Continuing on through Chain's Cuts and Canals.

 As I was getting the tea for us this morning there was a heavy shower, but other than that we have been dry whilst underway

We got underway at the normal time and headed west again. We were soon at the Lenton Chain. This is where the Beeston Cut joined with the Nottingham Canal and the wall to the left indicates where it continued north to reach Langley Mill at the Junction with the Erewash Canal. The Beeston Cut was completed in 1796 and in the same year the canal from Lenton to Langley Mill also opened. There is still a narrows close west of the Lenton Chain on the Beeston Cut that locks to have been a short stop lock in case of damage and loss of water.

Soon after Lenton Chain the canal widens and seems to find the countryside, but in fact industry is just behind the trees. The Beeston Cut was constructed by the Trent Navigation Company to bypass the weir at Beeston and connect with the Nottingham Canal and Lenton. You pass the old Player's Cigarette Factory and the the Boots complex.

In nearby gravel workings a Bronze Age settlement of huts on stilts was found along with a couple of dug out canoes. The Trent Navigation Company was formed in 1793 to ensure through navigation and they employed William Jessop to design the system and he had two locks constructed, this one and another that entered onto the Trent below the weir which is why there is a funny layout at the lock. There area is popular with walkers and cyclists and there are cafes and pubs to service them. We topped up with water at the lock too.

Once back out onto the Trent neither of us could picture it, so it appeared new round every corner, until we got there and it came back to us! The offside had many chalet type buildings with a little jetty. If you had to have a stay-cation away from it all, this would be a great place. Picturesque, peaceful and private. There were some very new and fancy places and some very old and not so fancy.

I kept saying that I seem to remember a steel stake in the river, but the further we went the more I thought I was thinking of another place and then we came round a bend and here we are. The little tug is moored to the stake on the left and the dredge barge and pan are pulling up loads of gravel and sand. There are spots along the bank where it has been dumped and also on Barton Island in the Trent that is used by the 2nd Beeston Sea Scouts. What an idyllic place for kids to hangout, so long as they can swim. In fact it seems they only own half the island, nobody has the other half. Interesting!! It was extremely shallow as we passed between the post and dredger. Not sure what you would do coming down stream if it wasn't clear. You would just have to round up I suppose. 

We passed another shallows marked by a steel post before arriving at Cranfleet Lock. This is a Grade II listed lock that was opened in 1797. The Cut was opened in 1796 and bypasses another shallows on the Trent. The white building is the club house of the Nottingham Yacht Club since 1964 when a new lock keepers cottage was built and they took over the old one. They have added to it over the years. In February this year the river flooded over the gates and just the tops of the lock beams were showing.

These flood gates at the western end of Cranfleet Cut were made redundant as the flood waters came in at the other end, below the river weir. Boats on the moored up on the towpath ended up high and dry on it when the water drained away.

The sailing club on the point of the weir island has a great view across the wide area of water where the Cranfleet Cut meets the Trent and the Soar as well as the Erewash. Radcliffe Power Station seemed to be supplying plenty of power as most of the cooling towers were in steam. More proof of a cooler period of weather.

Sawley Locks were soon in view. The left one is having new gates and it looks like the right hand ones will be next. The joy have having duplicated locks. There was a keeper on duty who had seen us and had the gates open for us. We were soon up and on our way. We are low on fuel and were going to stop at the Marina. You need a Aquavista card for some reason. I went into the chandlers where the lady was gaily chatting with two ladies who were paying. When they left so did the assistant! By the time she came back there was a queue. Who was behind me but the Cruising the Cut Vlogger man. I got no satisfaction from the woman when she came and at 96.1p it was only going to be a splash anyway. We continued on.

We were soon at Derwent Mouth and look there is a boat coming, only the second we have seen moving today. Strangely the lock was full when we got there though!

The obligatory photograph of Porter's Bridge, No.1 on the Trent and Mersey, of course.

There are some lovely conversions of old warehouses in the town and this is just about the best to my mind. We were in two minds whether to stop in the village or go through and out into the countryside, but when we saw the tail end of the moorings free in the sun we pulled over. Admittedly we were about a quarter length over the marked moorings. I saw a woman staring out of her window in a boat opposite, and sure enough this mouthy woman came out shouting the odds about mooring there and we should move. I assume she was worried we would block her view of the brick wall next to us. Funnily enough her boat's name was 'Tranquility'. Shame it hadn't rubbed of on her. Rather than have her ranting we moved on. A bit thank you to the lady from the next boat on the visitor moorings who came out and volunteered to move up but we left.

I love these old warehouses and I hope that they are not lost through neglect. We went up Shardlow Lock and out a mile or two where we found a great mooring with nice views a bit below Aston Lock and got moored up before a heavy down pour. 

I am wondering when we will have to get used to boats and boaters at locks, as we have had the waterways to ourselves just about this season. It is quiet up north. The sun was shining today and made everything cheerful despite the very cool wind, especially as we were heading into it mainly. We must have seemed well wrapped up to boats coming the other way.