit. Today he recognised us as the worship leaders on that day, and he said that the Bible has pride of place in his lounge.

Hazel and Sue spoke to a man who had lost his daughter a few days after birth, twenty years ago. He had lots of questions, and they were able to pray with him.

We also met Eric and Sally from Cherie, friends of ours for many years.

Team gathering

BCF stall

We wandered round the site, visiting all the stalls, and watching a folk duo performing on the entertainments stage. We had a Vietnamese curry from a food stall, before arranging another taxi back to our boat.

Folk duo

Moored boats at Shobnall Fields

No boating today

Sun 28^th Aug  Branston to Alrewas

Several boats had passed before we set off from Branston, and cruised past the Water Park. The first lock was Tatenhill, with its narrow bridge at the entrance, and a pretty lock cottage.

Leaving our mooring at Branston

Tatenhill Lock

The lock cottage

Bridge 36 is another very narrow bridge, for no apparent reason. The towpath doesn’t need to go under the bridge, as the path crosses over the top and continues on the other side of the canal.

Bridge 36

Soon after this comes Barton Turn, with its marina, pub, and lock.

Barton Turns Marina

Entering Barton Turn Lock

A lot of this section runs alongside the busy A38 road, originally built by the Romans as Ryknild Street. The canal finally veers away at Wychnor Lock, and passes under two footbridges, before entering a river section.

Footbridge at Wychnor

Wychnor church

Another footbridge needing careful navigation

Joining the Trent

The weir on the Trent

Towpath bridge over the Trent

In Alrewas it took some time to find a suitable mooring, but we finally found a space where we could fit. It was alongside a minor road, so this would not have been suitable if we still had Hugo, our cat.  Just beyond us there were some floating traders, so we bought some cheese, and had a proper coffee.

Floating traders

We went for a meal at Delhi Divan, on the recommendation of John and Gill Speight. It was very good food. They could do with some marketing expertise, as the place looked closed, and many people don’t know its there, as it is out of sight up a side street.

Delhi Divan

4 locks, 5 miles. Dep 0850 arr 1130

Next: Up another five locks before turning left into the Coventry Canal, and heading for Fazeley.

Shardlow to Willington

Tue 23^rd Aug  Shardlow to Sarsons Bridge 11

Despite empty warehouses, industry still happens in Shardlow. There were several boat hulls waiting to be fitted out.

Boat fitting out

Wharf crane and warehouse

Clock Warehouse, where we ate yesterday

A boat went past, and we agreed to share locks. It was called Dog Days.

Sharing Shardlow lock with Dog Days

We went through Shardlow Lock OK, but when we came to Aston Lock, there was a cruiser going up, then a boat started down. It seemed to take a long time to empty, with both bottom paddles fully up, and we couldn’t open the gates because the water was not level. We discovered that the offside top paddle mechanism had become separated, and the paddle was no longer in place. We put the paddle in manually, but it was still detached from the winding mechanism, so we put a bag over it, so no-one used it. We managed to empty the lock and the boat came out and our two boats went in. We contacted CRT.

Paddle gear detached

Bagged up

Aston Lock

We made it through the lock OK, and continued past Weston Grange to Weston Lock, which was fine. There is a narrow bridge at the lock, and it was entertaining to watch a large farming vehicle driving very slowly over the bridge.

Weston Grange

Optimistic

Not much room

Just made it

We had planned to moor at Cliff Wood, but it was noisy from Donnington Park racing cars. We found some rings further on by Sarsons Bridge 11, where it was quieter.

Moored near Sarsons Bridge

We went for a pleasant walk along an old railway line, which is now a cycle track, over the Trent.

Railway viaduct

The view from the bridge

An old boiler or similar

Long tailed tit

Our mooring from Bridge 11

We heard tawny owls in the night.

3 locks, 4 miles. Dep 0930, arr 1230

Wed 24^th Aug  Sarsons Bridge to Ragley Boat Stop

We didn’t plan to go very far today, as rain was forecast for later. At Swarkestone Lock we found a C&RT volunteer who set the lock for us as we approached.

Under the old railway bridge

Tudor gatehouse at Swarkestone

Swarkestone Lock

The junction with the Derby Canal

Toll house and wharf crane

We stopped at the Ragley Boat Stop, as several people have recommended it as being of good value. It certainly was, with a wide ranging menu, so we had lunch there.

Moored at Ragley Boat Stop

Later we had heavy rain, as forecast. Several other boats had moored, and then another one turned up. The remaining gap was about three feet too short, so we all got wet in the rain, as we moved the boats up to increase the space. It wasn’t really a problem. The rain was very welcome.

We are still trying to find someone to fix our broken pram hood. We have left phone messages, and sent emails and WhatsApp messages.

1 lock, 3 miles. Dep 0855, arr 1015

Thu 25^th Aug  Ragley Boat Stop to Willington

Farewell to Ragley Boat Stop

There were some noisy aircraft at 4.30am, and some goods trains rattling past.

There were lots of boats coming towards us, and two went up in front of us. Old Nick was the last boat with us on the moorings, and we were hoping to share with them if they moved. The next time we looked, they had gone! It was an electric boat, and we hadn’t heard their engine.

Went through Stenson Lock by ourselves, although another boat arrived behind us soon after we started filling the lock, so they had to wait. It is a deep lock, with considerable turbulence, so it is slow to fill. It also has very heavy bottom gates.

While we were there, James gave a BCF leaflet to a lady on Land of Green Ginger, who said she was a new boater, and a Christian.

Rain started soon after we left the lock, so we moored up early on piling just before Willington, by the footbridge. The facilities can wait until tomorrow.

It was very busy, with boats going in both directions. The weather changed and it was sunny later, but we stayed where we were, because if we had moved on, we may have had difficulty finding a mooring.

We heard from Johns Covers, who can fix our canopy. It will need three visits from him. Still waiting to hear from Sarah Brady at Brinklow.

Moored near Willington

1 lock, 3 miles. Dep 1120, arr 1235

Next: Cruising through Burton-upon-Trent, past the IWA Festival of Water, which starts on Saturday. We plan to visit by taxi from Branston.