Has anyone cruised the Erewash Canal?

[Morat]

My ears pricked up recently when some friends in Long Eaton mentioned that they have a canal nearby, so I looked it up and found the Erewash Canal. Hoping for some insight, I searched for Erewash on here and there were no results. Is it a real backwater?

I'm wondering whether it is easily navigable or if it is really shallow through disuse.

thanks!

 

Hmm, I realise now that I got the search wrong and there are plenty of results - but I'd still be interested in people's experiences

[Capt Ahab]

My ears pricked up recently when some friends in Long Eaton mentioned that they have a canal nearby, so I looked it up and found the Erewash Canal. Hoping for some insight, I searched for Erewash on here and there were no results. Is it a real backwater?

I'm wondering whether it is easily navigable or if it is really shallow through disuse.

thanks!

 

Hmm, I realise now that I got the search wrong and there are plenty of results - but I'd still be interested in people's experiences

Itse an underused canal - and worth a visit. Admittedly its pretty urban but there are a few lovely old mill buildings and the last few miles in the country offer a taste of what the Cromford will have to offer. Gritty rather than quaint if you know what I mean. Nice and deep but with heavy double locks. This was THE canal for investors ans was hugely successful mostly carrying coal.

If you have time and energy take a walk up the Cromford Canal from Langley Mill and then on to Pinxton (of Cromford if you are really energetic). Its really interesting and worth the taxi fare back (lazy mans walk).

I have walked the route and thew account of the expedition can be found here:

 

http://captainahabswaterytales.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/cromford-canal-short-walk.html

 

Andy

[Guest]

A truly fabulous canal -

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=37932

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=37933&st=0&p=683795entry683795

[churchward]

As said above it is an under used stretch of canal.

 

I went up there for the first time last year. It was interesting and we had no issues with shallow water (as I have heard some say) the lock gear can be a bit stiff. I think the first half is the better half.

 

It may be because we went up to Langley Mill in the rain but it is not a canal I would go out of my way to revisit. I am glad we did in the sense of another canal tcked off in my I-Spy book of inland waterways.

 

I wouldn't put you off going though as many other see it differently and I wouldn't say there was anything particularly wrong but it just didn't inspire me.

[calamity507]

We did it.. We had been told a few stories that made us wonder was it wise..but had no problems and enjoyed it.

[Sarah and Ian]

Yep we've done it and going up again in a couple of weeks if the Trent behaves itself.

[Morat]

Wow, it looks like something we'll have to do. It'll take two weeks to get to the Northern Basin and back from Stockton so it's doable if we take a long holiday.

Thanks!

[Guest]

Wow, it looks like something we'll have to do. It'll take two weeks to get to the Northern Basin and back from Stockton so it's doable if we take a long holiday.

Thanks!

 

Having done it - I really don't understand the negativity that some attach to the Erewash. As you can see from my links it's very picturesque at the Northern bits and gritty but still very interesting on the Southern end.

 

Shops are never far away, the Northern basin is a great place to moor for a day or two, even though the surrounding area around it cannot be described as 'salubrious' it's a little oasis.

 

Don't forget to get your 'Head of navigation plaque' it's one of the few plaques you get only when you 'earn' it rather than just buy in the chandlers.

[Chertsey]

The search facility is truly rubbish is it not. The have been at least twomthreads about the Erewash that I can recall recently. I would endorse the view that it is definitely worth a visit. And Trent Valley Bearings of Long Eaton came up trumps with Chertsey's fanshaft.

[tony collins]

We had both the worst trip aboard our boat and the best trip on the Erewash Canal. Going up, it was pi$$ing down all day, we were a single boat. We got shot at going through Cotmanhay. (No damage, a kid was showing off to some girls with his air pistol, but it hardly reached across the canal). My wife damaged her hand on the last but one lock and was in considerable pain. The last lock used a different key to every other lock on the canal. There was a stamping works next to the only place where we could moor. (Now closed) They stopped the big press at 11.00pm but kept the little ones going.

 

Coming back down the next day (we weren't enamoured enough to explore the area) was a totally different experience and it seems canal. It was beautiful day and in company with another boat, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip. It is urban but there are some nice green sections too. We met some of the members of the local preservation society, and generally had a good time.

 

It can be hard work if you are not travelling with another boat, but it is still worth doing, if only to say that you have cruised a section of the Cromford Canal!

 

Go for it but if you can choose your weather and have some company.

[Guest]

Go for it but if you can choose your weather and have some company.

 

The same goes for most if not all of the canal system...

[Athy]

The Cotmanhay area of Ilkeston is poorly thought of locally but I have rarely heard of alrming incidents involving boats. Langley Mill Basin is pleasant, though the town itself is depressing - post-industrial, grimy and grim. But a bus ride up the hill (buses about every 20 minutes as I recall) will get you to Heanor which is pleasanter and has extensive shopping facilities. Come to think of it, I seem to remember that last time we went back to the area, a big new supermarket had opened in or near langley Mill, - perhaps someone could confirm this.

[Guest]

The Cotmanhay area of Ilkeston is poorly thought of locally but I have rarely heard of alrming incidents involving boats. Langley Mill Basin is pleasant, though the town itself is depressing - post-industrial, grimy and grim. But a bus ride up the hill (buses about every 20 minutes as I recall) will get you to Heanor which is pleasanter and has extensive shopping facilities. Come to think of it, I seem to remember that last time we went back to the area, a big new supermarket had opened in or near langley Mill, - perhaps someone could confirm this.

 

There is indeed now a huge ASDA 5-10 minutes walk from the basin.

[Richard T]

Second hand vinyl shop 5 mins walk from basin. Also and Aldi or maybe its a Lidl across the road from the basin. Also worth knowing that the car park padlock is the standard BW one. Very useful when we had visitors come to the boat in the evening.

You can manage to cruise three canals in the space of 15mins - Erewash, Cromford & Nottingham by going into Great Northern Basin.

[Emerald]

We got shot at going through Cotmanhay.

 

 

Thats strange most people that get shot in Cotmanhay don't live to tell the tale.

 

I used to fish the Erewash at Langley mill as a child that was back in the late 70's there weren't many boats around then as I remember but lots of fish. The surrounding area can be a bit rough at times, you have to remember these were all mining villages at one time.

Edited June 30, 2012 by Escape

[tony collins]

Thats strange most people that get shot in Cotmanhay don't live to tell the tale.

 

you have to remember these were all mining villages at one time.

 

I didn't realise that ex-miners routinely carried guns