A very short cruise

 Feb 4th

Today we left the moorings above Shardlow lock, and today we hoped we might be able to leave for home. Levels had dropped to below 1.53, lower than it had been since we arrived over two weeks ago. While I went to the water point below the lock, Ian walked down to see what the state of the river was according to the floodgate light, a phone call came back to say it was still on red! I had a feeling it would be, as a comment from Pip Nb Oleanna said they had to wait for the levels to come down to 1.25 before it went into the amber. Anyway not wanting to reverse back above lock again, Ian had mentioned the moorings by the Malt Shovel was free. Not sure how much longer we will have to stay but being by a pub...well I can think of worse places to be! 

 

We did walk to Derwent Mouth lock, really to see for ourselves what the gauge showed and yes, about a good 2/3 inches to go before it went into the amber. A boater at the lock had the top gate paddles raised. We had a long conversation with him and turned out he too moored on the Erewash, at Hallam Fields, about halfway along the canal. Like us, he was getting fed up with having to wait and was in two minds whether to just go for it. His anchor was at the bow ready 'just in case', but I think we managed to persuaded him to stay, stating the insurance would be null and void if anything happened.  We left him pondering and wished him good luck if he did leave. 

And seen walking to the lock

Expecting high canal levels perhaps?

 

And still we wait.

 Jan 30th

Still here...thirteen days later and the river refusing to go down. In fact, the one chance where we may have been able to leave, the levels having dropped to 1.61, happened at 5am on the 27th before rising swiftly again 4 hours later! No way would we have even attempted to make a break for it at that time of the night, in the dark, with the river still flowing fast...nop that was never going to happen!

 

So what have we been up too. Well.....

Getting low on water, we decided to look for our water container, felt sure it was in our cellar. Yep, we have an area under the floor where no ballast had been placed; Ian utilised the space by making 6 drawers to increase our storage.  But as Ian pulled the drawers out, shock horror...water lying on the exposed steel and the drawer bottoms wet. After the initial panic, Ian deduced that it was condensation, the insulating foam along the cabin sides didn't quite reach to the bottom. Hmmm....no wonder my feet were always cold! Anyway, FS looked like a bomb site with everything on display, and the underside of the drawers placed near the stove to dry out. Oh, and after all that disruption, the most annoying part, no sign of the water carrier!

We took the bus into Castle Donnington. Gosh, I'm impressed with the transport here. Every 15 minutes a bus arrived to either take you to East Midland Airport and onwards to Leicester, or in the other direction to Derby. Castle Donnington was on the route towards the airport, with a bus stop right outside Aldi. Result. A short walk from there and up a very steep hill (about killed me) was the small town centre with a hardwear store where we hoped to purchase a water carrier. Unfortunately, that was the one thing they didn't stock. Oh well, plan B. Ian would take the bus to Sandiacre to fetch the car in a few days. The bus wasn't needed though, as to the rescue came our daughter Christine and son-in-law Kev, turning up at the weekend with the offer to take Ian to our bungalow where the car was kept.  

Life became so much easier after that. The 3 cassettes (last one nearly at the critical stage) were taken to Willington facilities to empty, and rubbish also got rid of. A new water container was bought from Kimberly caravan dealers, so water wasn't too much of an issue for the time being, Below Shardlow lock was the water point, easy to walk to, to fill up. The only trouble was that blooming widebeam had decided to take up residence by the tap which would mean mooring up by boat a tad difficult. 

Today (Jan 30th) water situation became the talking point whilst still in bed with the first cup of tea. All well and good using the 20 litre container, but water soon ran out having used it for stand up washes, washing pots, filling kettles and flushing the loo etc. We therefore made the decision to take FS below the lock to fill the tanks and hope we could get near enough to the tap for the hose to reach. 

 

There was just enough space between the widebeam and that narrow boat, (which had arrived a couple of days ago and moored towards the end of the lock landing), to squeeze in. 30 minutes it took to fill both tanks, FS must have been very close to empty. Although moorings were available through the bridge, we both wanted to get back to the mooring above the lock so it was left up to me to reverse from the water point into the lock, and then try and get back to our vacated mooring. It was interesting to say the least, a slight breeze blowing toward the offside meant I had to keep correcting the way the boat moved, FS is notoriously bad at going in a straight line backwards. But all came good in the end, I reversed into the mooring, pins knocked in at the exact holes they came out of, and now we should be okay for another two weeks. Hopefully it won't be that long before we can leave, but not sure, as this sent to me by Kev. It's for the Swadlincote area, but not that far as the crow flies to Shardlow. Hmmm doesn't bode well for the future!

 

Closing the bottom gate.

A bit nerve racking seeing how close the gushing water was to the stern. I kept FS's bow as far to the front as possible.

This afternoon we went for a car ride to Trent lock, mainly to get rid of our recycling material, but also to see what the river was doing. Oh, yes it was high, we have seen it higher though. This in 2012.

Sawley flood lock

 Driving over the bridge at Sawley this afternoon, the flood lock was nowhere as bad as that. Check out MY POST from then. 

Back to the present, and at Trent Lock there would have been no way one would even want to attempt to turn into the Erewash with the flow as fast as it was, but not just that, I doubt if any narrowboat would get under the bridge to reach the safety of the lock!

The river gauge has lost its colour but still in the red!

 Back to FS and looking through the hedge, wow, river risen even more! The first photo taken a few days ago and the second this afternoon.

 

 

Looking at the Gov.UK website, although the river has dropped from the highest level last night (2.40m) now at 2.28m, there are no signs of the river coming out of flood for several days yet. Check out the website HERE

Dissapointment.

 Jan 19th

 High hopes this morning that we may be able to leave. This screenshot taken from my phone on the GOV.UK site. It states the level to be steady and in normal levels. Yippee, we might make it onto the Erewash Canal today after all.

 After breakfast, off we set by foot to see if the flood lock light was on. 

 Blast, red light displayed for both River Trent and the Soar, okay, so what would it be like at Derwent Mouth lock. We decided to veer off the towpath and take the path running alongside the field, less muddy and had a better surface to walk on. Didn't get too far though, blast again...well that was a waste of time. Turn around and walk back!

 Derwent Mouth lock, not a chain or padlock to be seen so did that mean the river was truly down. 

 

Our hopes were dashed when we walked to see the gauge below the lock. Clearly it was still very high!

Looks to be like any lock landing on the canal but on normal river levels there is quite a step-up and sometimes the ladders have to be used.

This taken in 2023 showing why the ladders would have to be used.

So disappointed and upset that the app on Gov.uk was wrong. Why say it's normal river levels when it clearly wasn't! 

We couldn't believe what we were seeing when starting the walk back to FS. A boat on the move heading for the lock. "You're not going onto the river?" I asked the lone gentleman boater. He said he was, and even though we mentioned the height of the river, he was undeterred. "Been here long enough" was his reply, "I'm not staying any longer." Even when we mentioned his insurance would be null and void and how would he get off his boat to operate the floodgate paddles at Sawley, he still said he was going. I do hope he makes it, especially as coming from the lock channel onto the river, he will have to cope with two rivers coming into one. The Derwent flow from the left and the Trent from the right. It's hairy at the best of times as power has to be put on to cross the currant, but today....with the rivers as high as they are....well he's either very brave or very stupid!

 

 Oh, and remember I mentioned that widebeam on Weston lock landing yesterday. Well, early evening (dark) it came past us and pulled onto the landing. "Bet they are still there in the morning" I said and sure enough, I was right. It's now 5pm and they are still there!

 

 

Wow, River Trent higher than we thought.

 17th Jan

The couch to 5K run was in progress opposite the park just as we were about to set off. Wow, it was well attended, over a hundred I think, some in fancy dress, some pushing buggies and some parents running with their children. I'm more of a couch to kitchen person, just to make a cup of tea, and all that running looks far too strenuous for me! I'm blaming my flabby muscles, old age and not being as agile as I once was.

 

Leaving Branston Water Park, that nice gentlemen on his boat, the one who tried to moor yesterday but failed because we pinched his mooring, waved us goodbye. Probably glad to see the back of us! I still feel uncomfortable about what we did. 

 

First lock of the day, Branston Lock

We stopped just past bridge 33 for a Morrison's shop and then continued to Shobnall for diesel. 85p for over 50 litres, take less than that and its 90p litre. It was an easy reverse through the entrance to the marina, the pump is at the far end and this is the best way to get your filler near to the pump. Hardly a whisper of wind to make this manoeuvrer difficult today. 

 

Our aim was to moor past Willington, (after using the facilities) near to the Mercia Marina entrance. OMG, on the skyline before the entrance was this monstrosity. What was being built now? Ian thinks it's flats, I will have to do a bit of research to find out.

 

Jan 18th

Rain was falling heavily as we woke so no thoughts of even attempting to leave for Shardlow. The plan was for a lazy day catching up on TV programs but by 10 am, the rain stopped. A look on AccuWeather for this area showed a window of about 4 hours when no rain would fall. Decision made, we would leave.

No sooner had I cast off when a sudden reverse was needed as this dog jumped out in front of FS. The owner's fault for not looking for boat movement and throwing in a stick. They took note pretty sharpish when they did see FS almost level to them! 

 

What a far cry from when we left mid-October with very low water levels to now. Bywashes by the locks running rapidly and part of the offside bank before bridge 25 had collapsed leaving the canal water to flow into the field.

 

Willington Cooling Towers have become local landmarks. There have been many development plans for the site, but all have been rejected. We personally want them to remain, it's a landmark we welcome, knowing Willington is not far off. 

From Willington we cruised to Stenson and the start of the broad locks that we now have to endure right up to Langley Mill. Stenson is a deep lock, it took forever to fill and nearly as long to empty! New gates have been installed, (not sure when) but still there remains a problem when the nearside bottom gate wouldn't open sufficiently to let FS out. (to make life easier for us only one gate needs to be opened) There is a lot of debris in the water from rotting reeds and penny wort, which may be the culprit, but I suspect it's something more substantial.

 

Swarkstone lock is by the junction of the Derby canal. Only a short section of the arm is still in water, but the TRUST are confident that one day the whole length will be restored.

The River Trent flows very near to the canal at Cliff Wood, bridge 10. We knew the Trent was on red boards, but had no idea just how bad it was. I can't see us getting back to Langley Mill any time soon!

 

Approaching Weston lock, I got such a shock when a loud thud was heard right at my feet. I was mortified to see our tiller pin dog lying in two halves on the deck. Crikey, one of the halves could easily have disappeared into the depths. We sure were lucky they stayed on the deck!

 We were helped at Weston, by the gentleman that lives in the lock cottage. He's been helping boaters for the last 5 days because a widebeam was moored below on the lock landing. Previous to that it had been moored on the water point for three days.  CRT have been informed but to date, nothing has been done!

The rain held off until we reached Shardlow. Not sure if we should attempt to go down the lock and then be faced with no mooring space so we stayed at the top. Tomorrow we will walk down to see what, if anything, is available

 

And seen on route

Offside mooring near Horninglow

Egret