The Erewash - Britain's friendliest canal?

[Neil2]

Never been up the Erewash before so having a bit of time in hand we decided to tick another box this week.  Stayed in Sandiacre last night and at Langley Mill tonight.  The locks are quite hard work and I've had to clear the prop four times but the overriding impression is how friendly everyone is round these parts.  Everyone we have met, young and old, seems to go out of their way to exchange pleasantries, all the cyclists say thanks when you get out of the way, and only one surly angler so far.  Also noticeable is the lack of litter, though the graffiti is pretty relentless.  

Maybe the locals are just pleased to see a moving boat.. or do they put something in the water round here?

[johnnie1uk]

We went up in the summer and noticed how friendly people are, also had to clear the prop a few times, we were advised not to stop around Ilkeston but couldn't see any problem going through. we had heard of problems with yobos in the school holidays. The lock gates were in poor condition but the C&RT workers there reckoned that the financial allocation for the canal only let them do essential repairs.

[RLWP]

We had experience of the local yobos at two of the locks. On both occasions, local youths were friendly, interested in what was going on, helpful and polite. OK, maybe it was a bit tedious when they asked 'what would happen if I jumped in now' for the tenth time, by then the answer was 'you'll get wet'

The folk at Langley Mill are friendly too

I wonder what's gone wrong?

Richard

[Mike Todd]

The trouble is that you treat all people, boaters and non boaters, as if they are real people and then they respect that. You really should learn that boaters are a special breed of folk, nine feet above all others.

We have made similar remarks as Richard's about our experience a few weeks back on the Rochdale, especially the Nine.It really was a treat to get young families involved, just below Canal Street. Who'd have thought it?

[RLWP]

3 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

The trouble is that you treat all people, boaters and non boaters, as if they are real people and then they respect that.

I really must stop doing that

Richard

[Derek Porteous]

Yep. Tend to agree that the natives are indeed friendly. We had put off cruising the canal for several years because of its "reputation". We eventually did it a couple of years ago and met nothing but cheery, friendly people. Even the fishermen smiled and waved. Also had a beautiful large grass snake swimming right up to the boat. A fisherman just below the basin said they were a real pest, especially on a summer's evening as they disturbed his fishing by their swimming back and forth.

[Guest]

It's a great stretch of canal. What at first looks like an intimidating sight of a lock surrounded by over excited youths turns out to be an inquisitive bunch of youngsters who just want to join in. One of them did manage to drop a windless in the drink but they apologised straight away. 

Edited September 22, 2017 by Rumsky

[stagedamager]

Welcome to Langley Mill. If you need anything give us a shout at the boat yard!

Kind regards

Dan

[RLWP]

8 hours ago, Rumsky said:

It's a great stretch of canal. What at first looks like an intimidating sight of a lock surrounded by over excited youths turns out to be an inquisitive bunch of youngsters who just want to join in. One of them did manage to drop a windless in the drink but they apologised straight away. 

Sounds like the same lot we met. 

Richard

[Grassman]

 

We were on it last year and found the locals to be friendly, even a couple of groups of youngsters who we chatted to. The locks have a reputation for being really difficult but we didn't find them any worse than some of the difficult ones on other canals. I only had to go down the weed hatch a couple of times. For anyone who hasn't, it's definitely worth going on it.