A few things happened in a short period of time
- I got a drone
- Its been raining a lot
- The place my dad’s boats were moored floods in a spectacular fashion
- YouTubers are making amazing videos of it
- Today was sunny and still
When the stars aline and all that
This is only the 2nd time I’ve really taken the drone out for a full play, so excuse the robotic, non cinematic videos.
The river Trent has very distinct phases, for much of its journey before it hits the tripoint of Notts, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. It’s a clear, fast little river, the first time I saw it at Burton as a kid it was very different from the Trent you leave as you start the Trent and Mersey Canal.
By this point the Trent and Derwent meet and it becomes the start of the beast many in Nottinghamshire know. The huge booming Weir above Sawley cut is a powerful one as it is, but in flood conditions it’s crazy.
Its not as bad as it was a few days ago and I’ve seen it worse, but still.
heading down stream you pass the flood locks, which are almost at the point where they are stopping the water, but not quiet. Couldn’t see into Sawley marina but the jetties on Derby Motor Boat Club looked like they still had plenty of room to go up. A damn sight better than 2000 when we had to rush to retie boats as the water came up way above the lower sawley locks.
Aside from a sunken cruiser on the towpath side, it looked pretty clear. But it was more round the back where the Trent was ripping through that was interesting
from here on down however the flat land between the Soar and the Trent, it had burst as it does and created a huge series of lagoons.
This culminates in one the places I always loved travelling through on the boat. The Erewash Canal pops out to left, you go straight on for Nottingham down the cut or head right to the soar. A beautiful combination of irony railway bridges over booming weirs and glimpses of some brick structure in the trees. This turns out to be a tunnel but young me it was a like a secret castle hiding. In flood, it’s the reason I train hopped to get here. Again not the worst, but still nice to see it from up high, all while enjoying some slightly warm winter sun.
Was nice to go and see all this again. I spent many years around here, I’ve been through these locks countless times. I’ve fished that cut more than any water around, caught everything from minnows to eels, pearch to carp.
