Monday 1^st October. Well, it’s been a very good day today. I know that I say that the weather forecast is always wrong but I do listen to them, really! Anyway, the forecast was for a bright sunny morning with the possibility of showers in the afternoon. And, for once, they were right.

The day started off bright and sunny, so a quick breakfast and off we went. We had a short delay right away when we came through a bridge to find a boat sideways on across the canal. We stopped and pulled it back into the side and replaced a mooring pin that had come adrift. This sort of thing can happen if a boat travels too fast past a moored craft. The waves created shake the pin loose and someone else is left to sort out the problem. I know I showed you a frog road sign earlier on but have you seen a sign like this?

The road runs very close to the canal, hence the warning. Emergency rescue today, Brigid’s gloves blew off the roof into the water. So, a quick touch of reverse, avoid all those other boats that appeared from nowhere, out with the boat hook and – recovery complete. After that, on to Shardlow where we stopped for lunch of homemade soup, cold chicken and tomato.

The chicken was left over from a roast we had for supper yesterday. After lunch, off again and here you can see where the canal meets the river Derwent and the river Trent.

The current was a touch stronger than usual but not too much. And here we are rushing forward under the M1.

This sign was most appropriate today with the current as it was.

If you were to go straight on it would be right over the weir which was quite lively. I like Sawley locks since it’s all mechanised and all you have to do is put in your key, press a few buttons and, hey presto, the lock empties itself, the gates open and close and your back doesn’t even twitch – lovely!

In this picture, the green traffic light confirms that the river is open and it is safe to proceed.

Near the end of the day the skies cleared and there was a lovely sunset.

Here we are leaving Kegworth Deep Lock and we will moor for the night just round the corner at one of our favourite spots.

The only downside is that we will be right under the flight path of East Midlands Airport. Never mind, we spent about 8 hours travelling today and covered over 17 ½ miles, so we should sleep well, whatever the airport tries to throw our way.