The River Soar

This morning started bright but still very breezy. Roger nipped over to Sawley Marina chandlery for a flag pole socket but as usual they didn’t have what we wanted. They seem to be very good at stocking expensive clothes and shoes but not so good at stocking bits for boats.

We passed down the automated Sawley Lock onto the River Trent, cruised past the entrances to the Erewash Canal and the River Trent towards Nottingham and then turned right onto the River Soar. Some new houses have been built on the river bank since we were last this way. They are built on stilts as this area floods regularly in winter.

Sawley Lock

Entrance to River Soar

Ratcliffe Lock is overlooked by Ratcliffe on Soar power station which was billowing out steam. Unlike the power stations at Rugeley and Willington this one is still operational and was in the news recently because of demonstrations by eco-warriors.

We moored for lunch just after Kegworth Shallow Lock. This is a flood lock and is only operational when the river level rises. It‘s normally left open and has moorings on both sides. Kegworth village is a good refuelling stop and has a Post Office, Co-Op, combined butcher, baker & deli and is only a 10 minute walk from the moorings.

Kegworth Deep Lock (or Kegworth New Lock as it appears to have been re-named) is DEEP! It always used to be extremely fierce when filling but has recently had baffles installed to help reduce the force. It’s still pretty impressive though as you can see from the photos.

Entering Kegworth Deep Lock

Half way up

Water rushing over the baffles

Just round the bend from the lock is a large, beautiful mansion house which I wanted to photograph. Unfortunately a strong gust of wind blew my cap off just as we passed it. I tried to recover the cap but it floated off down the middle of the river back towards the lock. Good job it was only £2 from Matalan.

We’re now moored almost opposite The Tame Otter pub. It’s been a beautiful afternoon and I got all 4 loads of washing dry in a couple of hours. At least this strong wind has been useful for something!.