Friday 30 September 2011

Onto The River Soar

We have come to the end of the Trent and Mersey Canal and continued onto the River Soar over the last few days – heading back to the boat builders at Thurmaston, Leicester for a few jobs to be done after 4 months of continuous cruising.

River Trent 001

A misty morning just before we left our mooring on the Trent and Mersey Canal at Branston on Wednesday.  It didn’t last long as it has been so hot up here over the last few days the mist soon gets burnt off!

River Trent 002

We passed another well known blogger at Horninglow Basin, Burton on Trent.   Andrew on Granny Buttons wasn’t at home.

River Trent 009

Leaving the Trent and Mersey canal we enter the River Trent.  The expanse of the river is a little different to the canal.  The depth of water also makes the boat go easier (and faster if you want! - a good opportunity to give the engine a bit more stride)

River Trent 013

Here we are filling up with diesel, 95p a litre at Sawley Marina. We also topped up the water tank.  We then went through Sawley Lock (this is an automated lock so there are push buttons instead of having to heave on lock gate beams to open them – a nice change for Doug!).  A quick 1/2 mile further down the River Trent we made a left turn onto the Erewash Canal.  This canal is virgin territory for us and we wanted see what it was like.

River Trent 020

As you can see it was full of duckweed and so thick, as you passed through, it filled in the gap behind us!  It is a very urban canal for the first part and because of the duckweed and so much rubbish floating in it we decided to turn back at Sandiacre Lock and head off the canal and back onto the pristine River Trent.

River Trent 023

Some of the floating homes as we left the canal were amazing – this one reminiscent of a Mississippi steamer. Still on the canal, and just before we left through Trent Lock,  we met Ian and Karen on nb Serenity, (another fellow blogger!)  We had a quick chat with them (as they were blacking their boat in dry dock) before leaving the Erewash Canal.  We may return one day when we have more time and we can be assured of a cleaner canal.

River Trent 025

The last lock  (Trent Lock) on the Erewash Canal next to the Steamboat Inn. The Radcliffe-on-Soar power station in the distance dominates the surroundings for many miles around. We moored just off the canal on the River Trent for the evening.

River Trent 028

Sunset on the River Trent.

6 comments:

  1. Another Ian and Karen!
    We were on the Erewash in April and it was fine, so earlier in the season must be the best time.
    Sandiacre was nice though.

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  2. Hi Ian and Karen on nb Tacet, We were told by lots of locals that they have never seen the Erewash in such a bad way. We do hope to do cruise it again in the future but perhaps earlier in the year would be better. Doug

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  3. Good to see you again, we will meet properly one of these days instead of shouting across at each other :)
    The duckweed was rather bad, plus you can't see what is lurking beneath. As we left Mills Dockyard towards Trent lock we managed to get an umbrella fast around the prop. It took Ian awhile to cut it free.
    Ian & Karen

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  4. Nice to see you again. We will get to meet properly one day instead of shouting across to each other.
    The duckweed was very bad, plus you can't see what s lurking beneath. As we left Mills dockyard heading towards Trent Lock we managed to get an umbrella fast around the prop. It took Ian awhile to cut it free, but luckily no damage done.
    Ian & Karen

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  5. Hi Ian and Karen

    Thanks again and glad you are back on the move! We look forward to meeting properly one of these days! Doug

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  6. Richlow guidebooks23 December 2011 at 16:38

    Hello, we try to encourage boaters to come down the Trent to the waterways of Lincolnshire and those east of the Pennines. If you want to know more our www.richlowinfo.blogspot.com has images of waterways on our patch. And more about our waterways guides as well.
    We care about the waterways of our area, and we try to help others discover them. Happy boating Christine Richardson

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