Onto the Soar, and a misleading sign

8th April 2013

Popping out of the Erewash Canal onto the River Trent there's a helpful sign.

And, when you're safely past Thrumpton Weir, another sign welcomes you onto the Soar.

Misleadingly, the sign suggests that the nearest facilities are 13.3 km away (or 7 miles 5.5 furlongs in old money)*.

But the nearest facilities are actually just half a mile behind you, immediately above Trent Lock at the entrance to the Erewash Canal. I suppose that the sign could still be regarded as informative, though, despite not mentioning the five locks (not counting the floodlock) you'd have to negotiate before reaching the Soar facilities at Bishop Meadow Lock.


*I've just realised that, if you take 1 km to be 5/8 mile (accurate to within 0.4%), 0.1 km is exactly half a furlong. This might or might not be useful.