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.