Onto the Beeston canal

We had moored overnight on Wednesday at the end of the Erewash canal where it joins the River Trent.  We had moored next to a guy who makes and sells fenders.  As we needed to replace the bow fender we bought one and fitted it whilst taking on water.

Our task for the morning was to move onto the water point, take everything off the roof and wash the boat down - it’s always a fun job as we get soaked

As we were going to be cruising down the Trent later when Buddy would stay on the boat we went for a walk before lunch.  At one spot were dozens of damsel flies – These males were obviously confused and trying to mate.

A heron was fishing between the houseboats opposite our mooring.

After lunch we set off down the final lock on the Erewash and turned left at the five-way junction onto the river.  

At Cranfleet we went through a flood lock which was open as we have not had a lot of rain recently.

This is the closest we have seen to a “Neil” boat.

In Cranfleet we left the river for a mile and went down the Cranfleet cut.  At the end was the Cranfleet lock which dropped us back onto the river.  We shared the lock with another boat – we hadn’t shared a lock on any of the 30 locks on the Erewash so it was a pleasant change.  Unfortunately they seemed to be a bit tense with each other so  we didn’t talk much.

Unusually, the locks here have windlasses attached which was the first time we had seen this set up.

The houses along the river bank are all built on stilts.  The permanent moorings are also built to slide up and down the pilings in times of flood.

This is Barton Island which seems to be privately owned as there’s a house at the far end.

There was very little boat traffic and the river was very slow flowing.

We realised that few people see this part of the river as there are no roads or bridges – it felt rather tranquil.  After five miles we came into Beeston which is on the outskirts of Nottingham.  We went into the pretty little Beeston lock.

We were now on the Beeston canal which runs into Nottingham and joins the Nottingham canal which in turn runs through the centre and back out onto the river at Trent Bridge.  

We moored up for the evening soon after leaving the lock and were surprised how pleasant our surroundings were.  The only thing we had to watch for was the commuter cyclists.  It was like being back in London – there were dozens of cyclists using the towpath as their route home from Nottingham.  It means we will have to keep Buddy on the lead from here on into Nottingham.

Back to the Trent again

Before setting off on Wednesday we took Buddy for a run round the playing fields where we had moored the previous evening.  It makes a nice change for him to have an open area rather than tow paths.  He came across a pied wagtail – wagtails fly low to the ground and are superb for Buddy to chase as they fly around for ages before flying higher and off.  You can just make out Buddy in the middle of the picture but not the pied wagtail.

As we are heading back down the Erewash there is not much to report as we covered it on the way up last weekend.  In Long Eaton we passed two adjoining houses with their back gardens turned over to pigeon lofts - this is one of them.

This is Long Easton high street that runs for quite a long way alongside the canal; we hadn’t taken a picture on the way up.

We are getting lots of compliments about the flowers (well, Karen is as I’m not allowed to touch them unless we are moving them around).

The water in the cut was still lovely and clear.

When we moored for lunch we took Buddy to the River Erewash for another swimming lesson.

Karen even went into the water to try and get him to swim but to no avail,

Closer to the River Trent we went through some flood locks that we hadn’t shown on our way up.  They are still ½ mile from the river but show how high the area is defended against flood, especially as there is a 10’ drop at the final lock.

Ilkestone

As we were near the abandoned Nottingham canal we went for a walk on Tuesday morning to try and find it.  On our way there we went through a meadow and were really happy to see our first Meadow Browns of the year – our harbingers of summer.  They were first seen in the South three weeks ago which shows how far behind we are up here!  This is a male…

…and this is a female; unfortunately the sun had gone in so she wouldn’t open her wings, but she is a lot lighter than the male…

…and this is Karen butterflying.

We soon found the canal and parts of it still had some water.

This bridge across the abandoned canal is still intact.  Buddy and I were told to keep out of the picture but I managed to get a cheeky arm in like “Where’s Wally?”.  That reminded us of a story we heard, that to keep their children quiet on long journeys, a couple used to colour in the Wallys before handing the books to their children.

We found a swing bridge that still seemed to operate.

We made it a circular walk and rejoined the Erewash canal that would start backtracking down in the afternoon.  This silly family of coots had built their nest practically in the centre of the canal.


There were several signs along the tow path that simply said "Shortcut".  They tickled us as they didn't say where the shortcut was to.


When we were back at the basin we walked along the section of the abandoned Cromford canal that is still in water and is used by residential boat owners.
 

After returning to the boat and having lunch we set off.   We had to make a 180 degree turn here to go back the way we had come up.  It was really tricky as we are the maximum length that can turn in this basin.  The sides of the basin weren’t parallel so we had to find the widest spot by trial and error.

On our way back down the canal we noticed a milestone counting down the distance to the River Trent.  We hadn't noticed them on the way up as the undergrowth was so long and this one had only been cut this morning.

In the afternoon we went back down eight locks and moored south east of Ilkestone.  Judith (my sister) and Nigel and their youngest son Ned popped in to see us which was really nice.

The northern end of the Erewash

Our plan for Monday was to get  to the end of the Erewash canal which is at the Great Northern Basin in Langley Mill.  This is where the Nottingham canal used to go off to Nottingham and also the start of the Cromford canal.  The restoration people are hopeful of getting the full length of the Cromford restored in the future.   

Karen dropped her anti-vandal key at the first lock.  To be fair the anti-vandal devices on this canal are strangely situated right over the water so easy to drop them in.  Anyway a few dips with my trusty magnet soon recovered it.

Soon after leaving Sandiacre we went under the M1 near Trowell services.

At Shipley lock are two restored and inhabited canal buildings – one was a stable and the other a slaughterhouse for old canal horses.

We went over the River Erewash at one point – this river valley gave its name to the canal.

These signs welcome you as you enter the final lock which is actually the first lock on the Cromford canal.

When we came out of the final lock we moored for the day just where the swan is on the left.  The Cromford canal continued straight on and the branch on the right is the start of the Nottingham canal – sadly disused.  When we leave we will have to turn the boat round here so technically will have been on the Cromford and Nottingham canals as well  as the Erewash.


There was a common spotted orchid growing on the tow path where we were moored.

We had our own stanking plank store outside our dining room window.  We had not seen any stanking planks on the whole canal but plenty of slots in the bridge holes.  Maybe they are all of a standard width on this canal so these can be used in any bridge hole.  Note that the thicknesses vary.

The canal society have made a good job of restoring the basin and the buildings around it – especially considering it had been filled in and turned into a car park.  This is the toll house at the start of the Nottingham canal.

Once we moored up we stayed in for the rest of the day – we felt shattered and can only assume it was the wind that tired us out.  We only passed two boats all day which is just as well because it was so windy.  Here are the 11 locks we went up today.