Stopped in Sawley.

After our meal out last night along with a couple of pints we slept pretty well and were raring to go the short distance to Sawley.

Some of the smaller canal warehouses have been restored and converted to private homes and they look great, especially with their own dock alongside.

This one had the date stone 1799 on it. I particularly loved the right hand corner that had the lower corner trunkated so at not to be caught by the hubs of carts turning the corner.

Just before the flood lock was this private dock, maybe it was a repair yard or something, or the warehouse was to the left had has gone. You can just see the model railway tracks that are laid or around the garden of the house.

There is a mile post, or rather a mile and a half post at Derwent Mouth Lock that is the actual start of the Trent and Mersey. The plaque below states that the 93 and a half miles were opened in 1977 and has 75 locks and 5 tunnels. The plaque was laid in January 1985 by the Duke of Devonshire.

Here we are actually at Derwent Mouth. The river of that name joins the Trent flowing in from the right and continuing straight ahead. As we had a short day and the weather was nice we decided to turn right and explore to the head of navigation.

Cavendish Bridge was where a bridge replaced an old ferry in 1760, and paid for by the Duke of Devonshire, the Cavendish family. It was a toll bridge but the tolls were taken away in 1888. That original bridge collapsed in 1947 when the central pier was washed away. It was replaced by a bailey bridge until 1957 when the current concrete bridge was erected. Just before the bridge is this old brewery and maltings. It was built in 1815 for the Fletchers. They sold to the Eaton family in 1839 and it was sold again to the Offilers Brewery Co in 1896 before closing for good in 1923. Since then it has mixed use but in 1993 Shardlow microbrewery moved into the Old Kiln House. In 1996 they moved across the yard to the Old Stables.

On the way back the river reminded us of the River Aire and River Don with the scrub willows etc.

The original tow path bridge was a wooden structure. It was broken down by ice floes in 1893 and was replaced with another wooden bridge. In 1932 a concrete  structure was erected but after seventy years the concrete started crumbling and it had to be closed in 2002 and demolished in 2003. It wasn't until 2011 that this new bridge was lifted into place. It cost £1.4 million.

This is not a bridge but a pipeline that carries the water main from the Derwent valley to Leicester and was built in the early 1900's.

In the 'old days' when we travelled up and down this section of the M1 motorway very often there was heavy foam at the foot of the weir on the Trent here at Sawley. Whether the river is less polluted these days, or it was just a good day I couldn't say. The approaching narrow boat was keeping well clear of it though.

Just through Sawley flood lock, just the other side of the cruiser are the visitor moorings for Sawley marina.

Here we are moored up as we have to be around home for about three weeks so she is snugged in here, and during her stay she will be having a blacking at JBJ Marine Services at the marina.