Remembering a Duckling Rescue Three Years Ago.

Sunday 29th September 2019 at Alrewas.
This morning sky looked ominous and the forecast said that there would be heavy rain in the afternoon, so we started early while it was still dry.

M was still rejoicing at the return to narrow locks with lighter gates and easier paddles (so far at least).

This very narrow turnover bridge left no doubt that wide beam boats were no longer welcome!

This is Barton Turn lock, where three years ago, a family of ducklings became trapped in the bywash as we were passing by and had to be rescued while Mother Duck protested loudly until all the ducklings were reunited with her.

At that time, the outlet was blocked, so the landlady of the pub opposite came over and used a fishing net to extract them. She said it happens regularly! Unfortunately, because the ones that remained trapped kept quacking, the ducklings kept trying to jump back in with their siblings, so had to be headed off and nudged gently towards their mum. Chaos reigned but eventually order was restored!

On our way, we were joined on MM by a beautiful "Comma" butterfly that stayed long enough for M to photograph it. It seems that they are one species that is making a come back, with their numbers growing over the years. Nice to hear a positive ecology story for a change.

As we entered the lock at Wychnor, M was delighted to see an Eddie Stobart truck crossing the bridge as we went under it.

The last stretch before Alrewas is back on the River Trent for the last time. Today it was on "Yellow Boards" - Proceed with Caution. The river was running quite quickly against us so that we could only make slow progress against the current.

We moored up in Alrewas and walked into the town for a "few bits" just as the rain started to come down.
Today: 5 miles, 4 locks and 2.5 hours.
Trip: 420 miles, 161 locks and 208.2 hours.