Beeston

Today's Navigations : River Soar, River Trent, Cranfleet Cut, Beeston Cut

We opted to get away again as soon as we could and untied around 8:45.

Planes were by now in full flow and as we moved away from being directly under the flight path we could now see the airline name. CargoLux is based in Luxembourg and is a leading carrier of specialised goods.

The short cut between the weir and Kegworth Lock should be wide enough for boats to be able to moor here but the offside vegetation and, just a little later , towpath side reeds and lilies, reduce the width to one boat at a time.

A wide beam moored in front of us was away even earlier and, alas, we saw that he treats these locks as river locks where (sometimes) it is common practice to leaves gates, top or bottom, open on departure. Although Kegworth New/Deep Lock is on the river, above and below, it is not generally considered exempt from the usual rule of leaving all gates and paddles closed before leaving. This meant that before staring the usual working of the lock, Mike had first to walk down to shut one bottom gate, walk back to the other end to cross over and then down to close the other bottom gate. Only then could he return to start filling the empty lock. 

Last year we found this lock very slow to fill, both travelling up and down river. We had heard that some work was done to alleviate this and were keen to see how successful. Although it still takes some time to fill, it is a very deep lock and it levelled out quite readily (the problem last year was that even when the lock looked full it took ages before a gate would would move)

This lock is also noted for the frequency with which boats hang up on the cill. This is always a serious matter but here more so not only because of the size of the cill from the lock gates but also because of its height above the lower river level.

At one stage of planning our night stopovers we had considered looking for a spot 'below' Kegworth Shallow or Flood Lock where we stopped last year. The risk when going downstream is finding it full and that there is hardly anywhere else before arriving at the River Trent. One of the reasons for mooring above Kegworth was just this risk. When we arrived at the lock we were very glad that had decided that way as the spaces (and more) were all occupied by what looked like long staying moorers. There is a useful space to park vehicles alongside the lock!

We were getting slightly low on fuel and had hoped to top with diesel at a  boatyard below Kegworth, We called here last  year and found them very helpful (apart from only dealing in cash!) Although the owner was around also was A CLOSED sign. It transpired that he is in some form of disagreement with HMRC over the handling of fuel duty for boats and until that is sorted he will not take risks of serious fines!

Finally on the Soar we came to Ratcliffe Lock, which feels only a stone's throw from the still standing cooling towers. Actually it about a mile!

Alongside the lock we noted a large ditch from which a substantial amount of sand and gravel had been removed and then we saw this gravel bar at the end of the lower lock landing. We have not heard what was the cause but it looks as if storm conditions washed a lot of the material down from that ditch above.

We were keeping a good lookout as we passed Redhill Marina as we understood that Oleanna was still here for painting. However, we failed to spot it - perhaps it is in the paint tent right at the back, centre of the photo. Perhaps Pip will be along later with an update that gives better news than her last posting.

And finally Redhill Flood Lock that is also usually a straight run through.

On the final part of the Soar there is a small hill to the east that gives its name to the place: Redhill. The side nearest the river was long ago eroded exposing the red stone. Unfortunately the direction of the sun makes it a little hard to see (the colour, that is)

As soon as we turned out onto the Trent our speed over the ground dropped significantly whilst we crossed the main flow (but not like in 2007!) We knew also that our route was to go just behind the sailing club buildings, quite a landmark for some distance. We spotted the flagstaff well before joining the river.

Trent Junction is four way - to the left in the photo is Sawley and soon the quieter waters of the Trent and Mersey Canal. Straight ahead is Trent Lock and the start of the Erewash Canal. And to the right is Cranfleet Cut and the route to Nottingham. Behind, of course is the start of the River Soar or, if you miss the turn, the uninviting tumble of Thrumpton Weir!

Just after joining the Cranfleet Cut we passed through Cranfleet Flood Gates - this time not a lock but a single pair of gates that protects properties and boats along this cut when the river is in flood. Perhaps because they operate automatically,. it does seem from the routine Stoppages reports that this closes and opens quite frequently, especially in the wetter parts of the year.

The railway line from Nottingham to Loughborough passes over the canal here as well - Mike came over on Friday at the end of his 'epic' car shuffle journey.

At the end of the kilometre long cut is Cranfleet Lock that returns the navigation back to the river level below the weir.

Alongside is the base for the Nottingham Yacht Club (NYC). There is what was once a substantial lock keeper's house. Long gone are the days of permanent and residential lock keepers. A notice says that a keeper (presumably volunteer) is on duty on Fridays and Saturdays and there was an appeal for more volunteers. Perhaps also from the time of full time keepers, all the paddles have handles welded in place.

On the opposite side of the lock, the yacht club is in (a) box!

Below the lock we join a four and a half miles of winding, but notably wide, river with very few identifiable landmarks along the way. Nevertheless, the banks are much more picturesque than some other rivers.

This sign warns boaters of an obstruction.

Here it is (what was it?). A little further is another similar obstruction but it warrants no warning sign!

We passed a model aircraft club on the bank side. There were several cars alongside a small club house. One plane was in the air doing complex acrobatics. Without a high quality zoom camera we could not do much to capture the plane but here is our least worst shot! We wonder how such clubs and enthusiasts will survive the recent surge in small scale drone technology.

Near Barton-in-Fabis is we passed this delightful sailing vessel making its way slowly upstream. Almost no wind so we think they were probably helped by their small outboard.

This probably quite old but impressive cruiser is moored along with a static caravan in what seems to be a long way from anywhere else. We could see no name so unable to Google its history,

A sign, somewhat in need of refreshing, welcomes boaters to Beeston Marina - a long line of pontoon moorings stretches back from Beeston Weir and Lock. Boaters at this end appear to have quite a long walk to their boat along a pontoon that is not always level!

As we neared the lock we realised that the battery in the camera had run out so no more pictures for today. Perhaps just as well as we had already almost run the gamut of the alphabet in name suffixes to identify the photo files! 

Beeston Lock is unusual (although not unique) in that water is run continuously through it to maintain flow in the longer Beeston Cut that runs all the way through Nottingham, rejoin the river below Meadow Lane Lock. One paddle at top and bottom is marked in red and notices ask that they are both left open after passing through the lock. The upper lock landing nearest the bank is a pontoon and sits at quite an angle to the line of entry into the lock. Trickly manoeuvre! 

After the lock is a long stretch of ring moorings but there also seemed to be a lot of road traffic and parked motorhomes beside the canal. We recalled that we had moored long ago close to the Boots Footbridge so pressed on - but not far. As Waterway Routs indicates, the mooring just before the bridge requires pins - some stretches are currently No Mooring to allow sand martins to nest in the canal side wall! We moored in a suitable space (about the last one!) and found it fairly quiet. We were moored just after 1 o'clock. The rest of the afternoon was extremely oppressive and we found it hard to do much other than just sit. 

However, Mike did force himself to do two DIY tasks. Firstly we noticed this morning that when mooring last night an overhanging tree that was a tad more substantial than it looked had pulled out the rubber seal surround to the starboard bathroom window. This is not immediately serious as its function is to protect the screws/bolts that hold the windows in place but it does look untidy and we now know how to fix it quickly.

The second task was to look at a fan we bought last year but not used. Christine has assembled it on Friday and it has proved invaluable these past few sweltering days. It had been rattling rather annoyingly. Some nuts were tightened but Mike realised that a small nut and bolt mentioned in the assembly instructions but not in the parts (list) had not been supplied. It is moderately important in that it prevents the front of the fan guard from falling off. An item in the tool box provide a temporary fix but we will need to look further for the proper thing.

The promised thunder started to roll in around six leading eventually to a real flash and clap. That presaged the arrival of 'proper' thundery rain which very quickly brought the temperature quite a bit.

9.8 Miles - 4 Locks (Our log says 6 locks but two of them were flood locks)