Up the Erewash and beyond

Whoah! Where has all the time gone? My last post was eight days ago. Then I was desperately trying to play catch-up and get up-to-date; now I am woefully behind again. So ... I'll try again. This time I'll be stricter with myself about the number of photos I publish. But first, where we were on Monday a week ago two weeks ago (eek!), using photos I had already resized.

Monday 8th June 2015

We left Cotmanhay and continued up the remaining locks to Langley Mill, the head of the Erewash Canal, and Great Northern Basin.

Some of the bridges are on the low side.

This was the second time we have been through the top lock; the last time was Easter 2013.

We tied up on the left beyond the lock in front of Remus. Eric and Sue came for a meal on Jubilee; during the meal I leapt out to take a photo of the Nottingham Canal Toll House lit by the setting sun.

The next day we explored our surroundings, finding a large charity shop next to B&M near the station. Walking in the other direction we looked for and found some remains of the Cromford Canal still in water. I stood on an old railway bridge to take this picture.

And this is the railway bridge from under the lattice girder bridge.

In the evening we ate at the Great Northern pub with James and Hazel from Gabriel, who tied up behind us.

Halfie, Jan, Hazel, James

Right, I'm only 13 days behind now. At this rate I might have caught up by autumn!

A look round Great Northern Basin

7th April 3013

At the top of the Erewash Canal is Great Northern Basin, where what remains of the Nottingham Canal and the Cromford Canal come together. Here are the Great Northern pub ...

... a Nottingham Canal toll house ...

... plenty of boats ...

... including Petrel, a 1914 Josher (according to the National Historic Ships Register).

Trying to get a bit of perspective at the far end of the basin, where the currently unrestored Cromford Canal continues, I walked to the end of a jetty.

A wire fence blocked access.

Poking my camera through the fence I was able to photograph the state of play as it was back in April.

Won't it be good when the canal is restored all the way to Cromford, with all the interest of Arkwrights mills and the connection with the Cromford and High Peak Railway?

nb Birdswood at Langley Mill

Back in April this year we cruised on Shadow up the Erewash Canal to Langley Mill. While we were looking round Great Northern Basin we saw nb Birdswood coming up the top lock.

I wrote about it at the time here, but I've only just got round to posting the photos.

Froghall Wharf is, of course, on the Caldon Canal, but Birdswood was coming to the basin to have some work done before being taken (by road) to Cromford to be used as the trip boat there.

The plaque in the above photo reads: "Great Northern Basin built by William Jessop 1796 restored by ECP&DA [Erewash Canal Preservation and Development Association] 1971 - 73 with financial and other aid generously given by local councils organisations and individuals and by waterway enthusiasts from near and far afield. Opened May 26th 1973"

By the look of the hoses running down the rudder it has some sort of hydraulic propulsion system.

I expect it's all been done now and is merrily plying its trade on the Cromford Canal.

By the way, did anyone else note the significance of ten past nine this morning?

09:10 11/12/13.

Great Northern Basin

Easter Cruise day 7, 7th April 2013

I'm writing this from home seven weeks later. The weather seems hardly any warmer in Norwich than that cold, cold cruise - it's only 6˚ outside! I hope it's warmer in MK as we're off to visit Ally and Ben; then Crick; then we may even go boating - hooray!

Back to the Erewash Canal. Jan, as usual, steered into the lock while I, as usual, worked her through.


At the top there was a scattering of old boats: here is Dane ...


... and here is what looks like an Admiral class with an unusual cabin extension.


I always like to go to the very end, if possible, so I winded opposite Yorkshire Rose. There wasn't a lot of space, but we got round all right, and looked for a mooring. Well, it appears that there are no visitor moorings in the basin, as much of the pedestrian access is behind locked gates (non-BW key).


A fine old BW sign explains that this is the junction of the Erewash, Nottingham and Cromford Canals. The Cromford Canal meets the Erewash end-to-end just below the lock; and the Nottingham Canal - what's left of it - joins at an acute angle. The boat Electra in the photo below is moored on the Nottingham Canal.


And here is the Nottingham Canal seen through the swing bridge across its entrance.


There are more photos to come, including some of Birdswood, the Cromford Canal's trip boat which came up through the lock while we were there.

Right, the rain has stopped so I'm off to finish loading the car. No - I spoke too soon. The appearance of sunshine fooled me. It is actually still raining.

Ilkeston to Langley Mill to Trowell

Snow report: today I saw NO SNOW! Perhaps it has all, finally, melted.

I'm sweltering writing this this evening as I loaded the stove up with some coal to see if it will keep the boat warm all night. This morning there was a hard frost, and we woke up with cold faces to a cold boat.

This morning we went with Alan and Hazel, on whose mooring in Ilkeston we were guests last night, to their church, a small Elim church nearby. By the time we got back to the boat and set off it was nearly 1300, so we were likely to run behind schedule, especially as I wanted time to explore the various canals at Langley Mill.

We got to Langley Mill at about 1530. We'd been slightly delayed by having to remove rubbish from the prop at Eastwood Lock: a piece of rope and several pieces of carrier bag. At Langley Mill we went up the final lock on the Erewash Canal - which was actually, apparently, the first lock of the Cromford Canal - into Great Northern Basin. We progressed to the very end (something I have to do), winded with millimetres to spare between boats, and descended the lock to tie up by Lidl. There we got some supplies, and I went for a walk round the basin, seeing an end of the Nottingham Canal as well as a short isolated stretch of the Cromford Canal. It will be amazing when the whole of the Cromford is restored.

As I was walking back to Shadow the Cromford Canal's trip boat Birdswood was just exiting the lock. It is going to return to the Cromford end of the canal (by lorry) after some work. Sorry (again) for the lack of photos.

Our return down the Erewash Canal has (so far) been easier than our ascent yesterday, as most of the locks have been in our favour. At Gallows Inn Lock a wide hopper boat was adrift across the canal. One end had a rope still on the towpath, but not attached to anything, and I managed to pull it in just enough for me to reach the rope on the other end with a boat hook. With the hopper secure, I was able to turn the lock and continue.

We tied up shortly afterwards on the edge of Ilkeston by extensive playing fields at Trowell. It is very quiet - I can't even hear any trains - and I haven't been aware of anyone passing on the towpath. As for anyone passing on the canal, well, that's almost guaranteed not to happen. We saw just two other moving boats today: one was Jack Daniels on its way down from the top; the other was Birdswood as mentioned above.

In a change from eating out, Jan cooked a delicious chicken stew. This was ready shortly after we tied up. Just before Jan served up, I chopped some logs on the towpath. The logs themselves I had sawn from longer lengths found by the Trent and Mersey yesterday.

Tomorrow I'm planning on a reasonably early start so as to make up for our being about two miles and three locks short of our intended stop tonight. And then it's back to rivers, crossing the Trent onto the Soar, ready for more wide locks.

Swanning around on the Cromford Canal

This evening we went for a walk along the Cromford Canal from Whatstandwell to Ambergate, a distance of not much more than two miles. Yes, I know that's hardly anything, but we took our sandwiches and had a very pleasant relaxing time of it. And we walked back.

The bridges on this disused section are made of sturdy stone and seem to be in good condition. Well, they haven't had to cope with pleasure boaters misjudging their steering!


The vegetation on both sides of the canal is what you might call lush.


Derbyshire County Council looks after the canal and towpath now. The water level has been lowered to lessen the risk of leaks, and the area has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, which probably means that it'll not be restored to navigation.


A pair of swans were calmly doing not very much on the few inches of clear water above what must be three or four feet of silt and rotting organic matter.


Someone at Derbyshire County Council has made an interesting colour choice for their signs!


Lit by the sun in the above photo were these yellow flowers. Anyone know what they are?


At Ambergate works have been built on the line, and the canal suddenly disappears into a culvert.


Here Jan illustrates the height of the vegetation either side of the towpath. The canal is to the right. Despite the undergrowth trying to take over, the metalled path is in very good condition.


Next time we'll have to find where the canal re-emerges and continue the walk to Langley Mill.

Cromford Mill

Last week, while still in Derbyshire, we visited Cromford Mill, a world heritage site preserving what remains of Richard Arkwright's pioneering use of water power in industry. Arkwright invented the water frame, a simple-to-operate device powered by a water wheel to spin cotton. His mill at Cromford was the world's first successful cotton spinning factory, and the first building put up specifically to house machinery.


When Arkwright took over the site in 1771 this bridge carried the main road. When he built his mills they blocked the road, so he provided an alternative route by cutting into a nearby rock outcrop. The bridge crosses Bonsall Brook, one of the water sources; the other being Cromford Sough which gave a reasonably constant supply of water from Wirksworth lead mines.


In 1793 the Cromford Canal was built. This would have been a considerable help to get the factory's output distributed. The canal terminates in two arms; each of the two wharf buildings has an overhanging loading bay.

The railway which started as a canal

Yes, many canals were bought out by railway companies, some of which used the canal bed to lay their rails, but the canal I'm talking about was proposed in the early 1820s to connect the Cromford Canal at Cromford in Derbyshire with the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge, then in Cheshire (but now, seemingly, also in Derbyshire). It was quickly realised that the terrain was just too hilly for a canal, so the Cromford and High Peak Railway was built instead, completed in 1831. A good source of information is this website.


The original engineer was Josiah Jessop, son of the canal builder William Jessop. I'll post pictures of impressive embankments later, but for now here's a random selection of my photos from when we walked along it.


Above is Hopton Tunnel; below is one of the huge number of wild flowers along the route.


The route of the Cromford and High Peak Railway has been converted into a very well maintained "trail" for walkers and cyclists between Cromford and Parsley Hay, south of Buxton. There are occasional bits of railway hardware remaining - some mileposts and signals - as well as the big things such as bridges, tunnels and winding houses for the inclines. I didn't mention the inclines, did I? (But you might have deduced that from the rather steep slope indicated in the top photo.) There were nine of them - now eight after two were combined - where the wagons were hauled up on a steel rope between the tracks. In another similarity with canals, for the first 30 years of the railway wagons were horse-drawn on the "levels" between inclines. And, no, they didn't have to step over sleepers: the rails were held in position on individual stone blocks.

Leawood Pumphouse

When we walked past the Leawood Pumphouse on the Cromford Canal just before Easter the gate from the towpath was unlocked. I went down the steps to photograph the chimney from underneath, and then walked round to the main doors. These were open, and the engine was being worked on, presumably in readiness for steaming over the Easter bank holiday weekend.


The pumping engine was installed because water to the summit level could not be guaranteed after the Cromford Canal Company was denied access to its original supply, from Sir Richard Arkwright's mill just to the north. It was built in 1850, and pumped water from the River Derwent up to the canal.



(edit to correct name of canal - thanks, BigJohn)

So this is what the bed of an iron trunk aqueduct looks like

Just round the bend from Wigwell Aqueduct on the Cromford Canal is the iron trunk aqueduct over the railway, just as it enters/leaves Leawood Tunnel.


A notice by the aqueduct explained why it was drained: apparently it was found to be weak, so the lack of water relieves some weight. The towpath is taken over a temporary scaffolding-and-plank structure. I'm not sure how that helps, though, as it appears to be resting on the aqueduct.


Isn't draining an iron trunk aqueduct almost the worst thing you can do? Look at the rust starting to eat away at the side. Under water, as long as there's no oxygen, rust cannot form. How much longer will this survive?


As Captain Ahab notes in his UK aqueducts list the plughole is impressive.


I had imagined the bed of an iron trunk to be perfectly smooth. Are the ribs for strength, or is that just the way the trunk is assembled?

This towpath is a horse free zone

Is it because the aqueduct wouldn't take the extra weight? Unlikely.

Would the horse's hooves damage the nice flat surface? Possibly, but I don't think that's the reason either.

No, I think it's because the far (south east) end is stanked off, reducing the canal to a weedy ditch.


This is the Cromford Canal's Leawood Wigwell Aqueduct over the River Derwent just south of High Peak Junction, a mile south of Cromford. (Captain Ahab calls it the Wigwell Aqueduct, and has a virtually identical photo here.)


I talked about horse drawn trip boats recently, but missed this one. Apparently the Horseboating Society tows narrowboat Duchess on demonstration trips (no passengers) between Cromford Wharf and the aqueduct on heritage days, presumably coinciding with steaming of the Leawood Pumping Engine. In the 1980s the then Cromford Canal Society ran passenger horse drawn trips, but these didn't last.

Back to the top photo: the sign actually appears to prohibit horses from leaping over the wall. But, assuming it refers to the towpath, if you were leading a horse from either direction you wouldn't know where the prohibited zone was.

High Peak Junction

We saved up the Cromford Canal for the last day of our little holiday. To get there we parked to the south of the town, walked to the line of the Cromford and High Peak Railway, and then along and down Sheep Pasture incline (1 in 8) to High Peak Junction. (I'll post about the C&HPR later.) Here the railway met the canal.


The above photo shows a bit of the canal, with the railway workshops behind, and two brown brake vans at the foot of the incline.


A few yards downstream stands a warehouse with covered loading bay. The warehouse is used today by a community group - that's presumably their narrowboat tied up outside.


The white post would have supported a crane. One railway track led right inside the warehouse: the sign above the door reads "ENGINE MUST NOT ENTER THIS WAREHOUSE" (I assume an "S" has fallen off), so wagons would have been shunted under cover for loading/unloading.