Off the River Soar to the Erewash Canal

We were pelted with rain overnight in Leicester, we pulled away from our mooring with the skies overcast. After a couple of locks we got to Lock 10 where the River Wreake meets the canal, there was a considerable rise in the water level here. The cruising was safe, the river hadn't broken its banks, but the River Level Indicators at the next few locks showed a much higher water level before things finally went back to normal.We passed very few moving boats over the next few days as we crossed the junction of the Rivers Trent and Soar and Erewash Canal mooring at Trent Lock for Saturday lunch at the Tea Rooms.

After lunch we headed off along the Erewash, first opened in 1779. The going was a little slower than usual with most of the locks having vandal proof locks on all the lock gear, so it was out with the handcuff key. Not to mention that all the locks were against us, well every lock except one.

 

We initially thought we would spend the night at Long Eaton however, the moorings were next to a busy main road, we continued on. We arrived at Gallows Inn moorings 15 minutes after it started pouring rain. We seem to be getting regular heavy downpours overnight but the days have been great for cruising, this day right up until around 4pm. The Erewash is a lovely canal, nice and deep too but I must admit I did think we would pass through some quaint villages along the way but that was not the case.

On Sunday we cruised the two hours to Langley Mill in bright sunshine before winding and heading back towards Trent Lock. We didn't quite beat a heavy thunderstorm, I managed to sit under a railway bridge for 10 minutes waiting for it to pass. I was sure there wouldn't be any boats wanting to pass, we only met one moving boat in our whole time on the Erewash.

While we were on the Erewash I did notice the re-purposing of one of the mill chimneys as a telecommunications tower.

 

When the Erewash Canal was first established mills like these were bustling with commerce and looking forward to a new faster way of getting their bulk goods further afield.

The soccerball count jumped considerably while we were on the Erewash, it now stands at 38.