Fradley to Derwent Mouth
24th May to 26th May 2002
Les, Sandy and Sean
Having hired a narrowboat on a couple of previous occasions we had become hooked and had splashed out on a share in a shared-ownership boat which would give us up to four weeks holiday each year for the price of one weeks hire. This was our first trip aboard our new boat Slipstream
This trip report, with photographs, can also be seen at www.canaltravels.co.uk
Friday 24th May
No more hire boats! - Glorious weather - Seeing things in a new perspective
Our first trip on Slipstream remains something of a mystery. As this is the first year of our share we have had to inherit someone else's choice of weeks and, whilst the second week coincides with the half term holidays the first week clashes with A level exams and we are still not sure when Sean will have to be in school. He definitely has an exam on Wednesday but Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be free but have not been confirmed. To cover all contingencies we have three plans - to the end of the Trent & Mersey and back by Sunday evening, to Nottingham and back by Monday evening or The Erewash and return by Tuesday evening. On arriving at the boat at 1pm we still did not know as Sean was at school and Sandy has to go back and pick him up once we have loaded our gear on board.
The weather on the drive over was poor with rain forecast for the afternoon so that didn't bode well but, no matter, we were on our own boat for the first time and nothing would detract from our enjoyment over the next couple of weeks. Once all our gear was on board Sandy set off to pick up Sean and I was shown around the boat by the Ownerships representative at Fradley. Since I had been boating before and had taken the RYA Boat Handling course I didn't need handling lessons but I did need to know where everything was, like the electrical switches and engine filler points. That done I settled down, put a CD in the hi-fi system and mused over the fact that we had actually bought a share in our own boat and would never again have to hire. Excellent! In the middle of my reverie, however, Swan Line decided that they wanted to move their boats around so I was called upon to move Slipstream out of their way. Since we were setting off in the opposite direction to which we were moored it seemed sensible to turn her at the same time, so my first attempts at controlling this new boat involved winding her at a busy junction with half a dozen boats moored either side and in front of the ever present Fradley Junction gongoozlers! No problem, in a short time she was facing the other way and the shuffle of other boats had been completed. Looked like Slipstream was going to be a joy to handle.
Around about 4.30pm the crew arrived and I could find out, at last, which of our three plans we would be following for our first voyage on Slipstream. Sadly, Sean had to go into school on Monday so it was the shortest of the three, up to the end of the Trent & Mersey and back. We were anxious to start and so, at 4.45pm, we opened up the gates of Junction lock and set off.
The promised rain had not materialised, in fact the afternoon had turned into beautiful blue skies with pure white clouds and it looked like a very pleasant evening's boating lay ahead of us. We dropped through two more locks before cruising off towards Alrewas and arrived at Bagnall Lock in glorious sunshine to find an idyllic canalside scene with the lock offset by the creamy white of the adjoining buildings and The Boat pub. I had often glimpsed this scene whilst driving along the A513 but from the canal it was totally different and a hundred times better. Past Bagnall Lock, Alrewas was delightful with beautifully kept gardens lining the canal and everything spotless. In the evening sunshine this was a joyous stretch.
Dropping through Alrewas Lock brought us on to the stretch where the River Trent joins the canal for a short distance and then drops off over a huge weir! Although unsure what to expect we pressed boldly on without any problems as the weir was quite obviously cordoned off with what looked like huge red and white painted tractor tyres and there was even a road junction type 'no entry' sign to guide us in the right direction. From here the canal winds its way through pleasant pastures around Wychnor and through the strangely shaped Cow Bridge before dropping through Wychnor Lock to run alongside the A38. I regularly travel up this road and have often glimpsed the canal and thought how idyllic it would be to cruise along at a leisurely pace rather than belt along at 80mph rushing to get somewhere. Well, the canals are certainly better but this stretch is far from idyllic as the noise of the traffic almost drowns out the noise from the engine! Whilst the canal was pleasant enough the experience of the traffic noise for the next half an hour was far from pleasant and we were glad when the canal veered away from the road and we reached our mooring spot for the night just short of Barton Lock. We arrived at 7.15pm and intended to eat at The Barton Turns before our first night onboard Slipstream.
4.5 miles - 7 locks - 2:30 hours
Saturday 25th May
An early start - Into Derbyshire - Our first wide-beam locks
From previous experience we had found that, even though lie-ins are often the norm on holiday, an early start paid dividends in giving a different view of the canal and making the day more flexible, so we were up at 7.00am and were away just after 7.30am. The canal really is at its best this time of morning even though some of the industrial surroundings were not the most delightful of scenery. The morning was crisp and the skies blue, promising a good day ahead and we ambled along pleasantly, tea and toast in hand, until within half an hour we met our first challenge - Bridge 36. This looked impossible to get through, but of course boats had been through here for a hundred years or more so we were not daunted. I must admit though that I had to put the tea down to make sure we got through without touching the sides!
Tatenhill Lock and Branston Lock passed by and we had views of the backs of factories and breweries before arriving at about 9.15am at Shobnall Basin, home of Jannel Cruisers. We wanted to get some coal to try out the stove, so we moored up here and spent a good twenty minutes looking around the chandlery, coming back with a bag of coal and quite a few things we hadn't planned on buying!
Dallow Lane Lock was our first 'handcuffed' lock and we hoped that it wasn't a pointer to what to expect as we cruised though the outskirts of Burton-on-Trent but all was well as we passed Horninglow Wharf with its excellent mural trying to disguise the concrete road bridge of the omnipresent A38. A few miles further on and we lost that road forever and regained countryside again. The aqueduct over the River Dove gave us a grand view of Monks Bridge which can also be seen from the road and I believe that the aqueduct itself is of similar structure though, of course, impossible to see as we were above it.
Now in Derbyshire we continued for a few pleasant miles arriving eventually at Stenson Lock, our very first wide-beam lock! Having read the recommended procedures for wide locks we weren't too concerned but, boy, did that lock look big! As luck would have it there was another narrowboat coming up and I struck up a conversation with the lady lockworker who informed us that they were having quite a few problems adapting to the wide locks on this stretch which, she said, were totally different from those on the Grand Union that they were used to. Their established procedure was to open the paddle on the same side as their boat which would normally have the effect of pushing water under the boat onto the far wall and thus rebounding to hold the boat against the lockside. This however was not working on the Trent and Mersey locks, having the opposite effect. The problem was that the paddles opened at the foot of the gates so that the incoming water was forced between the boat and the lock walls thus pushing the front of the boat across the lock. They had determined that the best action was to open the opposite paddle first and this was the advice we followed as we made our way. It worked fine.
We intended to stop at the Ragley Boat Stop for lunch and moored up outside, but we couldn't tell if the pub was open as it is a few hundred yards from the canal and we also realised that we could catch the last 15 minutes of the Grand Prix qualifying so it was a bottle of wine and baguettes on board. The peace and quiet were only interrupted once when a Canaltime boat came by at such a rate of knots that the wash nearly knocked the wine glasses over. I looked out quickly but couldn't spot the water-skier being towed behind!
An hour later we were on our way and life was wonderful (how strong was that wine!) as we tackled our next wide-beam lock at Swarkestone and then on to Weston Lock where we had to wait for a boat coming up. Spotting a water point we decided to pass the lock waiting time by filling the water tank. Wrong decision! Three-quarters on an hour later, after letting two other boats go through, we gave up and decided to top it up later. After Aston Lock we came to the delightful village of Shardlow, a real canalside environment built up around the canal trade, and spotted the Clock Warehouse where we would eat later, however our objective was to get down to the River Trent and then turn to moor at Shardlow on the way back. Going through we were able to spot a mooring place, of which there were few, and we hoped it would be still there when we returned.
Through Derwent Lock and a short stretch before the canal joined the River Trent at Derwent Mouth and opened up into a huge (and somewhat scary!) expanse of water which even had a current! After the enclosed confines of the canal this came as a bit of a shock but allayed the anticipated problems of turning since even a leisurely 360 degree circle would be no problem here. Back up through Derwent Lock we were able to find our mooring spot still empty so we tied up for a short rest before venturing out to dinner.
Our first full day on Slipstream had been completed and was excellent. We arrived at Shardlow just half an hour after we anticipated, but then we hadn't realised how long it takes to fill up a water tank!
23.3 miles - 11 locks - 9:40 hours
Sunday 26th May
Up early for a long day - Soaked by rain - Arriving dead on time!
Sunday would be, basically, a repeat of the previous two days except going the other way, but it would be a long day with a planned return to Fradley at 7.50pm. Would we survive such a mammoth day?
The day started fine and dry as we set off from Shardlow up through the wide-beam locks, marvelling at how different the same scenery looked from the opposite direction. Pleasant cruising ensued for a few hours until, just after 10.30am, the heavens opened and the crew retreated inside leaving the steerer to brave the elements. Luckily for them this downpour happened on a long lock-free section so there was no compelling reason for them to venture outside save for extending an arm out of the back door with the occasional hot drink for the beleaguered helmsman. Such sustenance was extremely welcome, even with the added raindrops, as it had turned quite cold as well as wet.
The rain would return several times more during the morning, always heavy but seldom for long and by the time we reached Stenson Lock it had taken a respite. Here we came across one of the few occasions where we had to queue for a lock, but as this was a wide-beam lock we were able to go through with the boat in front. We had followed this boat for some time and she was a lot slower than us so we were mightily pleased when her skipper let us go out of the lock first. Our well-polished locking techniques (honed on the Four Counties Ring earlier in the year) would ensure that we didn't hold her up when we came to the narrow locks.
We had photographed most locations on the way down so the camera had a rest after the first lot of rain, besides which the assistant photographer was often inside and we didn't fancy getting the camera wet! Our intended (late) lunch was to be at the Bridge Inn at Branston but although we arrived at the intended time we preferred to stay on board, changing out of wet clothes and enjoying the comfort of the boat. We left the mooring just after 3.30pm and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon in ever improving weather.
Remembering the River Trent section just past Wychnor we wondered if the morning's rain might affect the current on this section as we would now be going upstream. As it turned out the flow was stronger than yesterday but caused us no problems unlike the Canaltime boats in front of us which had all sorts of problems turning the bend and then took an inordinate amount of time working through Alrewas Lock. As we finally were able to enter the lock, the skipper of a small cabin cruiser, obviously worried, enquired about the current on the Trent but we were able to assure him that we had experienced no problems and he should be fine.
The remainder of the day was pleasant cruising in ever improving weather until we reached the BW yard just below Fradley Junction where we had intended to take on water, but the point was occupied so we just carried on. The final highlight of the day was going through the bridge adjacent to the lock which was extremely narrow and low with the chimney missing the roof by inches. Must remember to take it down next time.
All that remained was to turn into the Coventry Canal and find a mooring for the night which we did just a hundred yards or so along. Here Sandy and Sean would leave for Sean to return to school the next day, leaving me to spend the night alone and contemplate my first solo voyage!
It had been a long, long day but not particularly tiring. Our route planning had been spot on, arriving at Fradley just one minute before the estimated time! A great start to our life on Slipstream and the coming days would surely be even better!