Chesterfield Canal–Day 2

It was a lovely overnight mooring in quiet countryside with just the sounds of the birds.

We’re not sure if we are in Yorkshire or Derbyshire, but it’s very tranquil and rather attractive.

Looking north

A boat and butty were exiting Gringley Lock and then we realized there was something special about the butty.  The butty was actually the “Dawn Rose” which is a replica Chesterfield wooden working boat hand made from oak and larch.  The Chesterfield Canal Trust had organised a sponsored “pull” to hand tow Dawn Rose from the top of the navigable end of the canal to Stockwith on the Trent.

You might be able to see the collapsed mast in the above photos.  Apparently this type of narrowboat was powered by sail on the Trent.

The canal milestones are a mixture of old and new and I think we might have even seen a milestone meeting.

 

Milestone meeting or mini Stonehenge? 

There seemed to be much less weed after Drakeholes Tunnel and then one of the local walkers informed us the canal gets better from this point onwards.  He then mentioned some boaters have become discouraged by the time they reach the tunnel and turn back.  He also mentioned this was a 2½ mile/hour canal.  What he meant was the bottom is close to the top which restricts speed.  But then the countryside is worth viewing.

Why do you always meet an oncoming boat at a blind bridge hole?  Fortunately we were both going slowly avoiding a collision.

Fountains staff were cutting the towpath vegetation near Clayworth.  We noticed they were avoiding cutting the vegetation against moored boats.

The Retford and Worksop Boat Club moorings look attractive and we did stop there to use the CRT facilities to top up the water tank.

Whilst the canal now had less weed for a short stretch it became very shallow.  The prop was turning up the bottom and scaring the fish.  We didn’t realise the latter was happening until we noticed our new follower.  A swift was circling behind the stern and catching fish frightened to the surface.  He/she was very fast in the air making it difficult for Jan to get a photo.

The cruising day finished near Hayton when a boat moved off the sole 48 hour mooring as we arrived.  We quickly took the vacant spot and were subsequently pleased with the decision as a number of boats subsequently passed by looking for a spot.  The last boat was the CRT weed cutter operated by ‘Fountains’ staff.

We had been warned the weed cutter was making its way down the canal and on looking at the design I suspect it doesn’t remove much of that “mermaid hair”.