From suevbutler@compuserve.com Mon May 3 18:37:11 1999 Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 16:54:17 -0400 From: susan butler Reply-To: canals@blacksheep.org To: "INTERNET:canals@blacksheep.org" , judy Subject: Trip Report - Jemima D - Day 5 - The Erewash - Longish [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] Trip report - Sue and Neil on Jemima D Taking in the GU, the Soar, the Erewash, the Trent and the Trent and Mersey Day 5 - 24th June Sandiacre to Langley Mill 11 locks, 7.5 miles, 6.5 hours Heavy showers, sunny later A surprise for the fishermen - and us! We are up late, and take in a quick shopping trip at the handily placed Late Shopper. This is a good mooring - pleasant surroundings (once the rush hour traffic has passed) good pub, shops, and facilities. (Even the public loos are OK - but take your own paper). Our two mooring companions 'Fleur de Cut' and 'No problem' (henceforth known as Fleur and NP) are away long before us. But we soon catch up. They are stuck below Stanton Lock. Apparently there is a BW crane stuck under the bridge above the lock, and we must wait until it is free. I take a walk up to see a 14x70ft crane with much of its superstructure removed - they have taken the top off the cabin, and rails off the side to get under the bridges. On the way to Stanton Lock we spoke to a fishermen who said they rarely saw boats on the Erewash, and we were the third that had passed that morning. What he would make of the BW crane and tug we would never know! But he was certainly in for a busy day. Eventually BW let Fleur and NP up through the lock, and lock their crane down. There is a narrow squeeze to get Jemima past - I take the flowers off the roof to prevent them being swept off by overhanging trees. I don't know how many BW men are in attendance, but they are having a great time. As well as sawing off half the fittings on the crane, they have to lower the water level to get it under the bridges, and then fill the pound again to get enough depth to get to the next bridge. They say it took them 12 hours to get up, and expect a similar journey down. Some you win, some you lose There are 15 locks on the Erewash, and on our way up all but Trent Lock were set against us. All require Anti-vandal keys except the last, which needs a BW key! At Stanton lock we had discussed with Fleur and NP the possibility of getting all 3 boats in the locks, but they were unsure, and so we continued alone. They were now well ahead of us, but had agreed to leave the A-v locks open, and we agreed to lock up behind. This did save a bit of time, but I wished afterwards that I had suggested they left a bottom paddle open occasionally! We 'win' a fender that is floating in a lock, only to find: 1.It has burst. 2. It is off Jemima! This is a canal with a bit of a reputation but we met no problems, in any case the number of fishermen meant that on virtually the whole canal we were under someone's watchful eye! There were a number of small boys playing beside the cut. Two took great delight in standing on the blowholes as I opened the paddles at Eastwood Lock. Having seen Neil get soaked at an earlier lock as the water burst upwards I was always careful to stand well clear! There is an impressive (disused) rail viaduct, ghostly remnants of industry, and some active factories but much of the canal is semi-rural and we find it a fascinating journey. The Great Northern Basin We reach Langley Mill in the calm of the evening. This is really the icing on the cake as far as the Erewash is concerned. There are plenty of boats here, a dry dock, and an old pump house that has been lovingly restored. It is a wonderful spot, and aptly named. We chat to the crews of Fleur and NP, only to find that NP is based at Ferrybridge, less than 5 miles from where we live. However, we are unlikely to meet them there soon as they have already been away for 10 months, and they told us they were going to London and this was as far as they had got! We are suitably envious. The jewel in the crown of the Great Northern Basin is the 'Great Northern' - Kimberly Ales and a warm welcome. We were soon partaking of their own variation of 'Bingo' and a trivia quiz as well as copious amounts of their excellent ale. Sue and Neil Happy to be on Jemima D