Today's canal - Trent and Mersey
We had planned to be back at home for a couple of weeks for a series of appointments and deliveries, returning to the boat last Saturday. However, after a trip to Trowbridge for one of the medical appointments, it was clear that there was something very amiss with the clutch. Over the next couple of days we monitored its behaviour but there was no getting away with ignoring not only the pungent smell but also the increasingly slippy clutch. We contacted the local Peugeot dealer - only a short distance from our new home - and arranged for it to be examined. Alas the report was as expected - a new clutch and flywheel. Not the cheapest of repairs, The further bad news was that they could not undertake the repair until Thursday this week and that it would take two days!
Not only did this mean that the start of our next boat trip was deferred for seven days but also we did not dare use the car other than for very short trips, mostly into town. We let Barton Marina know and they agreed to let us stay on their visitor mooring for another week (at the usual rates, of course!)
We were finally able to collect the car yesterday afternoon, with some relief and a much lighter wallet! This meant that we could drive up to the boat this morning. We made an early start (just after 9 o'clock) but needed to call at Currys PC World in Swindon on the way. Just after we moved we bought a small Kenwood mixer (mainly so that Christine can more readily order fresh bread from Mike) but on its second use it expired in a puff (or two) of smoke. Christine contacted Customer Services and it was agreed that we could upgrade to something better. Mike has long wanted a small KitchenAid mixer (we had commercial size one when we were catering at Trevanion House). We were surprised to find the store still not open when we arrived - it seems that it is not open until 10. We were second in the queue and glad that we had not made an even earlier start. Arrangements were soon made - the model we wanted was not in stock (very little was it seems) so we ordered it for collection on our return at the end of this cruise.
We finally arrived at the marina by 1 o'clock - we had rolls on the way so we could make an immediate start on unloading the car and stowing everything away on board. We also had to make a visit to the Marina Office to pay our dues.
It was a few minute after 3 when we could cast off, exit the marina and set off towards Burton-upon-Trent. Our journey plan is not over-firm but the aim is first to go up to the end of the Erewash Canal and then make our way south along the Leicester Branch of the Grand Union.
After a very short distance we arrived at Barton Lock, the first on this trip. A family with three small children took a close interest in the lock operation and helped with the opening and closing of the gates.
The Trent valley has long been an important source of sand and gravel with very large quantities extracted over the centuries. We had occasional glimpses of current working as well as the many worked out sites, now left as lakes.
A short section has the towpath on the northern side and we passed under two turnover bridges that carried the horses from one side to the other. As you approach, they look impossibly narrow although the width at the waterline is just the same as where the towpath goes under the bridge.
The cottage alongside Tattenhill Lock is unusually large - now a B&B - but perhaps has been extended over the years from its humble origins as a place for the lock keeper who would work boats through at any time of the day or night.
Although we normally look for a night mooring around 5.30, as we had not been going too long, we agreed to make it a little later today even though this meant finding somewhere on the urban stretch. Actually, that was not so much the problem as [proximity to the very noisy A38. (Of course we could not be too critical as this was the road that finally brought us back to the marina!)
Branston Lock is the last before the edge of the town. The locks along this stretch are comparatively shallow. Even when the boat is in an empty lock, the roof is still higher than the lock side.
We now began the long run through the famous brewing town of Burton-upon-Trent. Although Bass is a name ling associated with the town, the company of that name finally sold off the brand in 2000 and last year the was put on the market for redevelopment. Marstons remains as a major part of the town's economic activity.
At Shobnall a small bridge marks the entrance into a small boatyard - Jannels Cruisers. The was originally the start of the Bond End canal that link the Trent and Mersey with the nearby River Trent. At one time there was a plan to link the Ashby Canal from its terminus at Moira to the Trent and the Bond End canal. However, along with other plans to link with the Caldon Canal at Uttoxeter this never materialised. Most of this canal was an early casualty of competition,. especially railways, and was filled in by the time of the 1882 OS map leaving just the basin and the remains of the first lock. When the boatyard was created in the 1970's, the remains of the lock were used to form a dry dock which is still in operation today. As it was the start of the Bond End, the bridge is numbered 1!
Dallow Lane lock, lover shadowed by the much widened Dallow Street road bridge, is the last of the narrow locks. the rest of the canal to the Trent at Shardlow was constructed for wide beam boats.
The mural alongside Horninglow Wharf has survived remarkably well. Originally the basin was much larger but the modern A38 dual carriageway covered most of it.
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