We'd planned on stopping off on the way to go to Morrison's but had been given the wrong information and missed the mooring place, so we carried on to Willington and moored up for half an hour for a quick trip to the good old Co-op. Just as we got back, a hire boat sped by so fast it pulled the rear mooring stake out of the ground. They just won't slow down!
At Shobnall there was a beautiful wooden seat carved in the shape of a swan and carved wooden 'totem' poles behind.
Later on we came across a pair of real swans performing their mating dance, twisting and inter-twining their necks. It was lovely to watch and so much more sedate and gentle than the mallards violent mating we’ve seen recently.
As we cruised past Horninglow Basin we noticed two totally different steam boats moored up. I imagine these are quite a sight when they're under way.
We needed the toilet tank pumping out today and called in at Mercia Marina to buy a card for the self-pumpout machine. You only get 9 minutes for £14.30 and it wasn't long enough to completely empty our tank. We're also on the look-out for a marina to spend the winter in but it won't be here. The marina is dwarfed by Willington Power Station and we weren't impressed with the layout or facilities.
The bull rushes along the canal banks look as if they've been coated in cotton wool and as the seeds blow away the roof and inside of the boat are full of white fluff.
Just before Stenson we came across an enormous crane which was being used to do repair works on a railway bridge across the canal. The photos don't show just how massive this thing was as it was being retracted by the time I'd got the camera out and was about a third of the height that we originally saw it. The pub next door sort of puts it into perspective. I certainly wouldn't like to pay the hire charges for it!
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