Almyne cruising in 2012

2012 cruising the waterways in Almyne

5th June
Alvecote to Hopwas, 7½ miles 2 locks repeat

6th June
Hopwas to Fradley, 11 miles 0 locks repeat
Bumped into Ellie again, she's working part time at the boat yard and part time at the pub and has found a fellow boater that she is getting on with really well. Fortunately Jack, her dog, gets on well with her partners dog as well.

7th June
Fradley to Barton-Under-Needlewood, 5 miles 7 locks repeat

8th June
Barton-Under-Needlewood to Willington, 9 miles 3 locks repeat

9th June
Willington to Weston on Trent, 8 miles 3 locks repeat
Not to be confused with Weston-upon-Trent. Left Gulliver (Clive's boat) at Weston on Trent to avoid towing her on the river Trent between Derwent Mouth and the Erewash.

10th June
Weston on Trent to Trentlock, 6 miles 5 locks repeat

11th June
Trentlock to Gallows Inn, 6 3/4 miles 6 locks

12th June
Gallows Inn to Langley Mill, 5 miles 8 locks
The Erewash is a pretty canal, but then they all are in their own way. Got to Langley Mill, the terminus, and met a group of youngsters who have obviously just purchased a small cruiser. They are working on it to suit themselves, mostly fitting a loud stereo. Chatted with them and set off back to Fradley.

13th June
Langley Mill to Sandiacre, 7 miles 9 locks repeat

14th June
Sandiacre to Trentlock, 4 3/4 miles 5 locks repeat
Got back to the junction of the Erewash and Derwent Water and realised that we were going nowhere. The Trent was in flood, really in flood. The 'red' marker on the navigation board was underwater. The Trent was flowing at seven or eight knots carrying great logs along with it. I recon that if one of those logs hit a narrow boat it could do it some real damage.
No only that but with a motor that can propel Almyne along at about 6-7 miles an hour in still water I would be going backwards fast enough to bend her if I ventured out and bumped into something.
Later on, the crew on the cruiser we had met at Langly Mill went past. I looked out and realised that they were in the lock and in the process of going down.
"Hey Clive " I said, "Come and watch this, it could be interesting".
We wandered down to the lock and just stood there watching, puzzled that no one had checked the flow on the river.
One of the guys on the cruiser asked if we had come down for a pint at the pub next to the lock. I could not help myself, the words just leapt out of my mouth before I had a chance to think properly, "No, we have come to watch you die!"
He looked quizzically at me and then I explained about the danger boards, the fact that the Trent was in flood and that chances were if he took his fibre glass cruiser out on THAT it would be battered and sunk in minutes. He explained that he only wanted to go to the next lock a few hundred yards away. "But it is closed and locked because the Trent is too dangerous" I said.
He and his companions spent the next twenty or so minutes debating amongst themselves what they should do next and eventually decided to reverse their cruiser out of the lock and come back for it another day. Good decision.

17th June
Waited for a few days for the river to subside.

18th June
Trentlock to Weston on Trent, 7 miles 5 locks repeat
Clive took Almyne along to Derwent Mouth as the river level marker was only just in the 'amber' and I did not feel too confident. Needless to say it all went well. Carried on to Weston on Trent.

19th June
Weston on Trent to Willington, 8 miles 2 locks repeat
Used the facilities. Collected Gulliver to continued the rest of the journey. Called in to Midland Chandlers in the marina for some fittings for Gulliver. Buster went over the top. He has been sticking his nose up D'fer's backside for weeks now and today he decided that he would have a go at D'fer. D'fer put him in his place really firmly and actually drew blood but only inadvertently while holding Buster down. Clive said it was his own fault, no harm done.

20th June
Willington to Burton on Trent, 5 miles 1 lock repeat

21st June
Burton on Trent to Alrewas, 7 miles 5 locks repeat

22nd June
Alrewas to Fradley, 2 miles 5 locks repeat
Gulliver is behaving itself quite nicely.

23rd June
Fradley to Rugeley, 7 miles 3 locks repeat

24th June
Rugeley to Great Haywood, 5 3/4 miles 2 locks repeat

25th June
Rugeley to Great Haywood, 5 3/4 miles 2 locks repeat
Now I can sit out there and have breakfast in the sun, or enjoy the sun going down of an evening from the comfort of a padded bench and out of the wind.

26th June
Great Haywood to Weston Upon Trent, 3 miles, 1 locks repeat

28th June
Weston Upon Trent to Stone, 6½ miles, 4 locks repeat
Shopping at Morrisons.

29th June
Stone to Trentham Lock, 3½ miles, 6 locks repeat
Visited the Wedgewood factory on the way past, interesting but there was nothing that I wanted to purchase.

30th June
Trentham Lock to Stoke on Trent, 6 miles, 7 locks repeat
Mum and Pete visited on their way back from a tractor pull. Investigated Stoke on Trent or more properly Hanley one of the six potteries.