Wednesday 19th May 2021
We set off with lovely sunshine but a very cold wind, and cruised through Shardlow (where we filled with water) Sawley Cut and Trent Lock and then turned left onto the Erewash canal. Never been up this one so it had to be done when passing.
At Sawley lock, a fellow boater told us that the Erewash canal was hard work but he forgot to warn us that the heavens would open as soon as we turned onto it. We approached what looked like a garage, the noises coming from that direction convinced for Graham and a passing walker that it emanated from a badly timed car engine without an exhaust system. Workers even came out from the factory opposite to see what all the noise was about. Turned out it was a road-line-marking lorry that was obviously not going to be laying any double yellows today, it’s faulty compressed air system was causing the din.
The locks on the Erewash were hard work, possibly because they get minimal use, but the rafts of weed and flotsam didn’t help, neither did the swans at lock 61. On arrival, Graham found one swan in the lock and another below the lock. They were both obviously trying to get to each other and so he started emptying the lock with a view to getting them together by opening the gates. A passer by commented that both swans were aggressive males whose partners were sitting on eggs in their pounds and would fight each other to the death if they got together. Graham then turned the lock again to fill it with the intention of letting the swan leave at the top level before re-turning the lock to let Jannock ascend once the swan had left. This worked but the swan below the lock started attacking Brenda and the boat as they entered the lock once the gates were open.
It would appear that every pound on the Erewash has a nesting pair of swans except one that was occupied by two males – make of that what you will!
We eventually stopped for the night at Hallam Fields, Ilkeston which was a pleasant mooring alongside a large sports field which was very peaceful.
G&B
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