Hedgerow Jottings: Unintentional Detonation

Derwent Mouth Lock

Morning Jotters

We left the River Trent this morning and returned to the canals for our summer cruise to Blisworth. We thought this was a quiet spot above Aston Lock, but then the roar of motorbikes from Castle Donington floated our way - so much for listening to the sounds of summer! The cabin is swathed with assorted summer tee shirts drying in the breeze. The mustiness of their winter storage has been washed away and the fresh smell of Lenor is mixing with the unique ‘parfum de Tricky’. The mats are all out on the towpath, having an airing, and the doors and hatches are flung wide, summer has been declared on board the Lady Aberlour.

Sunbathing

Our What3Words location today is 'received.ozone.lifeguard.’ We are happy to be back on the canals and Tricky is delighted to find grass by the boat instead of a pontoon. Our trip along the river to Newark and back has been a delight and we have made the most of the mainly dry weather and the virtually empty, pontoon moorings. The river is wide and deep and Carl enjoys the freedom of ploughing along at a rate of knots that is unthinkable on the shallow canals, we time our progress by the kilometre markers on the bank but I can’t do the sums to convert that to knots!

Shadows

We spent another night at Fiskerton, and walked along the river toward Hazelford Lock and found a little footpath leading from the river bank behind a housing estate, towards the village. We met a man walking his dogs and he regaled us for long minutes with the story of his parking wars with the landlord of The Bromley and I nodded and edged away until his wife saw what was happening and called him in!

Leaving Sunny Fiskerton

We lingered for several days in Gunthorpe, Les and Jane arrived on Thursday and we set off on a cruise up the river, enjoying their company and grateful for the emergency supplies they brought with them - newly laid eggs (thanks Paula) and fresh bread, Jane’s home made sausage rolls and date slices. Yummy! We entertained the people on the boat next door with an impromptu ukulele practice and let me tell you our rendition of ‘Valerie’ was unique (star struck emoji). Celia and David popped in as they were just passing through Gunthorpe(perhaps they heard the singing!!) and called in to say hello. Nice to see you both and I hope you can stay longer next time. We felt quite flat after all the visitors had left and I foraged in the fridge and found a Moo Pie that was still in date and promised the Captain some fresh veggies once we got back to the city.

Les and Jane cruising

We set off on Friday, through Stoke Lock, where we encountered a very grumpy lockkeeper - our first on this trip. We exited the lock in silence, without any of the usual pleasantries about weather, boat name and number and our planned destination - they usually ring ahead to let the next lock keeper know so that the lock is ready for you. The lock was ready so I suppose he did do that much for us. There was a much more civil welcome at Holme Lock and I hung onto the rope as the lock slowly filled. 25 minutes passes very slowly when you’re 12 feet down with a slimy black wall for entertainment especially as the splashing of the water set off an unwanted chain reaction in my bladder. Unable to leave my post, I had to count backwards from 777 in 2’s - a tip I leant from TikTok which seemed to do the trick.

Leaving Stoke - heron on duty

Meadow Lane Lock is the first manual lock as you exit the Trent and I wasn’t looking forward to it, I had been pampered by the electrically operated locks along the Trent and Meadow Lane is particularly obstinate and back breaking. The top gates leak like hell and there is only one working paddle on the bottom gate so getting the lock to empty is a challenge for one person. After a while, Carl came up from the pontoon and with our combined effort we prised the gate open. All went well once we were in the lock and we moored up on the services for the usual filling/emptying tasks. There was a distinct aroma of marijuana floating around the area and I waved and smiled at the little gathering on the opposite side thinking they were definitely in their happy place if that smell was anything to go by (smiling face with sunglasses emoji)

Vibrant Colours

It was late by the time we moored outside Sainsburys and I wasn’t really in a shopping mood but Carl cracked the whip and we went off in search of dog food and ‘bits’ from B&M then plunged straight into the supermarket for salad, fruit and veggies. We didn’t linger in the city and set off next day for Beeston and then swished up the river to Cranfleet, where there was a full complement of 3 lock keepers doing the hard work for us. The sun was shining as we chugged by the entrance to the Erewash Canal and on towards Sawley Lock which was manned by 3 volunteers. We moored and walked back to ‘The Lock Keepers Rest’ for a cider and spot of gongoozling at the boats coming through the lock. It’s a micropub/cafe located by Sawley Lock - a great place to visit if you’re in the area. I peeked inside and saw it was not much bigger than a phone box but there's lots of outdoor seating which was very busy on this sunny Saturday evening.

Leaving Beeston

Today we crossed the last river stretch and came in through Derwent Lock and onward through Shardlow - looking for a quiet spot to tackle the list of jobs that have accumulated while we have been lazing along. The anchor needed to be put away as it’s superfluous to requirements on the canals. It lives in a nook under the deck boards together with the huge pile of chain. The coil of anchor rope and the life jackets live under our bed and it’s a bit of a rigmarole to access the storage. I only get in the way during operation 'Stowaway', so I left Carl to it and was outside talking to a couple of ramblers with a cute Border Terrier when Carl came up, looking sheepish. Apparently, a life jacket had spontaneously detonated in his hand while he was putting it away. It inflated with a loud whoosh and filled the confined space all on its own, with no help from Carl - that’s his story and he’s sticking to it! We spent several frustrating minutes trying to repack the thing and zip it up, carefully removing the gas cartridge, so we can replace it sometime along the way. Initial google research is not looking promising – I expect it will be a new life jacket (sad face emoji)

Railway Bridge

That’s all from me for this week. We’ll be chugging back along the Trent and Mersey this week and I'll be back again next week with more Tales from The Towpath. Take care everyone.

Love from
The Floating Chandlers

PS. Note to self: make sure the mats aren’t covered in ants before you bring them in!!

PPS The cygnets have arrived and the damselflies – such a very beautiful blue!