Langley Mill - 50th Anniversary Rally
w/e 03 June 2018
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
It was at last August's Bank Holiday that the Inland Waterways
Association held their Festival of Water on the Erewash Canal
in Ilkeston (link)
and their event this year will be at St Neots in Cambridgeshire,
also over the August Bank Holiday weekend. The Erewash Canal
Preservation & Development Association (E.C.P. & D.A.)
however are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their formation
and held their own Festival of Water at the Great Northern Basin
in Langley Mill over the Late Spring Bank Holiday just passed.
The anniversary rally also celebrated the 45th anniversary of
the reopening of the Great Northern Basin where scenes like this,
minus the flags and bunting, are commonplace.
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The Basin was created on the Nottingham Canal leg of the site
where it joined the Erewash and Cromford Canals and the Festival
spread all around the junction of the three canals. Although
parts of the Nottingham and Cromford Canals still have sections
containing water only the 12 miles of the Erewash is still navigable
and it is estimated about 100 boats made the journey to attend
the Festival.
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There are two paths from the main road through Langley Mill to
access the canal where this lock marks the end of the Erewash
and the start of the Cromford. The Nottingham Canal joins the
Cromford Canal on the right just beyond the lock.
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I started my wander around the Festival on the left hand (west)
side of the canal where there was a display of steam engines.
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Also on this side of the canal was Woodie's Wings which is a
registered charity that is a rescue service looking after captive
bred birds that are no longer able to be cared for by their owners.
The birds in question are mainly parrots and owls.
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Also on this side of the canal one of the narrow boats was a
floating sweet shop with a huge variety of tempting goodies including
hand made ice cream. Across the canal where I would soon be heading,
the square brick building was the former Toll House where narrow
boat operators in years gone by transporting coal and other goods
would pay their dues and demands for using the waterways.
Before crossing to the other side of the canal there was the
opportunity to view another small brick building which is the
Pump House. A plaque on the wall shows that it was opened on
the 25th anniversary of the E.C.P. & D.A. by Mrs Janie Champion
on May 29th 1993. With the building being open to the public
during this 50th anniversary weekend there was also the opportunity
to view the machinery inside.
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Many more temporary displays and stalls had been set up behind
the Great Northern pub as part of the Festival but after crossing
to the east side of the canal I wandered along the towpath of
the Cromford Canal passing some permanent fixtures, buildings
and boats.
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Even here though narrow boat owners had joined in the fun of
the Festival and festooned their boats with flags and bunting,
the reflections in the still clear water doubling the effect.
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Heading back to the lock it was obvious that the Festival was
popular with boat owners from far and wide all of whom must have
travelled up the Erewash Canal from the River Trent to attend
the event. Their paint work and decorations where they were moored
two three and even four deep made for a colourful picture.
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A steady stream of people too aided and abetted by the good weather
over the Bank Holiday weekend must surely have made for a successful
event for all concerned so when it was time to depart I joined
those crossing the swing bridge over the Nottingham Canal arm
and headed back to the main road. As I left the site I wondered
how many of the boaters would be meeting up again in St Neots
at the end of August. It's very unlikey that I will be joing
them but for more information and pictures from the Great North
Basin, there's this page on this site from a previous
visit in July 2008.
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