All the way up the Swanny leading to a Pub with No Beer!

What a lark, we left Shardlow at around 09:00 and proceeded slowly toward the Flood Lock. The gates were open at both ends, so it's straight through without stopping, which is a bit strange. Derwent Mouth Lock took us down onto the River Trent which suddenly opens up to a wide expanse We decided to get a pump-out and diesel at Shardlow Marina which is some considerable distance up a backwater. We found the unsigned entrance and searched with caution to find the services area. (Again no signs). We found it and moored up, and then I went to find someone to serve us. Eventually I found the chandlery/office and enquired of my want. "The pump-out is £9.00" said the lady behind the counter. (Too good to be true) "Do you have cans for the diesel?" she asked. "Cans?, no, why would I need cans?" I asked. "We're not allowed to serve fuel for propulsion purposes" she said, "so we can't dispense fuel directly into a boats' fuel tank." Oh! well, I paid my £9.00 for the pump-out and she provided me with a key for the machine and I were to help myself. OK, happy with that until I found that the hose wouldn't reach. I considered winding (turning around) but that wasn't going to help either. I went back into the chandlery/office to retrieve my £9.00 and someone came out with me to see if they could help and agreed that there was no way the hose would reach, so It was back to the chandlery/office where I was given my money back. So it was all the way back to the mainline Trent after wasting an hour and a half and two miles worth of diesel. At Sawley Marina we were able to pump out and get dieseled, but I had to do both myself and both were far more expensive than at Shardlow. On to Sawley Locks where I thought there would be someone to operate them for us. No such luck, muggins had to do it for himself - in the rain. So, on past the entrance to the Erewash Canal, the continuation of the River Trent, and turn right on to the River Soar. This is where we change Pearsons Guides to The Oxford and Grand Union edition. Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station presents itself as a major feature at the Junction of the Trent and Soar, it is a massive structure.

Lin waiting for Derwent Mouth Lock to fill.

There's been very little rain this year compared to last, and water levels are low at the moment. I think even if we get a lot of rain now it shouldn't affect levels a great deal because the ground will soak it up before it enters the rivers.

That's about 250mm below the bottom of the green.

This is a pipe bridge carrying some liquid or gas or the Trent.
The M1 can be seen in the background

Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station.

A rather swish Boat Club House

On the Trent we need to find the entrance to the River Soar...

...It's over there on the right just off the picture.

A familiar place...

Kegworth New Lock.

Last year we were stranded here for four days waiting for the water level to go down. Yep, you've guessed it, it's raining.

Quite benign now

Water level is about 50mm below the green.

See ya tomorrow, all being well.

A Bit of a Shock

From Bridge 22 we proceeded to Stenson Lock where we had a bit of a shock. Not only were the locks wide from here on, but this one was deep. 12ft 4ins., that's a long way down.

Looking back at Stenson Lock. No sense of depth until you get inside.

Beware! Car int' Cut

The road is perilously close, though it's just a country lane.

Swarkestone Lock

Shallow at 10ft 11ins.

Wave - No, it's behind you!

Aston Lock?

We're in Shardlow tonight, with a choice of four pubs within easy reach, and guess what, we're staying in.

UPDATE:- We changed our minds, we patronised the New Inn and had a very pleasant meal in there for a tenner.

Fradley to Willington, 16 miles & 10 locks, and The Great Unveiling.

Having been through Junction Lock last night, the first locks of today were Keepers Lock and Hunts Lock, just a hundred metres or so from where we moored. I was raining first thing so we waited for it to stop before making a move. Lin wanted to visit the Gift Shop which didn't open until 10:00, so we were away shortly after. It had, by enlarge, stopped raining by then.
The next village is Alrewas, a pretty little place with thatched rooves, immaculate gardens, and skipfulls of money, and it boasts four pubs for you to choose from. At Alrewas Lock the River Trent joins the canal and leaves again just a few hundred metres further on. Very benign at the moment, the depth marker is showing about 50mm below the bottom of the green section. Wychnor Lock is next marking the end of the river section and the beginning of the A38. What a racket, and this then follows the canal very closely for two miles and then it's not far away through Branston, Burton on Trent, Stretton and nearly into Willington. We thought we'd moor up somewhere near Bridge 24A but there were no pilings and the edges were rough, shallow and lined with big stones just under the surface so we were forced to go on to Bridge 22 where there are good pilings, the water is deep, the A38 is miles away, but the railway is close by instead. Oh! well, it's the best of all the evils.

Unusually narrow bridge without tow path

Approaching Burton on Trent, Branston Lock
Ahh! Beer and Pickles - Wonderful

And now for The Great Unveiling...

Here we go...

A bit more...

Ta Daah!

Click on any picture and you should see a full size version.

That's all for now folks, see ya tomorrow.

Such a frustrating day.

We were under way at 08:55, a bit late for my liking, but Lin (bless her) has a Velcro back. It was a lovely morning, chilly with mist on the water, and the sun blazing. Polesworth was our first town followed by Amington where we stopped for Lin to post a couple of letters. Then to Fazeley where we took on water at the junction. From here on we were on tick-over nearly all the way to Fradley as there were boats moored every 1 to 2 hundred metres - not worth opening the throttle for. Then, when it came to looking for a mooring there was nothing available except between gypsies, and either there were no pilings or it was too shallow to get close enough to the bank. We ended up going on to Fradley Junction, turning right and through the first lock on the Trent and Mersey Canal where we found a spot just big enough for TQ at around 17:30. To make up for a bad day (relatively speaking) we decided to treat ourselves to a meal in The Swan Inn and very good it was too. No nonsense, half a chicken and chips and peas at £7.50 washed down with a pint of Abbot - delicious.
Sorry, I can't load up any pictures tonight, even though the connection is reading five bars on HSDPA (High Speed Data Packet Acquisition) (What's that smell?), it's too slow, it just sits there after having taken ages to upload then does nothing.
More tomorrow...

Locks - haven't done those for a day or two.

We left our moorings just after 09:00hrs and cruised our way to Marston Junction. Turning right we rejoined the Coventry Canal and headed toward Nuneaton where Lin decided she wanted a newspaper because it came with the tv listings for the week so we stopped between bridges 21 & 22 on the visitor moorings while Lin went shopping. Another stop later at Springwood Haven for some screws, grease and glue drew a blank as the assistant in the shop was in far too deep a phone conversation to be interested in what I wanted so I left empty handed. This means the unveiling of the switch panel cover will have to wait.
Onward through Hartshill and then to our first locks at Atherstone. Eleven in all and we were greeted by a friendly volunteer lock keeper who helped us through the first one. He could see we'd done it once or twice before so he let us go on our own for the rest.

Lin waiting for Lock 8 to fill.

Looking back at Lock 8.

TQ in Lock 9.

After the locks we were looking for somewhere to moor and we passed these at Grendon Dock:-

A restoration project for you?

Here's one someone did earlier.

Nice!

Tonight we're moored short of Bridge 50 on the Coventry Canal.

And there's more tomorrow...

...And in complete contrast...

...Cold, wet and windy, that's what it's been like today, But we knew it was coming, so we waited until the rain stopped, or at least slowed, and we made a run for it. Once we got under way it emptied down and I struggled all the way from Bridge 28 to Bridge 16 in torrential rain. I just had to stop, I was soaked. But when we did stop so did the rain. Then later it drizzled heavily 'til 15:30 when we decided to make another run for it. A bit better this time, we arrived at Bridge 3 by around 17:30 just right for joining the main line tomorrow.
Whilst waiting for the rain to stop I fitted a cover for the control panel. I had to drill and countersink six holes for the attachment screws. No pictures yet, you'll have to wait for the unveiling ceremony, but first I need to buy some M5 x 25mm slotted countersink brass screws and attach it properly.
Sorry, only one picture today, the weather has been far too...

TQ on the Ashby, Bridge 3 in the background.
The sun finally shone.

The Stones, nothing to do with rolling.

We were on our way at 08:00hrs this morning, in brilliant sunshine again, and made passage to the end of the navigation, through Market Bosworth and Congerstone. At Shackerstone there is a festival this coming weekend and it's already very busy. There is restricted mooring between Bridges 49 to 53 (a long way) and it's filled with narrow boats moored two abreast in many places. There's only enough room for one boat at a time and we had to pull in and stop for a working boat coming the other way.

Here he comes...

I thought I'd better pull in, he's bigger than me.

An original working boat.

There's some nice boats there, one or two I wouldn't mind for myself. Boats of all sizes and shapes are here, some new, some not so new and one or two bugvilles too.

...And the third Stone...

Snarestone, the head of the navigation is a lovely place, very peaceful, clean and new.

The Pump House being restored

The canal will go beyond and yonder once restored.

This is as far as it goes at present.

Lin - what a poser!

On the way back we saw this:-

Steam Tug Adamant

Heading for Shackerstone.

More tomorrow.

The best day so far.

We slipped our mooring near Bridge 11 on the Oxford Canal at 07:50hrs. and what a beautiful morning. Trouble is, it's surrounded by the M6 and the M69 Motorways and the road roar is quite loud and all through the night.
Here's what it looked like:-

Early morning

Only twenty miles today, along the Oxford, the Coventry and the Ashby. We're moored just South of Bridge 38 AKA Fox Bridge, and here's some of what we saw today:-

Approaching Hawksbury Junction

In the Stop Lock

Through the bridge and sharp right

We filled the water tank here, it took ages, loads of pressure but not much flow.

Charity Dock doesn't change much

Just South of Bridge 38

Tonight we're miles away from any motorway or main road and the silence is deafening.

And look what Lin's made for tea today, tomorrow and the next day- absolutely beautiful:-

In the left corner, Cottage Pie. In the right corner, Blackberry and Apple Crumble.

Me being arty.

The weather has been the best today, perhaps a shade too hot, but tomorrow its's all down hill. Some sun early, cloudy later, then heavy rain on Friday.

Good progress

What a day, just over eighteen miles from Bridge 87 North of Braunston to Bridge 11 North of Anstey on the Oxford Canal, and what glorious weather, fog early morning followed by brilliant sunshine and some welcome cloud this afternoon, and this evening, broken sunshine. Boating doesn’t get better than this.
Sloes and blackberries are in abundance and we’ve seen bunches of huge blackberries weighing down the thorns and sloes like bunches of grapes. I tried to get TQ in close to some blackberries but the canal was too shallow but I think we’ll be doing some picking soon.
Here’s some photos from today:-

Looking back at Hillmorton Bottom Lock

Unusual sign - Kent Road leads into Hillmorton

Makes a pleasant change from graffiti.

Steam tug Adamant

Inside Newbold Tunnel.

A sign of the times or neglect? The lights inside the tunnel are gradually failing, there being only four out of the many remaining intact. Why the lights were fitted in the first place is a mystery to me but I’d think it was part of CaRTs (formerly BW) attempt to waste money on being arty. The lights are turned off at dusk till dawn to encourage bats.

As the Sun sinks slowly in the West...

A pub lunch with friends.

On a Monday when everyone else is at work it seems a bit odd, almost guilty that we skive off and go to the pub, but we're on holiday and it's got to be done. We headed to Braunston, turned right at the junction and passed Narrowboat Kernow moored near the water point. We said hello as we passed and winded in the entrance to the marina, then we moored up just in front of Kernow. Then we met up with friends Dave and Anne and strolled down to the Admiral Nelson for lunch. The waitress warned that there would be a long wait for food because they were short staffed that day, but we didn't mind, we're on the cut and time doesn't matter so much that we can't wait. It arrive an hour later and it was worth waiting for, it was delicious. We'll be back soon.
Later we strolled back to our boats and we headed up the Oxford Canal toward Hillmorton but only got as far as bridge 87 where we saw a good mooring spot so we bagged it.

TQ in the distance

The weather has been very kind to us today, a little chilly in the morning, and quite warm by lunchtime which is probably why we're plagued by wasps, there's thousands of them everywhere and they're persistent little blighters, quite aggressive and won't take no for an answer.
Tomorrow we head up through Hillmorton Locks and beyond.

It's been a long time...

...Since I last blogged, It's been a long time since we've been on board TQ. We arrived at 13:30 and unloaded all the gear. Phew, there was a lot of stuff, four trolley loads, anyhow we got it all aboard and the first thing I did was to get down and dirty in the engine 'ole. Wigrams kindly supplied me with some oil and loaned a couple of empty containers to put the used oil in and I carried out an engine oil, filter and gearbox oil change. All finished in time for a celebratory home cooked meal of Chicken in BBQ sauce, home grown runner beans and new potatoes, topped off with a glass of  some very quaffable Chilean red wine. X-Factor next, Lin loves it, I hate it - too much hype. Staying in the marina tonight, on the move tomorrow heading toward Braunston to meet some friends for lunch.

It's about time I Blogged

I'm getting fed up with the same old photos at the top of the blog, so I thought I'd add this one of the CaRT Moorings at Bathpool on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal.


Oh what a lovely day. Ten minutes after I took this I was in work.

There are five moorings available here for sale by auction guide price £619.00 and a reserve of £464.00...
and that was back in 2011.
UPDATE:-
From the latest auction...
Leisure mooring available, 
Waterway: Bridgwater & Taunton Canal
Guide price: £642 inc VAT per year
Reserve price: £578 inc VAT per year
Estimated Closing date: 02/07/2013 13:00