Walton on Trent

Hi,

This week we are moored just outside the little Derbyshire village of Walton on Trent,which isn’t really on the River Trent,but as I understand it,the “on” means “close too” around this part of the world and who am I to argue.It’s a pleasant little village but there isn’t a great deal here,no shops of any kind and it’s a bit of a walk to the village church,which sits quite prettily on a hill,overlooking the surrounding area.

 

On the left is the Trout lake in the grounds of the Coopers Arms here in Weston on Trent,the pub is a rather impressive four story 17th Century former mansion which overlooks the lake.On the right is the village church as seen from the canal just down from our mooring.

After filling our tank with water last Thursday we left Shardlow and headed west on the Trent & Mersey canal in the company of a narrowboat called Stone.This boat is owned by Andy who built it and who is also the guy who spray foamed Chyandour for us.It was a very nice surprise to bump into him.I hadn’t recognised him at first,without his protective suit,he was having a few days off from spray foaming,so we shared the three locks between Shardlow and here.I have to add that the first half a dozen locks on this end of the T&M are broad locks and so sharing them with another boat and crew makes life a lot easier.Andy,Maria and Stone continued up the canal to the next Winding Hole,turned and headed back towards Shardlow,it’s not possible to go much farther west on the T&M at the moment because one of the winter stoppages is taking place about three miles on from here.

The winter stoppages are a programme of maintenance undertaken by the Canals and Rivers Trust between the beginning of November and the end of March each year.This is the quiet time when most boats are laid up for the winter so it’s probably the best time to get non emergency repairs done.It does mean though that we hardy souls who cruise all year have to be aware of the stoppages and be prepared for a wait now and then.The stoppage up ahead should be completed by this coming Friday and then we will make our way to our next “port of call”.There is one little hiccup in all this though,a motorist somehow managed to hit the parapet on a nearby bridge and knocked it into the canal.This has resulted in the canal now being closed in two places.We are hoping to get an email in the next few days,to say that a temporary repair has been made to the bridge,enabling the canal to be reopened,so we can proceed on Friday as planned.

While we have been moored here at Walton we have done our usual and gone walking in the area.On Saturday we set off for Melbourne,not the Aussie one,but the one here in Derbyshire.It’s a good couple of miles from our mooring to Melbourne,first along the towpath and then up onto what was a railway track,now a cycle and walking route.The railway was a Military Railway during the Second World War and was used to train troops to build,demolish and run railways.There is little left to show what it used to be,other than the bridges and viaducts,but there is a bit of history to it,in 1940 nine Royal engineers who worked on the railway where killed by a German bomb dropped on Melbourne.

  

On the left is a picture of the Melbourne Railway viaduct over the River Trent,now used as a walking and cycling route.On the right is a view along the canal as we made our way back on Saturday afternoon.Can anyone wonder why I love these inland waterways?

 

Has anyone any idea what the picture on the left might be?It’s a vertical boiler like structure on the north bank of the River Trent below the viaduct in the picture above.It’s been knocked about a bit but it looks as though it was permanent and had a purpose.I’ve searched but no luck so far.The picture on the right is a view we passed on our walk to Melbourne.

Melbourne itself is a tidy little village with a few shops,including a chip shop,which did some nice fish and chips at a reasonable price.We bought some fresh meat,bread and veg,then made our way back home to our boat after a very enjoyable day.It was when we got back here that things went a little downhill.

Before we left to go to Melbourne on Saturday,we had moved Chyandour to a new mooring that was not under any trees so that we could benefit from a bit of sun on the solar panels.This was a good idea as far as it went,but,when we got back we couldn’t get a signal for my phone,for the TV and for t’internet,whereas we’d had reasonable reception on Thursday and Friday.We spent two hours at the new mooring trying,without success,to get a signal and we are only fifty metres from our old mooring.Sorry Lisa,I tried,but you had to go without your “fix” of Strictly.We managed to get things together on Sunday afternoon though,but it shows just how variable things can be on t’cut,and we did get some power from the solar panels so it wasn’t all bad.

This Monday had us sitting in the boat for most of the day,it rained and there didn’t seem any point in getting wet.Why do today what can be done just as easily tomorrow?We did move Chyandour again though,Strictly is that important.The digital TV has improved but the satellite still isn’t working and my phone is still struggling.Anyway,thats all for this week.We are on the move again on Thursday and since our last blog we have done the grand total of three miles and three locks.Take care everyone.