THE WAITING GAME.

 

The Erewash Canal

Trent Lock to Langley Mill via Shardlow, 18miles, 21 locks, 1 river and 2 canals

For Bank Holiday Monday we decided to head for Shardlow village, there are a couple of good pubs and moorings. We managed to moor outside the Malt Shovel and New Inn on the recently restored moorings.

Of course we headed to the pub, first the Malt Shovel, no darks on so only one in there. Then the New Inn, I don’t think we have ever been disappointed in here and this didn’t change, they had Old Peculiar Chocolate on so one very happy Captain. The food menu is good and we have eaten in here in the past, but just a pint today. As we were finishing our last pint a couple came looking for a table for 4 (it was quite busy). As we were sat at a table for 4 and leaving shortly, we invited them to join us until their son and daughter arrived. We had a lovely chat and it finished the afternoon off on a happy note.

https://www.thenewinnshardlowpub.co.uk/

As most of you know, our reason for heading up the Erewash to Langley Mill is the imminent arrival of my first grandchild. As most of you also know, babies come when they want, and not to suit your plans.

We had an added problem that Hallam Fields lock on the Erewash has been closed on and off for most of the summer due to low water. It was closed when we reached Trent Lock, but reopened after the bank holiday, so we really needed to get past it as quick as possible.

We didn’t make the best start on the Tuesday, as we overlay more than usual. Then we needed to get a pump out at Shardlow Marina, so it was 1pm before we actually started our journey on the Erewash. Then the heavens opened and the rain didn’t stop. It was miserable and slow going, with low water and lots of weed hindering our progress, but we managed to get through the problem lock and moor near the Gallows pub as usual, but it was 8.30pm by this time, so no pub for us.

Next morning seemed brighter, we joined Music Weaver 2 and its crew of 3 in the first lock, then the heavens opened again, I am truly p*****d off with the weather this year.

Luckily the rain stopped, and the sun came out before the next lock and things looked brighter.

There was more water, but the weed still continued to be a problem. The Captain heaved a sigh of relief when we got through the final lock, into the basin and on to the Cromford Canal, but there was even a problem with low water here. They were pumping water up from the pound below the basin to rectify the problem, and this took all afternoon and into the night.

Last lock into Langley Mill basin

We moored by the water point (this is allowed here but not usually the done thing) joining 4 other moored boats. The place the Captain really wanted to be was opposite the water point. The boat there was only staying 1 night, so we intended to move over when they left, but the boat in front beat us to it. This caused a few issues with the solar panels as we were under a tree, but not a lot we could do. So the singing kettle had to come out, always good to have a back up.

Well now we were in the basin until something happens (we may have to overstay the 7 days, but I think we have a good enough excuse, don’t you?)

First thing the Captain did after a day of rest was take the flexible coupling off the prop shaft, it was not in a good way. The round bolt holes were no longer round and look more rugby ball shaped, and the actual body of the coupling was beaten and battered. He ordered a new one to be delivered to Langley Mill boat yard. Dan and Vicky who run the yard are great, and both had popped over to have a chat when we arrived, so it was no problem having it delivered there.

https://langleymillboatyard.co.uk/

The knackered coupling

We did however have another issue, when the seal had gone, water had leaked into the bottom of the engine bay and mixed with some oil there, this meant we couldn’t simply pump the water out, you don’t want oil in the canal. So we needed some containers to pump the oil water mix into, so we can dispose of it responsibly at a later date. The Captain solved this by going to the local car wash, were they had some 25ltr drums which had held cleaning fluid, perfect.

Our first visitors came on Friday, Sandy and John, I was at school with Sandy and we had kept in touch after. John, we had never met, they had only been together a couple of years. We had a lovely afternoon catching up, we went to the pub and I did a buffet for tea. They had never been on a narrowboat before, and unfortunately we weren’t able to take them on the planned cruise due to our engine problems, the lack of water and the weed. But there will be another time I am sure.

I invite my old workmate Chris to come for Sunday lunch, and he readily accepted, but then there was a change of plan, as he had heard the Red Arrows were meant to be performing at Chatsworth on the Sunday at 6pm. So I cooked some of the dinner, he picked us up and took us to his static caravan not far from Chatsworth, where we cooked the rest of dinner between us, sat out on his decking to eat, and then headed to Chatsworth. He hadn’t however got his information quite right, the Sparrows were just doing a fly over rather than a display. We got there just in time to see them shoot by. It was a lovely afternoon.

Now we are playing the waiting game for 2 reasons, the birth of my grandson Dylan, due on the 7^th, and the Erewash canal is shut again due to low water. Vandalism again if CRT is to be believed.

That’s all for now folks

OUR OWN AIRSHOW

 

Torksey to Trent Lock 56 miles, 12 locks, 1 river.

We left Torksey a little later than we thought. This is all down to there being enough water to get over the cill in the lock, and the lockees control when you can go.

Once on the River Trent again we headed off to Cromwell lock for the night. The Captain had been concerned about strange noises coming from the engine, and whilst I took a turn at steering, he had a look down into the engine compartment. Luckily he spotted the problem immediately, the seal on the prop shaft had come loose, unfortunately this allowed water to enter the bilge, not a lot but it still needed sorting. Of course, being the very clever fellow he is, he had a spare, but obviously couldn’t fit it whilst we were cruising.

We got to Cromwell lock without issue, and locked up. We managed to find a spot on the pontoons for the night. This did entail some excellent steering by the Captain, as we had to squeeze into the space on the pontoon down the side of another moored boat. The Captain of the moored boat popped his head out and congratulated him on his great driving.

Next day we headed to Newark where the Captain replaced the seal and hoped that was that.

My phone decided to throw a wobbley and had me living in Chile for a while, I got this phone in June, and never have been 100% happy with it, but this was the strangest thing it had done. It returned to normal eventually.

As a treat after replacing the seal we headed into Newark for a pint (of course). Firstly The Prince Rupert, a decent dark on in here, and then Just Beer, and not disappointed again. We met another boater there who informed us that one of the locks ahead of us might be closing the next day. The Captain checked the stoppage notices on the CRT website but couldn’t find anything, so we decided to wait and see what happened next day.

At the first lock (Newark Town Lock) we found out that Hazelford lock wasn’t closed, but there was no lock keeper on, so we would have to operate the lock ourselves. Not a real problem, I have done this type of lock before. The biggest issue is getting on and off the boat.

At Hazelford, getting off wasn’t an issue and I went up to see what was occurring. There were a lot of boats moored in the lock entrance but no one seemed to be using the lock. Then the noise started, the booming sound that can only belong to the Typhoon, also known as the Eurofighter. I love these aeroplanes, and this one was giving me my own display above the lock.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurofighter_Typhoon

The Typhoon

The lock is huge and seemed to take an age to be ready for the Captain to enter. As I got the Captain into the lock the display finished and I was sad, but I soon cheered up when a Spitfire and Hurricane came into view and started a display all of their own.

https://www.raf.mod.uk/display-teams/battle-of-britain-memorial-flight/

Spitfire Below, Hurricane on Top

As this finished the lock was ready for me to release the Captain, and try to get back on the good ship Avalon Two. Due to the moored boats the Captain couldn’t get to the side and let me come down one of the ladders. Eventually we came up with a plan. A large working barge was moored at the end and I could get on to that using a ladder, then I had to walk round the big open empty bit in the middle until I reached were the Captain was waiting, and then a big step down on to our boat. I wasn’t happy, but had to put on my big girl pants and bite the bullet and do it. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I wouldn’t like to do it again.

As we set off a biplane started its display, followed by the F35 Lightning, which is the replacement for the Harrier.

https://www.raf.mod.uk/aircraft/lightning-f35b/

We made it to Gunthorpe but there was no room on the pontoons, so we ended up mooring on the wall. Difficult for me to get off so we had a quiet night in. As we moored the last display of the day was The Red Arrows, or fondly known by us as the Sparrows. What a great finish to the day. The flying display was for the National Air and Space Camp being held at RAF Syerston.

https://www.raf.mod.uk/display-teams/red-arrows/displays/

The Red Arrows

Next hop to Nottingham. We moored near Curry,s again and caught the bus into the city centre, I needed birthday cards. We had a pint in the Bell again before trying Wonder Pho, a Vietnamese restaurant. We both had the Bun Hue Pho, which is a spicy soup noodle dish with mixed meat and vegetables. It was very spicy but so tasty.

https://www.wonderpho.co.uk/

Next port of call was Trent Lock for the bank holiday weekend, the Steamboat had entertainment on so we decided to stop a few days there. On the way to Trent Lock we discovered that the new seal had also come loose, this made the Captain think there was more to the problem than he first thought. He managed to tap it back into place. We moored on the wall just by the lock and next day the Captain investigated more thoroughly than before, and came to the conclusion that it was a combination of the flexible coupling on the prop shaft, and one of the engine mounts had dropped due to a nut coming loose. He tightened the nut and decided to wait until we got to Langley Mill before removing the coupling to see the state of it.

We headed off to The Steamboat on the cold Sunday afternoon, we very happy with the duo that was on, The Sugar Tree, they performed an eclectic mix of songs from all over the world. Although there were only a boy and girl performing, it turned out that the actual Sugar Tree band has about 5 or 6 members who perform together or separately. It was a great afternoon, if a bit chilly, but the rain held off.

https://www.facebook.com/thesugartree.kaycorominas/

Wildlife, kingfishers have been in short supply this year and the Captain had spotted more than me, and this was the case on this occasion, but I did managed to spot a Great Spotted Woodpecker with its distinctive red white and black plumage. It has really been the year of the Little Egret, and we spotted 5 of these lovely snowy birds sat together on the side of the Trent.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

That’s all for now folk’s