Today's Canal : Trent and Mersey
Today began very overcast but still exceptionally hot for the time of year and now the air was also quite still. As a result we felt at least as overwhelmed by the heat as yesterday.
We set off much as usual, surprised that we had not yet seen any moving boats. We later passed a few but fewer that we had expected.
After a little while we passed Swarkestone Brick Wharf. From here the Derby Canal ended its journey from the city with a short flight of locks down to the river. These have long since disappeared. Despite the name, it seems that the main trade may well have been timber although coal from south of the river featured in early proposals that were never implemented.
The main Derby Canal junction is about 100m further on and most of it has been lost although there are active efforts' to reinstate as much of it as possible. The other end on the Erewash Canal seems to be the present focus for real action. A short part remains here to be used as long term moorings. Somewhat unusually, the boat club have posted notice stating that the entrance is not to be used for winding.
Swarkeston Lock is just after this junction and is one of the deepest locks. In the past there have been reports of difficulties with operating this lock - with such large bottom gates it is not unexpected- however we found both the gates and the paddles remarkably easy to operate. A boat coming up recognised us from when we were last on the Kennet and Avon (alas, the recall was not symmetric!) At least this meant that we did not have to fill and open the top end of the lock.
The view from below seems to belie the feeling when actually in the lock!
The freight line that runs close to where we moored for both the last two nights crosses the canal here.
Swarkestone Pavilion is all that remains of a large, grand house, built in 1630s, owned by one of the leading families in the country. The Hall was demolished in the late 18C and the Pavilion became derelict until restored in recent times and is now used by the Landmark Trust as holiday accommodation.
Our last photo of Cuttle Wharf from 2014 shows it to be almost derelict and rather overgrown. It is clear that quite a bit of work has been done since then.
A junction on the railway we mentioned above was the start of the Derby and Ashby Railway. Initially its main freight trade was carrying the products from a colliery, brick works and a quarry near Worthington. It did also have a passenger service - especially popular with Derby County fans as one of the stations was very close to the ground where the club then played. During the Second World War, the line was take over by the military for training personnel in railway engineering (and possibly how the blow them up) Two Canadian companies were trained (in a week!) on how to operate a railway. A full scale train set for big boys! At the end of the war it was no longer needed and was handed back to LMS. However, by then, its useful life was over and gradually close down. Today it forms a long distance cycle and walking route.
Weston Church is some distance from the village. It dates in part from 12C but there was extensive restoration and development in 1877. It is now designated as Festival Church which means that it only holds services on special occasions.
A little distance before we reached Weston Lock we passed a boat that was just casting off so we waited to share the water with them. A pleasant liveaboard couple who were planning to reach Redhill boatyard today where they are booked in for some work on the engine. Again a deep lock but with two crews we made light work of it.
That freight line again! After hearing a lot of traffic on the line on the past two days we have been surprised not to see any this morning. Its principal advantage seems to be that it connects the East and West Midlands without having to pass through Derby. Shortly after this bridge near to Castle Donnington, a short branch connects with SEGRO and the East Midlands Gateway Rail Freight Interchange alongside the East Midlands Airport. From here there are around six trains a day to the container port at Felixstowe, but has capacity for up to 16.
Christine is urging Mike to undertake next year a project to photograph as many wild flowers and such creatures as butterflies connected with the navigations. This might have been prompted by this one landing on the boat next to her where it stayed for some time, waving its wings in the air. It is not easy to take a picture and steer at the same time without running into the bank or another boat! Do let her know if you can identify this one accurately.
And so to Aston Lock, much shallower than the previous two. We had a bit of help from a boater that was moored on the lock landing awaiting help to fix his engine. The other boat went on ahead as we were not expecting to go through Shardlow Lock until the morning, depending on where we can moor - it can get quite busy at Shardlow. The bottom gates used to have a well know feature of not staying closed whilst crew walked to the other end to let water in. At one time there were some handy wooden props, if you recognised what they were for - one still lay in the grass. However, either the problem has been fixed or the gates were today to lazy in the heat to bother annoying boaters!
When the lower lock landing was rebuilt in the recent past it was a nice idea to include the lock name in the brickwork. Sadly there seems to be no resource to maintain it, perhaps highlighting with paint, so it is probably missed by many boaters.
Closing in on Shardlow we passed under the busy A50 - there is no escaping the noise footprint for some time and so when we started to see an increasing number of boast moored, we took the best we could find just after the next bridge, about a kilometre from Shardlow Lock.
5.9 Miles - 3 Locks