There & Back and Back Again!

Last Saturday we were at Willington and …… this Saturday we’re at Willington!  It’s not that we haven’t moved – we have – but, because of a self-confessed cock muck up, we needed to turn round and go back to Willington Marina for a full ‘services’ call.  The deep, wide lock at Stenson is beginning to treat me as an old friend!


The old cooling towers of Willington Power Station   - taken from the bridge over the River Trent.  They have a certain majesty about them.                                                      
                                              and ……..
on the other side of the Trent, the stiletto-sharp spire of the church at Repton.

                    and just because I like this:- Sometimes quite ordinary things can still be quite fabulous!

We are now moored on some very nice moorings at the bottom of the garden of a pub called ‘The Ragley Boat Stop’.  We have good TV reception,  good internet reception and mains electricity!  Tokens for a hook-up can be purchased from the pub.  So, a hoovered carpet (yes, I know it’s an O.C.D. but, actually, this time John did it!!), unlimited TV, everything electrical charged up and no cooking for me tonight. Nice way to end the week I’d say.

Earlier in the week we did eventually cycle into the city of Derby – a place we have never been to before.  What an experience!  There are definitely some things in life that one doesn’t need to do twice and, for me, cycling into Derby via Sinfin and Normanton is one of them!  Derby itself seems to be a really good shopping centre – it has all the major chain stores but also a variety of smaller, individual shops.   Such a shame though about the large amounts of discarded fag ends and blotches of chewing gum all over the pavements.
Canal Time boaters have really been the only committed crews to cruising in the wind and rain this week.  I supposed that the river section between Shardlow and Sawley was still OK as the hire boats have kept coming to and fro and I know that they come out of Sawley Marina.  Wrong!  I found out today that they have been setting off from Shardlow instead as the river is running too fast for safe navigation.
There’s a picture in today’s paper of the River Ouse at York – that was where we were hoping to get to this year.  Maybe late Summer/early Autumn will be a safer time to visit than the Spring!?  Megan is coming home on Monday – perhaps she’ll bring some of that hot, Spanish sunshine with her!  Yeah, right!!