Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 11:29:04 +0100 From: nbrumpus@lineone.net Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Newsgroups: uk.rec.waterways Subject: Trip Report - Rumpus Goes to Brum - Part the first...... [ The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Thursday 12th June Having loaded up and got all my little last-minute jobs done, I eventually set off from Redhill at about 1130. I arrived at Sawley Lock to find it unmanned - Thursday must be the locky's day off. I moored to the apex of the island between the two locks (something you CAN do when you've only got 24 feet of boat to play with) then went up onto the island, key in hand, to work the lock for the first time on my own. Normally, of course, there's somebody there to do it for you and on the odd occasion I've been through when there's been nobody there the crew have pressed the buttons. I noticed there's a brand new "FLOOD 2000" marker on the side of the lock cottage. Having got clear of the lock by around 1220, I paused to do water and dunny before calling into the Marina for diesel ( a whole £6 - worth) and some essential supplies and to see the insewerance man (another Terry Pratchett fan) who'd just gone to lunch - so I had mine. I eventually left about 1425 and was delighted to see another boat leaving Derwent Mouth Lock as I was arriving as this meant it was ready for me! I called into the Bridge Stores at Shardlow as they sell APS film (unlike Sawley Marina) and then made my way up to Shardlow Lock, where I joined up with NB Kingfisher. We went up all the big, heavy locks together, much to my relief. I must confess to not having looked forward to struggling with these heavy locks on my own, so was grateful for the company. We passed a couple of Canaltime boats, whose crews were fine - much more clued-up than ones reported last year. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't that good - light rain with heavier showers. One of the bottom gates at Stenson was an absolute sod - wouldn't close fully and had apparently been like it for some time, but we eventually got up by about 2000. I moored at the marina and was eating dinner by 2015 - oh, the joys of tinned meat (pork in cider with veg) and instant mash! I also took the opportunity to talk to Tamworth Cruising Club to arrange a mooring for Saturday night. Brian L Dominic NB Rumpus Web Sites: NB Rumpus: http://www.nb-rumpus.com Golden Valley Light Railway: http://website.lineone.net/~gvlr/index.htm Coming to GIG2001?? Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GiG-2001 to subscribe to the mailing list! ---