Sawley to Shardlow

Leaving Sawley Marina

Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station

We set off at 7 am....an unearthly hour saying we are on holiday. This means we got a good head start and managed to leapfrog some hireboats. It was a sunny day but windy.

We went through Shardlow and saw the pub which is a converted warehouse.

Passed the entrance to the as yet unrestored Derby Canal.

For the first few hours it was very quiet. We saw some calves with their mother.

We didn't stop for lunch but called briefly at Willington water point.

Sappho always likes to go to bed with a good book. For reference, Thackeray's Vanity Fair.

We ran out of petrol unexpectedly after Dalton Lock.

We then got caught behind a geologically slow hire boat, with a huge crew but clueless at doing locks efficiently. We followed them up to Fradley Junction, where we turned on to the Coventry Canal. We moored for the night as soon as there was a space.