Overwinter Cruise - Week 10

Sunday 10th December - Fradley Junction

Well, as I said at the end of last week, we were keen to experience colder weather and we have certainly got it.  Heavy snow fell over night turning our view into a winter wonderland!








Monday 11th December - Fradley Junction

Fradley Lake looks stunning in the snow and ice, the ducks are sliding over the ice and swimming in any small patch of water!








In the afternoon we walked through the snow to South Fradley where there is a new Coop to serve the new housing estates that have cropped up.

Tuesday 12th December - Fradley Junction

This morning we woke again to sub zero temperatures with the canal frozen around the boat - note the perfect reflection in the ice.

We had a lovely surprise, as Laura phoned to say that they were only 40 minutes away and could come and see us.

We were delighted to see Laura, Amy, Jen and Ade and we enjoyed a smashing lunch together in the Swan Inn.








Wednesday 13th December - Fradley Junction to Armitage

Today we decided to try and move the boat on towards Great Haywood.  The canal was still frozen in places but we thought we could do it.  Having cracked our way up through 2 locks we abandoned the trip and moored up again above Shade House Lock.

Here we met a hire boat that was going our way and needed to be back in Great Haywood by tomorrow. We let them go first and followed in the path they cut through the ice.   This all worked beautifully until they broke down having picked up a tyre around their propeller!

We carried on until Armitage and The Plum Pudding moorings and decided to call it a day and moored up for the night. 

The canal is above a road which was incredibly noisy, so we planned to stay as short a time as possible.

Thursday 14th December - Armitage to Great Haywood

We stopped on our way to put on water, then continued on to Great Haywood.

We moored up for the night at our favourite spot just before the junction and visited the farm shop to stock up on supplies.  

Christmas decorations on the roof.









Friday 15th December - Great Haywood

Today we have made the decision to abandon all attempts to get to Market Drayton for Christmas.  Instead we have arranged for the boat to be moored in Penkridge, with our boatbuilders who have relocated there, over the Christmas period and Laura and Amy are going to collect us by car and return us to Market Drayton.

We spent a lovely afternoon walking across the Essex Bridge, through the Shugborough Estate, along the River Trent and back along the canal from Little Haywood.

The river Trent has officially gone into flood, meaning that the River section at Alrewas is now closed to all navigation.

We spotted this lone duck on the canal and I think I have identified it as a female Red Breasted Merganser.  Not long after this shot it dived under the water and disappeared!

Its a hard life living on the boat and Toby was exhausted by the time we got back and he put himself to bed!








Saturday 16th December - Great Haywood

A very cold night and woke to once again being frozen in on the canal.  Good job we are staying here today.  We spent a quiet day on the boat, keeping warm with the woodburner and catching up with paperwork.

On Monday we shall move on to Teddesley Boatyard where our boatbuilders, Bourne Boatbuilders, have moved to.  We are going to moor the boat with them over the Christmas period and return to the house with Laura and Amy.

How did we cope with the cold weather?  Well, being iced in meant you had to sit it out and wait for the canal to defrost and that can be deceptive, moving through ice no matter how thin is very noisy and will damage the blacking on the boat, it is very beautiful and a delight to walk in, the woodburner combined with the diesel central heating keeps the boat nicely warm and none of this has put us off, we would definitely do it again!



Map Key   Week 1 - Brown   Week 2 -  Purple   Week 3 - Dark Blue   Week 4 - Light Blue
                   Week 5 - Green    Week 6 - Olive Green   Week 7 - Yellow  Week 8 - Orange  
                   Week 9 - Pink      Week 10 - Dark Pink

Overwinter Cruise - Week 9

Sunday 3^rd December – Shardlow

Today we have decided to stay in Shardlow and take a walk down to Derwent Mouth Lock. 

We found two Canal and River Trust volunteers encouraging visitors to walk up to the lock as it was open to the public.

The lock was amazing once we were down inside it, the gates look even more enormous from the bottom. 

This coping stone was to replace a stone missing from the top of the lock.  They need to refill the lock and bring the stone in on a boat with a crane to lift it into place.

This shows the confluence of the River Derwent, River Trent and the Canal  flowing towards Sawley.  The river appears quite slow and gentle today.

Shardlow was an important inland port in its day and this building was a transfer place from river barges to canal boats, it has been restored and is now a pub and restaurant.

Monday 4^th December – Shardlow to Stenson Lock

We made an early start this morning and after putting on water we made our way up the first of the 5 wide locks towards Stenson.

We said good morning to the resident kingfisher who sat beautifully for his photograph, many thanks to Dave for an excellent shot!

Stenson Lock is the last of the wide locks and at 12’ 4” deep it is an awesome lock.  We felt very pleased with ourselves as we had got the hang of opening the ground and gate paddles on the side opposite the boat, with the flow of the water keeping the boat pinned against the lock side.  No more banging around in the lock!

Tuesday 5^th December – Stenson Lock to Branston Water Park

Today we set off through Burton and stopped at Shobnall Marina where we were able to buy a few more nets of logs ready for the onset of the cold weather.  We also bought some delicious cakes from the café to have with our coffee!

After passing under a brand new road bridge, we moored up for the night opposite the Water Park and took Toby for a long walk.

Wednesday 6^th December – Branston Water Park to Alrewas

From Branston the road follows the A38 and is extremely noisy.  On the opposite side is a gravel works producing mountains of aggregates of varying sizes.

We moored up in Alrewas just above the lock and walked back to look at the River Trent river section we had just cruised along.  The river was again quite gentle.

Thursday 7^th December – Alrewas

Last night we were hit by Storm Catherine and fortunately survived unscathed.  We are staying put until the storm passes over, so spent the day exploring the village.  We also had a parcel to collect from the Post Office ordered through Amazon and delivered to Amazon Locker – a very useful service.

Just up from us is moored a blacksmith, he has his workshop in a butty attached to a narrowboat that they live in, he does some beautiful ironwork.

The village really is very attractive, with pretty timbered cottages and a converted cotton mill. The village was once famous for basket weaving, made from the alder trees that used to grow in the Trent valley.  Alrewas is a corruption of the words Alder Wash referring to the trees and the weaving industry.

Friday 8^th December – Alrewas to Fradley Junction

Woke this morning to snow falling and a very light covering on the ground.  We decided to move on to Fradley Junction as the leaky lock has been temporarily fixed and is now open again.  We pulled over to the water point and filled up with water and began our cruise.

I walked Toby and worked the first 2 locks, then Dave did the next 2 and we pulled over in the basin opposite Fradley Reservoir.

The lake looks stunning in the late afternoon setting sun, but only a few ducks to be seen.

We went to the Swan for a drink and got talking to some of the locals who kindly showed us a stash of wood behind the pub and invited us to help ourselves.  Dave collected a couple of loads before the sun went down, so we shall stay warm during the proposed arctic spell.

Saturday 9^th December – Fradley Junction

We are staying here for the weekend, we have everything we need, café, pub, water, rubbish disposal and a shop within 20 minutes walk.  So if the weather closes in we shall be fine

We have treated ourselves to a full English breakfast in the café and spent the day walking, reading and enjoying ourselves!

It looks like the end of week 9 could see a huge change in the weather - well, this is what we wanted to experience, so really looking forward to see what happens!

Map Key   Week 1 - Brown   Week 2 -  Purple   Week 3 - Dark Blue   Week 4 - Light Blue
                   Week 5 - Green    Week 6 - Olive Green   Week 7 - Yellow  Week 8 - Orange  
                   Week 9 - Pink

Overwinter Cruise Week 8

Sunday 26th  November  - Great Haywood to Fradley Junction

We made an early start this morning as we were hoping to get to Fradley Junction before the daylight faded.

Colwich Lock has a lovely cottage which has been done up over the years we have been passing through this lock.

 I am fascinated by the different bird life you can see along the canal.  This bird of prey – I think it maybe a sparrowhawk was flying along the side of the canal and perching on telegraph wires until we approached and took off ahead of the boat again.

Bromley Wharf was where our share boat nbMinuet used to be moored.  We began our boat ownership with nbMinuet and spent many trips cruising from here.

We arrived at Fradley Junction and made our way down through the locks, past the junction and on to moor opposite the Visitor Centre and Fradley Nature Reserve.  Toby and I went for a walk around the reserve whilst Dave set up the boat, usually these moorings are full, but we were the only ones tonight.

Monday 27^th November – Fradley Junction to Branston

Another early start this morning to get to Branston again before the light faded.  As we left our mooring, the next lock had a team from Canal and River Trust assessing the lock which was very leaky.  They will probably do a temporary fix on it as the gates are going to be replaced next year.

In Alrewas a team of volunteers were working to improve the lock landing at this lock, always pleased to see work being carried out for improvements.

As you leave Alrewas, the River Trent merges with the canal and you travel for about a ¼ mile on the river section.  The information boards said the river section was open but to proceed with caution, so on a yellow board.  We certainly felt the boat pick up speed as we headed towards the weir bollards and turned away from the river back on to the canal.

The canal bridges here are tall and narrow with no towpath going through them.  They are quite daunting as they never look wide enough for the boat to fit through!

We moored up at Branston Water Park for the night and went for a walk around the lake with Toby.

Tuesday 28^th November – Branston to Mercia Marina

We then cruised through Burton-on-Trent, home to the Marston’s Brewery.  They began brewing beer in Burton in 1834 and moved down the road to the Albion Brewery in 1898 and have been there ever since.

Dallow Lock has lovely murals on both sides of the lock depicting the history of the canal in the town.

At last!  A decent photograph of a kingfisher, the fellow flew along the canal ahead of us and we actually saw it dive into the water to catch fish.  The colours are vibrant, iridescent blue feathers on the back and orange-red underparts, very striking in flight as they skim across the surface of the water.

Then as we were heading out of Burton we found a stunning black swan with a red beak, quite beautiful!

We continued on through Willington and on towards Mercia Marina where we are going to leave the boat for a couple of nights. We moored up at the Visitor Moorings and collected a hire car from Practical for two days so we could drive across to Wisbech to visit our eldest daughter, Lizzie.  She broke her wrist 6 weeks ago and she was due to have the cast off and wanted support from Mum and Dad.  All went well and as an added bonus we also saw our granddaughter, Bea, as well!

Wednesday 29^th November – Wisbech

Spent the morning doing some shopping and the afternoon at the hospital with Lizzie.  

Thursday 30^th November – Mercia Marina to Stenson Lock

Made an early start and drove the 2 hour journey back to Mercia Marina, paid our overnight mooring fees, filled up with diesel and then set off back along the canal to Stenson Lock. 

The looming towers of the disused Willington Power Station are quite majestic in a strange kind of way!

We moored up above Stenson Lock as it was bitterly cold and windy, we shall tackle the lock tomorrow morning!  It is the first of the wide locks on the Trent and Mersey Canal and is also one of the deepest! 

Friday 1^st December – Stenson Lock

Today we planned to move on to Shardlow down the wide locks and Dave was preparing the boat when a boat passed us heading in our direction.  Excellent, we can share the wide lock… but no, there was a boat following on which had stopped at the Marina and would be along in about 20 minutes and they were sharing with them.  This meant another hour before we could use the lock, so we abandoned our plans and decided to stay where we were and decorate the boat for Christmas!

Christmas lights inside, on the roof and a diddy Christmas tree on the dinette! Feeling very Christmassy!

Saturday 2^nd December – Stenson to Shardlow

We set off today to tackle the 5 wide locks on the way to Shardlow.  The lock at Stenson is 12’ 4”, very deep and wide, and very kindly a fellow boater helped Dave set the lock.

There is a section of the canal where the road runs parallel and very close.

Love the warning sign for motorists!

Damage to Barrow Bridge, looks a fairly recent repair with a very new crack in it!

We stopped at Swarkstone Lock to empty rubbish and put on water and found this restored crane outside the toll house cottage.  Just above the lock is the junction with the Derby Canal which is now closed, but would have been a busy area when the canals were used for transporting goods.

Swarkestone Hall Pavillion dates back to the 1500’s and has been restored as a holiday cottage for 2 people.

A field of cows with access to the canal for water – just so long as they don’t get stuck in the water!

We arrived in Shardlow and moored up just past the Heritage Centre.  We need to turn round here as Derwent Mouth Lock is closed for winter works at the moment. 

We have now completed the whole of the Trent and Mersey Canal from Preston Brook to Shardlow in nbElla, another canal we can mark off!  Next week we will return the way we have come and head back towards Great Haywood. 

Map Key   Week 1 - Brown   Week 2 -  Purple   Week 3 - Dark Blue   Week 4 - Light Blue
                   Week 5 - Green    Week 6 - Olive Green   Week 7 - Yellow  Week 8 - Orange