Full Circle

From Alrewas we travelled north-east to Burton-on-Trent stopping twice on the way.  It hasn't been a good year for sloes so when we saw a black-thorn bush bearing fruit we quickly pulled over, much to the amusement of boaters coming in the opposite direction.   Our second stop was for Morrisons before we moored up at Shobnall Fields.   Here we noticed a pigeon bathing in the canal.  It repeatedly flew down onto the water, had a splash about and then flew out.  

A bathing pigeon, an unusual sight but the goose doesn't seem impressed.

The canal was busy as we travelled to Willington so when we left there we had an early start.  We still found ourselves in a queue for the first lock but were pleased to see a free mooring at Ragley Boat Stop, a popular pub serving excellent meals.  

Relaxing at Ragley Boat Stop

On Sunday we had a visit from Nic, Gaz, Shaun, Laura, all the kids and little Ted.   We enjoyed a lovely day and of course a meal in the pub.  

Little Ted and Brinny in a photo taken by Gaz

At Sawley we put in some hard work on Brent III, sanding down the roof and remaining side panel ready for painting.   When Kev sanded round the skylight he found the roof was very rusty so we had an extra job removing the skylight and grinding out the rust before treating the area.   Our final task at Sawley was to hose off all the dust and luckily Sawley's waterpoints have a very strong pressure.  

Brent III in the early morning mist at Sawley

From Sawley we sailed down the River Trent to Trent Lock (marked with a green blob on the map), the junction of the Rivers Trent and Soar, the Erewash Canal and Cranfleet Cut .   As we turned onto the Cranfleet Cut we came full circle; on 18 May 2014 we sailed out of the Cranfleet Cut to head down the River Soar.  Since then we've travelled 520 miles and come through 398 locks.  

The short Cranfleet Cut by-passes an unnavigable section of the River Trent which we rejoin as a wide river.  From here we sailed on to the Beeston Cut that took us into the centre of Nottingham.