HARD GOING, BUT WE GOT THERE.

 

Map of the Erewash Canal

Our journey up the Erewash canal was challenging to say the least. We set off bright and early and met our first problem at the very first lock. I got the gate open and the boat in but couldn’t close the gate, it simply wouldn’t shift. Luckily for me the Captain was able to lending a helping hand and it closed eventually.

I also found a lot of the paddles very difficult to wind up and down, they seemed really stiff. The reason for this became apparent later, but at the time I put it down to poor maintenance.

The going was slow, but came to a complete halt at Hallam Fields lock. This is the lock before Gallows lock, where we normally would moor for the night and head off to the pub.

A number of people had informed us that the pound between Hallam lock, and Gallows lock, was extremely low in water and not passable.

We reached Hallam lock to find 2 boats already moored on the lock landing, this did not bode well. On the towpath a gentleman was on his phone, we soon realised he was talking to CRT about the situation and was off NB Last of the Summer Wine, who was moored in front of us.

After he finished his conversation the news wasn’t good, and it looked like we were going no further that day. After lunch and a rest, the Captain decided to take a walk up to Gallows lock to assess the situation. I got chatting to the lady of the second boat NB Manatee, Carolyn. She was a single handed, and had travelled from Trent Lock with David and Eva off Last of the Summer Wine. Turned out she was short of water, as she had expected to get to Langley Mill sooner rather than later. As David was already setting off she hadn’t managed to fill up with water at Trent Lock. I was happy to let her have a bottle of my fizzy water to tied her over.

The Captain phoned me from the pub saying that the situation was hopeless, the pound was extremely low and would need CRT to come and do water management. We just couldn’t take water from the pounds above, as this would create low water issues further up the canal. I decided to walk the mile or so up to meet him and have a pint.

As we sat outside with our pints, 2 youngish guys turned up on bikes, one was an old Chopper, which bought back memories of my childhood. They opened all the paddles on the lock and rode off up the canal, it appeared they were doing water management of their own.

They hadn’t been gone long, when an older guy turned up with a windlass and closed all the paddles, slightly defeating their objective of filling the pound below.

He came over for a chat and told us he was moored just above the lock on NB The Lady and the Tramp, and that the water levels had dropped so much, his boat was now sitting on the bottom of the canal and listing to one side. I will say he was a right character and made me laugh.

He only left us when one of the guys on the bikes returned to find the paddles closed, he explained about his boat and they reached some kind of a compromise. After a short time the bike guy set off to get his boat, the pound had obviously filled up enough to allow him passage and we walked home.

Next morning we checked out the pound and the levels had remained high enough for us to continue our journey to Langley Mill. Carolyn asked if she could join us, as David had work to do and was staying put until after lunch.

The going was slow and steady up to Gallows lock, so I decided to walk up to the next lock, only stopping for a chat with the funny old guy from the night before. This is were I learnt there were more problems ahead with water levels. I set off with my fingers crossed, but it didn’t work.

I got the boats in Greens Lock and walked up to Potters lock, soon realising that this pound was unpassable, just like the one last night. The water was sooooo low, it was just a small trickle in the centre of the canal. Luckily for me the next pound up was a very long pound, so I knew I could take water from there without any problems, well so I thought.

As I let the water down, the boats were stuck in Greens lock, and the Captain phoned CRT to appraise them of the situation, they assured him that someone was somewhere on the canal doing water management, but we hadn’t seen them.

It took an age, and the water levels above the lock dropped more than I would have liked, but eventually the 2 boats made it into the lock.

Unfortunately the water levels had dropped a little to far, and as the boats approached the next lock they grounded again and I had to let more water down. Watching carefully, as the pound to the next lock was quite short and I didn’t want to lower the levels to far in that pound.

This was taking so much time, a journey which should have taken about 3½ hours was now seeming never ending.

At Stenson lock we eventually met up with the CRT guy who was doing the water management, he had had to start from the top, and it was taking time to sort out each pound, but he was doing his best, that’s all I can say.

He helped me get the boats into Stenson Lock, and then went on his way down the canal. At Stenson I realised what had been done to stop people, well kids, from messing a round with the paddles and draining the canal. They had tightened the paddle gear to such a degree that I couldn’t even move the paddles with my trusty windlass, and had to resort to using my long handled one, but even then it was tough going.

I wish I could say that this was the end of our problems, but at the next to last lock at Eastwood, the boats grounded again, and again I had to let water down.

It was so good to finally get into the basin at Langley Mill, say hi to Vicky who runs the boatyard, where we are having the boat black. Then off to the pub for a more than well earned pint. The Great Northern is right next door to the basin and had Dark Drake on by Dancing Duck, so a very happy Captain after a long and frustrating day.

https://langleymillboatyard.co.uk/

Carolyn joined us with her little dog Oscar, and later David. He must have reaped the rewards of all our hard work and made it to the basin without any problems. Lucky him.

I can honestly say that it was one of the hardest days of all my 10yrs of living on the canals, but worth it at the end.

12miles, 16 locks and 2 canals. (the Erewash and the Cromford)