Willington and onwards

Tuesday 16th January 2018
We arrived in Willington mooring right next to the Dragon, a lovely pub with a large beer garden crammed with tables, must get very busy in the summer.
This is a 48 hr mooring but, as with most of these, this is extended to 2 weeks during the winter months.
We planned to stay here for the rest of the week as the weather forecast was threatening us with every sort of winter weather over the next few days.
It started out wet and windy,  culminating in a howling gale on Thursday night, the boat was shaking and I had to get up at 4 am to remove things off the roof before the wind did it for us! Poor old Scruff was terrified and was restless all night. Following the wind and rain the weather settled down and became much cooler with the canal freezing over night on Saturday, then Sunday brought heavy snow eventually turning to rain in the afternoon.
Willington turned out to be a good choice for us to sit out the weather. As mentioned in my previous post it has everything you need, we took the opportunity of having the railway station close by and got the train into Burton to take the washing to the launderette. As it was cold we decided to call into one of the local pubs whilst waiting for our return train. We called in to the Coopers Tavern on Cross Street,  right opposite the enormous Molson Coors (formally Bass) brewery. 

Stepping inside was a revelation,  walking back in time to lots of tiny rooms fitted out in original Victorian fixings, it took a little time to find our way to the tiny bar with a backdrop of different beer barrels.  The pub is now a Joules house and sold a full range of their own beers as well as many others.
To compliment a great pint of IPA they also sold a number of large Scotch eggs including chilli, chorizo, black pudding as well as the standard flavour, each is a meal in itself. Joules brewery also have there own herd of pigs,  presumably to consume the various by products from the brewing process. The meat from these is used to produce their own delicious sausage rolls. We almost missed our train waiting here.
On our return to the boat we decided to investigate the open mic night at the Rising Sun just around the corner from our mooring. This pub is a friendly local and the evening was enjoyable, I even managed to get up and do a spot.
Friday saw us returning to Burton to pick up the washing and of course, another visit to the Coopers.
On Saturday Keith and Cheryl called to see us and we had an enjoyable lunch in the Dragon, with a short stagger back to the boat for coffee.
Vicky and Ian called into see us on Sunday as they were on their way back to Bristol from Leeds, it was nice to see them again as they had struggled through the snow and rain to get to us.

Monday 22nd January 2018
A much better day today, the wind had subsided and the temperature had almost reached double figures with some welcome sunshine. We got underway making our way back to Burton, crossing a swollen River Dove,  with the aim of making our way to Alrewas. We called at the services in Horninglow and whilst there received a notification from CRT informing us that the river section at Alrewas was closed due to high water levels. We had no option to moor up at Shobnall fields (again) and await further news.
I have to admit that cabin fever was starting to set in and I was ready to move on from Burton as we seem to have spent too much time here. To make matters worse I managed to lose my varifocal glasses seeing them slowly and teasingly sink into the gloom of the  canal. No amount of trawling around the area managed to rescue them.
The following morning brought the news that the river was still shut so we spent the day catching up with a few jobs before going for a walk. The forecast was bad again so we battened down the hatches in readiness for a rough night, sure enough, the early hours brought strong winds with torrential rain starting around 8.00 am, it was beginning to look as if we would be stuck for another day. 

Amazingly, on Wednesday morning, the news came through that the river section had reopened so once the rain eased a bit we set off. Our first port of call was the marina at Shrobnell, enjoying the intoxicating smell from the Marston  Brewery on the opposite bank. Here we took on supplies of fuel and the rain finally subsided although the wind was still quite strong. We progressed well, cruising alongside the busy A38 past Barton Marina and the Barton Turns pub, resisting the temptation to call in for a pint and another sampling of the delicious food they serve there. 

Alrewas river section

We then arrived at Wychnor lock lifting us onto the Alrewas river section. Here the canal joins the river Trent for about 1/2 a mile or so,  above the lock you enter a short canal section directly fed by the river and the flow was quite strong, inching our way along past the moored boats, before arriving at the river proper. The flow here comes downstream from the right before hurtling off to the left over a large weir. The flow at this point almost brought us to a halt and required full power to traverse the torrent. Finally we made it to the lock at the other end lifting us back onto the safety of the canal.
We moored just above the lock, relieved that we do not have to worry about river flows for a while.

Thursday 24th January 2018

Canalside cottage in Alrewas

A lazy day to day with just a stroll around the village, we always enjoy our visits here, the village has lots of old half timbered and thatched cottages as well as most of the amenities a boater would require. There is a butchers here that is famous for its wide selection of home produced meats, pies, etc and we couldn't resist calling in to stock up for the next few days, like most of the local butchers they are always happy to vacuum pack fresh meat to enable it to last a few days longer in the fridge.

We also called into the local church, another fine example of a village church and to our joy the church yard was full of snowdrops in bloom with daffodils not far behind. The weather really did feel spring like and we managed to get quite a few amps into the battery from the solar panels.

Alrewas is also the location for the National Arboretum http://www.thenma.org.uk/ this is well worth a visit in its own right with a very moving centrepiece. 

Our next move is onto Fradley where we will join the Coventry canal.

Medieval Art in the church

Alrewas mooring

Onto the Trent

Tuesday 9th Jan. 2018
Following a much warmer night we awoke to find the canal was, at last, free of ice so we decided to move along the few miles east to Willington.
As we approached we discovered there was plenty of mooring space so we tied up up close to the village. Willington has plenty to offer the boater with a choice of three pubs, a good chippie, a couple of good shops for restocking supplies and a railway station.

Wednesday proved to be a dry and quite mild day so we opted for a walk across to Repton over to the south of the River Trent. Just outside the village we arrived at Willington bridge, crossing the now wide and fast flowing river. The bridge was opened in the 19th century, replacing a ferry crossing, and tolls were charged for the passage over the bridge, in the early 20th century the bridge was purchased by the village and the tolls removed.

A further mile or so across the valley Repton rises on the low slopes of  the valley side.
The approach to the village is marked to the left of the road by the church of St Wystan in turn surrounded by the imposing buildings of the public school that dominates the place. The more modern school sports and science facilities are evident on the right.

Repton Church

Repton claims to be the oldest town in the country and was the capital of the Anglo Saxon kingdom of Mercia. The church was founded during these times (early 8th century). We visited the crypt that formed the basis of the church and is the resting place of the Mercian royal family, history just seeps out of the ancient stonework and its location illustrates how the ground level has risen some 4 or 5 feet over the centuries.

The Crypt

The Kingdom came to an end with the arrival of the Vikings in 873 after which the history disappears into the dark ages.

Market Cross

1172 saw the founding of a priory adjacent to the church, following the reformation this became the basis of the current school with some of the school buildings dating from this time. The original priory arch forms the main entrance to the establishment.

Priory Arch

We left the church to explore the rest of Repton passing the old market cross on our way up the main street. The place has the chalky, dusty feel of an old school room and was very quite during our visit, there was the occasional pupil scurrying along presumably going to see matron in the medical centre or to attend a lesson in one of the many annexes that are scattered throughout.
The school was used for some of the scenes in the film Good Bye Mr Chips, which explained the name of the local fish shop "Good Buy Mr Chips"!
The only pub we saw on the main street was the Bulls Head and we called in as this also doubles as the public conveniences for the village. The pub appeared to have had a recent make over in that sort of doing up by doing down way. The result was a success in our opinion, the interior had a dark Dickensian feel with flickering candles on the tables and shafts of winter daylight shining though the few windows, all quite in keeping with the rest of the place.

Thursday 11th January 2018
A fine January morning today and we set of to our next stop at Swarkestone. A mile or so we came to a foot bridge that leads over the canal to the large and busy Mercia Marina. We pulled over and went to Midland Chandlers to purchase a new coolie hat for the chimney to replace the one that had blown away during the recent gales at Barton.
We carried on soon arriving at the lock at Stenson, this is the first wide lock we had encountered since Manchester, it is deep too with a drop of 12 feet. The locks from here down to the Trent are all wide and were built to allow larger boats to serve the breweries at Burton U Trent.
A further couple of miles  brought us to Swarkestone, a place we had visited before.
Next morning we walked back along the towpath passing a memorial marking the spot where the body of a 16 year old girl was discovered in 1978, a strange case this as here assailant was only jailed after a successful civil case brought about by the determination of the girls family.
We continued along until we reached the road leading down to the village of Barrow on Trent, we followed the lane down arriving into what is pretty much a commuter village, although it has a good share of older buildings and church. Continuing through the village we arrived at the banks of of the Trent, turning east to follow its course down to Swakestone.
Our reason for returning here was to see the medieval stone bridge, reputedly the longest in England. This incredible structure takes the form of a causeway for most of its length before crossing the river and was built to provide a safe passing over the rivers floodplain.

Swarkestone Bridge

It was built in the 12th century and according to the Pearson's Canal Guide "in 1347 the scale of tolls quoted charges of a 1/2 penny for a cask of Sturgeons". Swarkestones other claim to fame is that it was here that Bonnie Prince Charlie abandoned his attempt upon the English throne, returning, your homework is to find out why!
On our way back to the boat we called into the Garden Centre, here you can but what is probably the best coffee and walnut cake ever tasted.

The bridge, looking south

On our return we noted the weather forecast for the week ahead, this was suggesting high winds, rain, snow, hail for the next week so we revised our plans. we decided that we would continue down to the Trent to visit the facilities at Sawley before retracing our steps back to Willington, the Erewash will have to wait for another day as we didn't want  to become stuck unable to enter the Trent for what, especially at this time of year, could become lengthy wait for it to reopen.
The following morning we made our way through the three locks and 5 miles to Shardlow. we passed through the village, wanting to stop but knowing we would soon be returning, to reach the flood lock that protects the area from a flooding Trent. The lock was open but the red indicator was on indicating that the Trent was in flood and it was in advisable to proceed. This seemed strange as the level shown on the internet was at normal for the time of year, a walk down to the river lock at Derwent mouth confirmed all was ok as the old fashioned green/amber/red gauge was below green therefore passage should be ok.

M1 bridge

A call to CRT confirmed this with them calling back to say there must be a fault and that if the level was green then carry on. We locked down onto the short cut leading to the confluence where the Derwent meets the Trent then along with the flow passing under the M1 before arriving at the lock leading up to the Sawley Cut.

Derwent Mouth - Derwent to the right, Trent to the left

We turned the boat around before mooring up for an overnight stop, I walked up to the facilities only to find they were closed for refurbishment!
The following morning I walked across to the impressive BWLM marina and enquired if we would be permitted to use their facilities and thankfully they kindly agreed.
Following a walk into the village with the sound of church bells in the back ground, to do some shopping we moved the boat across the cut to the marina fuel point where we took on fuel and used the facilities. We were soon ready to make our way back to the relative safety of the canal at Shardlow and were soon rising up the lock at the start of the Trent and Mersey. There is a sign at this lock indicating the start of the Derwent Valley Trail, a 55 mile walk through Derbyshire, terminating at Ladybower Reservoir to the west of Sheffield.

We spent Sunday night moored at Shardlow, listening to rain and wind lashing against the boat, thankful to be warm and snug inside.
The following day our intention was to explore this former inland port but the weather made this a rather short quick look around.
The village surrounding the canal is a collection of old warehouses and boat yards, in its day this place was a significant port with transshipment being made from narrowboats to much larger vessels that proceeded along the Trent and up to the Humber and North Sea. On the impressive clock warehouse is a sign indicating the navigation linking the Trent to the Mersey quite a feat in the late 18th century.

Shardlow

Monday saw us returning back to Willington to review our next move and the weather. Our intention is to travel up to Fradley junction where we will turn south west heading down towards Coventry and the Ashby canal.

On the Move Again

Monday 8th January 2018

Happy New Year to all our followers.

We saw the New Year in up in Leeds, returning to the boat on Thursday 4th.

The trip back was a lot easier that anticipated as we have left the car in Leeds, returning to Burton by taxis and train, we had no issues at all and the guards on the train made a big fuss of Scruff which of course she enjoyed.

We spent the following day preparing for our departure on Saturday, the forecast was good so it should be easier manoeuvring the boat around the moorings.

However we awoke to pouring rain and as we were pulling out, howling winds, typical! 

Goodbye Pier 279

After a struggle we made it to the canal and moored up to empty the loo and get coal etc, we also collected our deposit for the key and found to our surprise that we had money left over on the electric meter, this was also refunded.

The weather brightened up but turned colder however we were well wrapped up and made our way down to Shobnall Felds and tied up on the moorings we stayed at in November. We had a walk into Burton to take on supplies ready for the rest of our journey.

Spot the animals and faces hidden in this tree!

Our plan for the next stage is to head east towards Nottingham, to Trent Lock,here we will turn north onto the Erewash Canal. We intend to spend several days exploring this relatively short route and look forward to reaching the terminus at Langley Mills, here we will be reunited with the Cromford Canal at the opposite end to the one we visited in November with Keith and Cheryl.

We had planned to move onto Willington on Sunday but decided to stay put and celebrate Lucia's birthday on the boat with the intention of moving on Monday morning but the canal had started to freeze overnight so we stayed put and will hopefully get underway on Tuesday.

We had a walk over to the ridge to the northwest of Burton and were rewarded with views across the town and the Trent Valley.

View over Burton - all the large buildings
 are the Molson Coors Brewery

We walked along the ridge dropping down into Horninglow, one feature of this area is the number of pubs, at the end of the rows terraced houses, most of which are still open. 

We returned to the boat via the towpath and look forward to being able to get underway tomorrow (hopefully).

Not sure why they have two sign posts?