Frog Tape and a Duckfest

Sileby Mill Lock

Morning Jotters
There's nothing better than being cosy in our cabin when the rain starts beating down on the roof. The forecast was for heavy rain today and we had planned to stay in Sawley Cut and sit it out but when we woke up this morning, we changed our minds. There was a stiff breeze whipping the flags to attention at the Derby Boat Club opposite and the grey clouds scudded across the sky but there was a patch of blue on the horizon, coming our way. After a bit of shall we/shan't we, we decided to nip across the Trent while the going was good, to escape the endless trek of cyclists and dog walkers along the tow-path and find a better place to get Tricky off the boat. The concrete wall at Sawley is level with the gunwhales and I'm always afraid Tricky will fall down the gap. We had a bit of trouble getting off the quay as the wind kept blowing us back in but Carl did his magic with a 'spring' and soon showed it who was boss and we popped out of the flood lock and crossed under the M1 and were moored up long before the rain came. So here we are, above Derwent Lock in the lovely village of Shardlow, in a scenic spot right by the sewage works! Tricky is happy to be back on the tow-path and I'm happy to think that I've only 5 more broad locks to do as we travel up towards Burton upon Trent again. It has taken us two months to do the Leicester Ring - a trip that can be done in two weeks if you put your foot down!

Sawley by night

The lovely River Soar is a delight as it winds along through wild flower meadows, giving us tantalising glimpses of old watercourses, long silted up, and no longer navigable for a vessel of our draft. The bridal blush of the hawthorn has turned a dusky pink and fades away leaving a lush greenness behind. Water lilies are pushing up their pads and bright yellow buds are ready to unfurl; clumps of yellow flags wave in the sunshine and the crack willows release drifts of downy fluff across the water. An egret stands on a weir, gazing intently into the sparkling water, a heron gives me a gimlet eye as we pass but I manage to snatch a one-handed shot with my camera and hope it's not blurred. A cormorant fishes from the top branch of a dead tree and I click away, unable to see a thing through my viewfinder and hoping that I'm pointing my camera at the right tree. We moor overnight at Sileby Mill and listen to the water thundering over the weir as we drift off to sleep in our gently rocking boat, tired from the fresh air and the sunshine.

Sileby Mill mooring

We are very relieved (no pun intended) to reach Barrowby the next morning - we had stayed over a week in Birstall and had two large bin bags of rubbish and both cassettes needed emptying. I'm sorry if you're eating your breakfast when you read this but it is part of the boating experience, and I wouldn't want you to think that we're enjoying ourselves too much! I chat to the lady from the cafe at Barrowby Boating and ask her why they're so busy on a weekday morning. Apparently it's the Eurovision Elections today, so the schools are closed. I hope we get a better result than the Song Contest! Her assistant is doing a roaring trade in setting young people off on Duck Pedalos, floating bikes and canoes. A gaggle of giggling girls climb on floating bikes and pedal off, chattering like starlings. They are so glamorous in designer sunglasses and those gleaming, tanned legs that look so high maintenance. I gaze down at the milky whiteness of my stumpy pins glaring out from the bottom of my crop trousers and wish I'd indulged in a bit of fake tan. My feet are in a pair of trekker sandals which have very thick memory foam soles and it's like walking with two marshmallows strapped to my feet. My trusty Merrills are suddenly too tight, but only on one foot. How is that possible? They fitted me perfectly when I put them away, now I can hardly get my foot in the right one, while the left one is fine (puzzled face emoji). I sound like Cinderella.

Duck Pedalos at Barrowby

The basin at Loughborough was empty when we arrived on Friday morning, Carl took advantage of the space and spun us round and reversed back onto the pontoon while I got out the trolley for a 'big shop'. I meant to go to Sainsburys but got side-tracked looking for Frog tape. Carl has got very fussy since he painted the roof and only Frog tape will do when masking off his new paintwork to do the handrails. I forgot all about Sainsburys and the Frog Tape as I wandered around Loughborough, enjoying the bric-a-brac stalls in the main street and stopping for coffee in our favourite cafe. Carl was a little bemused when I arrived back hours later with a loaded trolley and no food. He's a good sport though and left me unpacking my treasures while he went off to Sainsburys with a list. We still had plenty of time for a sunny cruise along the Soar to the moorings above Zouch Lock. We watched the sun set over the electricity pylons and waved to the pilots coming into the airport at Castle Donington.

Sunset at Zouch

We were blessed with another sunny day as we dropped down through Zouch Lock yesterday and cruised along the river towards Kegworth and the infamous Deep Lock. I'm always glad to get through that one, it has gained a bad reputation recently, as three boats got 'hooked up' on the cill and sunk - a thought that sends shivers down my spine. There are lots of boats speeding towards us this morning, it's a Bank Holiday weekend and families are taking advantage of the sunshine to escape from Sawley Marina and chug off on an adventure. There's a bit of a delay at Ratcliffe Lock when two cruisers refuse to share the lock with a steel narrowboat and by the time we get through there is a queue of 5 boats waiting to come up. No-one seems to mind though and they all wave happily as we pass them and chug along by the steaming towers of Ratcliffe Power Station.

Kegworth Deep Lock

So here we are, back on the Trent and Mersey Canal and heading towards Wales...maybe!

More from us next week
Love
the Floating Chandlers

ps Met a lovely Alsation dog on our walk along the river bank, her owner said that walking her was a very slow process as she had to stop at every patch of undergrowth to look for mice. He said she often caught them and squirrels too. I looked at my little ginger sausage waddling along and thought she would struggle to catch a snail!!

pps As well as Duck Pedalos at Barrowby, we saw giant inflatable Ducks in Shardlow. Will this be a recurring theme do you think?

Blow-up Ducks

ppps Had a great Sunday lunch at the Malt Shovel in Shardlow and met a regular who saw the last horse drawn barges going through his home town of Borrowash.

Back Gardens

Watermead Park

Egret

Heron with gimlet eye

Up the Trent