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

 

Making a break for it

 14th Jan

Woke to ice....yet again! Thankfully, it didn't last because the temperature throughout the day rose steadily. 

 

With only a couple of bags of coal left, and not knowing how long we would have to wait for the river to come down, we were told the garage at the end of Main Street sold 20kg bags of smokeless coal for £18. From this mooring, Google Maps estimated a 10 to 15-minute walk, not too bad, so armed with a trolley, set out.  These days I can keep up with Ian's longer stride now that I have a new knee, so I think we made it well inside the 10 minutes.

 

 We found an app showing river levels for this area. It's the monitoring station at King's Bromley and can be found on the Gov.UK site 

 

We religiously looked at it hourly, probably a bit OTT but was pleased to see the levels to be dropping and had high hopes that we might be able to get going tomorrow.

 

Jan 15th. 

 

Our first thoughts when we woke was would we be able to leave. Rain was forecast for later, getting a bit paranoid that the levels would rise before we got away.  The app showed the level to be only slightly above normal, looked promising. Another walk to the lock late morning and was pleasantly surprised to see the marker to be in the amber. In our book there was nothing to stop us going except for one thing...the chains were still on the lock!

 We met another boater at the water point. He had already phoned CRT asking why the chains were still on the gate. The reply was they expected the river to rise and didn't want to have to come out again! So we showed him the app, proving the Trent was falling, and it was agreed that we would also phone CRT asking for the chains to be removed. Anyway several hours later a return phone call to tell us the river was now open, time 2 pm and much too late for us to set off especially as the first decent moorings after the river was at Barton Turns, a good 90 minutes cruise away. And to top it all, rain had started. Nop we would descend onto the river tomorrow.

16th Jan,

 Rain was intermittent overnight and did nothing to make the Trent rise again so by 9 am we got ourselves underway.

 We were beaten to the lock by one coming off the river, it was the start of meeting several boaters all trying to get through before another stoppage occurred.

Boat had just descended Wychnor Lock

At Barton lock yet another boat was met. The chap happened to be the one we talked to yesterday and had gone down the river as soon as it opened. He had moved to the lock landing, the perfect place to await CRT with their padlock key and no sooner was that chain off, he was gone!

 Below Barton Lock was the water point. Two taps and plenty of room for boats to water up without getting in the way of the lock landing. We chose the second tap furthest from the lock to top up the tank. Unfortunately it didn't work! The pipe below the isolation valve had a 2-inch split in it, obviously from a burst pipe. So a phone call to CRT to report it and then pulled back to the first tap. This one did work.

Kat was due to come past today, not sure when, but we had been told she had loaded Bagus with coal, diesel and gas bottles at Horninglow. Not wanting to miss her or pass whilst travelling, we decided to stay on the water point but pulled forward again to where the broken tap was. Several more boats came past, none wanting water.

Early afternoon we heard the sound of Bagus in the distance. Ian hurriedly took our empty gas bottle from the gas locker ready to exchange and decided we would also buy another 2 bags of coal. 

 

 Kat was worried she wouldn't get to Alrewas before CRT closed the lock again. Yet another mention of the locks being closed, most baffling. We showed her the app with the river levels still falling, she appeared relieved and also happier. Not long after she had entered the lock, we too set off.

Branston Water Park was our preferred mooring for tonight. Seeing a space free we pulled in, only to see winter mooring notices along the mooring. We deduced (quite wrongly as it turned out) that no boater had taken up the offer of a winter mooring and got ourselves nicely settled.

Blue sign with winter permit holders only.

 

Thirty minutes later, we heard a boat trying to reverse. Hurrying out, realised the space he was trying to get into wasn't big enough for him. We did the right thing and offered to pull back. A very pleasant gentleman then informed us that where we had moored was his paid for mooring, and he had only left to get to Barton Turns to water up. Oh dear, I was mortified and said we would leave immediately, but he wouldn't hear of it. Said if we pulled right back so he could get in, we should be okay to stay, as no other boater had arrived to take up that mooring. What a lovely person, and we had a productive and long conversation. And guess what... he also mentioned that Wychnor and Alrewas locks would be closed as from tonight. "They don't want to come out over the weekend if the river rises", he said.. I wonder how true that is!

We were also told of a police incident at the park. Drones and divers had been there for several days and a body was eventually found. This from the BBC news  So sad for the family. 

We would like to make Willington tomorrow, a nice mooring by the footbridge at Mercia Marina. It's also handy for Midland Chandlers to get some more 'blue' for our cassettes.