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| Cormorant watching over River Trent |
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| In Alrewas Lock |
We are on the move today and it was sunny when we set off,
it had rained in the night but all gone by the time we set off. We stopped at the water point just before the
lock.
It didn’t take long to fill up with water and I walked down
to the lock. There was a chap there and
he had started to fill the lock then walked away, I thought he was just one of
those people that like to help but in fact he was on a boat that was coming
along the canal, but they let Kev out and said it was okay for us to go first.
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| Passing where the Trent meets the canal |
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| Passing the weir |
When you go through this lock you are on the River Trent for
a bit as it joins the canal here and there is a sign on the lock to tell you if
it is safe to go through as after heavy rain fall this bit can flood, but the
sign said normal conditions and the marker by the lock was in the green so that
was good.
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| Leaving Wychnor Lock |
This lock is not very deep so we were soon through there and
onto the river section, there is a huge weir just up from the lock but there
was no flow today and the water was like a mill pond, safely past the weir and
on along this stretch we went under a few bridges and soon we came to Wychnor
lock which marks the end of the river section.
There was a boat coming out so that meant the lock was set for us and
soon we were in, down and on our way again.
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| Waterfront Pub in Marina |
Along we went, this stretch of canal is very straight and
then we were going past Barton Turn Marina. This is a big marina with shops, a
pub, a farm shop and a Thai Restaurant.
We want to have a look around here we so moored up just before the next
lock. This area is called Barton Turn
and that is probably because many years ago, when there were few roads and no
canals in the Midlands, the only reasonable access to the village of
Barton-Under-Needwood was by turning off the old Roman road, Ryknild Street, hence,
probably, the name Barton Turn.
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| Craft Market in Marina |
We walked up to the lock and up the road and into Barton
Turn Marina. It is a lovely place and
also has three lakes which you can walk around.
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| Inside Farm Shop |
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| Waterfront at Marina |
We went to the Waterfront first where there is a lovely pub
and some shops including a great farm shop.
We had a look around there, we actually didn’t buy anything but we will
be coming back up this way so will get a few things then. There was also a craft market by the water so
we had a browse around there and right down the end is a Cinema showing all the
new films out and also they do live Theatre and another café/bar. They really have thought of everything, it
is probably the best marina we have been in.
We walked back down and had a coffee in the coffee shop by
the water, it was certainly busy, there was people everywhere, then we walked
around the three lakes, they are really nice and there are benches dotted about
to sit and while the time away.
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| Lake at Marina |
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| Moorhen family |
We sat on a bench for a bit watching a family of moor hens,
there were some small babies and some older ones and the older ones were
feeding the small ones.
We walked back to the boat and shortly after it began to
rain, so that was lucky.
We are staying here tonight then off a bit further tomorrow.
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| Moored at Barton Turn |
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