Great Haywood junction is the meeting point of the Trent and Mersey and Staffordshire and Worcester canals, the motorway interchange of the day. A popular place for walkers and boaters alike and the base of a hire boat company.
Great Haywood junction is the meeting point of the Trent and Mersey and Staffordshire and Worcester canals, the motorway interchange of the day. A popular place for walkers and boaters alike and the base of a hire boat company.
Great Haywood junction is the meeting point of the Trent and Mersey and Staffordshire and Worcester canals, the motorway interchange of the day. A popular place for walkers and boaters alike and the base of a hire boat company.
I'm not sure if Quarter Mile bridge actually is a quarter of a mile, but that is what it is known as to boaters. Officially it is 45g on the Trent and Mersey canal. Effectively a single file path with a couple of small passing bays and it spans the River Trent as both a river and the returning flow from a mill stream.
Stenson Lock is on the Trent and Mersey canal, lock 6 or bridge 19. The lock keeper's cottage has for many years been a coffee shop that serves the many walkers and cyclists in the area.
Alrewas is a small village along the Trent and Mersey Canal. A popular place for narrowboats to spend a day or two as it marks the change between canal and river sections.
A typical 'post' crane. Hand operated and mounted on a post on which it could rotate. Used to load / unload the canal workboats at Fradley junction on the Trent & Mersey canal
This is the scene at Fradley junction on the Trent & Mersey canal, England. Once a place of major importance as British Waterway had a large (by the standards of the day) depot here that made and repaired lock gates, sluices and associated 'bits' of canal infrastructure.
This charming fingerboard will be instantly recognised by anyone who has had the pleasure of boating at Great Haywood. Here the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal ends as it meets the Trent and Mersey.
Once a bustling hive of commercial activity now a popular place to spend a few hours as a goozler (sight seer) Fradley Junction is one of those places that exists purely because of the canal junction where the Coventry meets the Trent and Mersey.
Fradley Junction is where the Trent and Mersey Canal meets the Coventry Canal and continues to be a busy place popular with boaters and walkers alike. The crane here on the left was hand operated and was used to load the maintenance boats in the days when it was a working yard.
Fradley Junction is a very popular place for walkers. It has everything you need for a nice day out, car park, toilets, decent paths and of course somewhere to get tea and cake. The pleasure boat Mariah has moored to take on fresh water.
I'm not sure if Quarter Mile bridge actually is a quarter of a mile, but that is what it is known as to boaters. Officially it is 45g on the Trent and Mersey canal. Effectively a single file path with a couple of small passing bays and it spans the River Trent as both a river and the returning flow from a mill stream. The canalised River Trent is on the right in this image.
I'm not sure if Quarter Mile bridge actually is a quarter of a mile, but that is what it is known as to boaters. Officially it is 45g on the Trent and Mersey canal. Effectively a single file path with a couple of small passing bays and it spans the River Trent as both a river and the returning flow from a mill stream
A couple recede into the distance on Quarter Mile bridge, Alrewas. This bridge carries the towpath across the River Trent as it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal.
Travelling upstream from Wychnor the Trent and Mersey canal engineers made use of the River Trent for a short while and this necessitated a towpath bridge known as 1/4 mile bridge when the canal and rive split as the village of Alrewas was reached and the two went their separate ways.
This little bypass weir is at lock 12 on the Trent and Mersey canal at Alrewas, Staffordshire. Bypass weirs allowed excess water from the pound (area between 2 locks) above to safely flow around the lock and to the lower pound. Several nettle stings were received getting the angle so you can see a narrowboat through the fence.
Just after you finish climbing the Fradley Five locks on the Trent and Mersey canal you enter a stretch known as Wood End.
At the Junction of the Trent and Mersey Canal and Coventry Canal you find an icon of the waterways - The Swan. For whatever reason it is known far and wide as 'The Mucky Duck'. This image taken from my 5 metre pole which gives a slightly different view. The boat is registered as 'Cambro' - a 60 ft private narrowboat
Just one of many small bridges over the Trent and Mersey canal, this one is on the stretch between Fradley junction and Rugeley.
I'm not sure if Quarter Mile bridge actually is a quarter of a mile, but that is what it is known as to boaters. Officially it is 45g on the Trent and Mersey canal. Effectively a single file path with a couple of small passing bays it spans the River Trent as both a river (on the right here) and the returning flow from a mill stream (on the left just to the right of the lock). I am a CAA licensed drone operator, copy of permit available on request.
The Trent and Mersey canal winds its way through many villages, amongst them is Alrewas, a very pretty place popular with boaters for its nearby shops and selection of pubs. This is the lock that separates canal from river. Image taken from my drone - I am CAA licensed for commercial use, copy of PfCO available on request
I'm not sure if Quarter Mile bridge actually is a quarter of a mile, but that is what it is known as to boaters. Officially it is 45g on the Trent and Mersey canal. Effectively a single file path with a couple of small passing bays and it spans the River Trent as both a river (nearest and to the right here) and the returning flow from a mill stream (in the middle of this image). The canal is to the left. I am a CAA licensed drone operator, copy of permit available on request.
I'm not sure if Quarter Mile bridge actually is a quarter of a mile, but that is what it is known as to boaters. Officially it is 45g on the Trent and Mersey canal. Effectively a single file path with a couple of small passing bays and it spans the River Trent as both a river (furthest away) and the returning flow from a mill stream (in the middle of this image). The canal is in the foreground. I am a CAA licensed drone operator, copy of permit available on request.
Lock 73 on the Trent and Mersey canal is a short distance from Great Haywood junction. The building on the left here is an attractively located café with moorings available on the right.
A narrowboat peacefully moored on the Trent and Mersey canal, bridge 72 in the background. In the absence of road signs bridge and lock numbers are used to locate places on the canal network.
A lady working Colwich Lock, number 21, on the Trent and Mersey canal leans on the top gate beam. There is no rushing a lock and by leaning against the beam you can feel when the gate can be opened by the slight twitch it gives. A recent rain shower has left the beam wet and gently steaming in the sunshine that followed.
Colwich Lock, number 21, on the Trent and Mersey canal is in a wonderfully rural location with just one cottage beside it. The balance beams on the gates are normally much longer, literally balancing the weight of the gates and providing leverage. Here though there was not space for the normal length of beam so metal weights were added at the handles. Balances the beam nicely, but does nothing to help the missing leverage.
A narrowboat moored near Shugborough Hall on the Trent and Mersey canal, smoke comes from its solid fuel stove whilst the large tunnel light stares ahead.
Great Haywood junction is the meeting of the Trent and Mersey canal with the Staffordshire and Worcestershire. This is a popular place to stay for a few days and the boatyard to the right is a hire base for a fleet of narrowboats. I am a CAA licensed drone operator, PfCO available to view on my web site.
Along the Trent and Mersey canal, this willow has been tunnelled through by the boats passing through.
Canals are navigated by bridge or lock numbers as they normally pass through open countryside and there is not any other way to work out where you are. Here we have bridge 56 on the Trent and Mersey canal in the spring sunshine.
Canals are navigated by bridge or lock numbers as they normally pass through open countryside and there is not any other way to work out where you are. Here we have bridge 56 on the Trent and Mersey canal in the spring sunshine.
Along the Trent and Mersey canal, this willow has been tunnelled through by the boats passing through.
Fradley junction where the Trent and Mersey meets the Coventry is a popular place not only for boaters but walkers too. A flight of 5 locks provide plenty for the boaters to do and the walkers to watch. This is Keepers Lock with Hunts lock in the distance.
This is the scene at Alrewas lock on the Trent and Mersey Canal. Alrewas lock raises and lowers boats between the short river section and the canal proper and is a popular place to moor for a few days.
Bridge 22 on the Trent and Mersey canal, Derbyshire, UK. Canal bridges are numbered much like road junctions and are pretty much the only way to work out where you are as even canals that 'go through' towns and cities often do so at the very edges.
