Back on the Trent and Mersey Canal

We are now heading towards the Rugby / Coventry area so yesterday we left Nottingham and headed back (the way came a couple of weeks ago) up the River Trent.  It was quite windy which is not good for boating and, not surprisingly, we only met two boats between Nottingham and Trent Lock.  It’s always a bit of a strange feeling going onto a river – there’s a lot more water about! which is a bit unnerving because the bank, and safety, is so far away.  Not that getting to the bank would be any good as they are usually so high and totally unassailable.  So the anchor should, and is, always at the ready!

The very wide River Trent.

Oscar, insisting on staying outside on a cold windy day, had to wear his jacket.  He is a happy soul regardless of the look!

After, what seemed, an endless section of the River Trent we were back through the Cranfleet Cut, up through Trent Lock and Derwent Mouth Lock and back onto the Trent and Mersey Canal.  After passing through the pretty village of Shardlow we decided as it was so windy and we’d had a long day (for us!) to moor where we’d moored last time….

just outside Weston on Trent after bridge 9. 

Today we carried on in the same very windy conditions as yesterday -  stopping to do a toilet pump out at Stenson Lock.   Further on and, by chance, we met  Geoff and Mags on nb Seyella  (fellow bloggers) at Willington.  A brief exchange was all we could achieve as we were just leaving the service point and Geoff  was trying to get on it.  The wind was so strong it was all we could do to keep the boats under control.   We hope one day we have more time to meet you both properly. 

Geoff getting nb ‘Seyella’ on to the service point at Willington.

Further on we passed Horninglow Wharf coming into Burton-on-Trent.  A special place for us as it was where our last boat ‘Spirit’ was built and put into the water for the first time.

Horninglow Wharf.

This is our last photo of the day.  This is Branston Lock,  which is very exposed, and the wind was so strong that  ‘Chance’ was being pushed hard against the lock wall requiring Doug to push against the side of the boat to get us safely out of the lock.

We are now mooring safely near the “Bridge Inn” where we plan to have a nice Italian meal tonight.