Saturday, July 29, 2006

evening below Great Hayward

The sun was just dipping below the horizon when it caught these trees and reflected in the water - and it was all gone in a couple of minutes.

Essential crew member properly dressed

Uniform is required of all crew members !

A visitor


A visitor
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
Today (sat) the temperature has dropped by 10 degrees (c) nd this butterfly was clinging to the ground, sheltering from the wind.

'A frame' house at Alrewas

Now that is some exposed beam!

hair salon at Alrewas


hair salon at Alrewas
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
Wonderful village beside the canal, full of very old buildings - unfortunately the day we were there it was also full of Telephone Engineers installing new cable, so the views were limited

oops


oops
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
And then the balloon and crew vanish into the tree ( or a field of wheat in this case). I bet the farmer wasn't too pleased.

just a bit more gas


just a bit more gas
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
Some times things just do not go right - and youhear the gas burner roaring away.

Coming up


Coming up
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
We have seen a lot of these during the calm summer evenings - sometimes all does not go well however.
This is take off.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Old Barn-Shardlow


Old Barn-Shardlow
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
A typical Shardlow building, but not related to the canal. Note the holes in the brickwork, possibily a dovecote?

The Storm!


The Storm!
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
And then the heavens opened! luckily we were securely moored up before the thunderstorm arrived, and had completed our walk around the village.

Waterpipe detail-Shardlow


Waterpipe detail-Shardlow
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
Shardlow was a very important canal centre with many preserved buildings from the era of the canals.

Wildlife


Wildlife
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
The hot sun has meant the wildlife is hatching all the time, a great variety of Damsel flies, and such like, as well as the water teeming with fish.

Trent_Derwent_Trent&Mersey Canal

A crossroads between two rivers and our canal is just below this lock.

Sawley lock


Sawley lock
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
The entrance to the Canal - luckily it was all controlled by a push button panel, so no gate to shove!

Soar-Trent Junction


Soar-Trent Junction
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
The last time we did this junction it was so wet we couldn't see where we were going. this time it was glorious sunshine, and we saw the labels pointing up the Trent and the North, the Erewash canal, and the Trent and Mersey

Rainbow Bridge-Foxton


Rainbow Bridge-Foxton
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
First bridge above Foxton

Staircase-Foxton


Staircase-Foxton
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
A few days into the 'Great Trip'. A typical busy day at Foxton flight. Note that we waited until early the next morning when it was more peaceful!