Sawley - At The Marina
w/e 15 February 2015
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
  Apart from a walk in the Autumn Footprints 2010 programme
along the towpath of the Sawley Cut it's been eleven years since
our last visit
to Sawley Marina so another look around is long overdue. A bleak
afternoon in February was perhaps not the best time to go and
we only saw three other people (plus a cat) while we were there.
A brief wander round though produced the following images.
The aforementioned towpath along the Sawley Cut can be seen here
opposite the slipway from the marina. The moorings along the
canal to the right are for visitors.
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Fuel pumps stand adjacent to the slipway next to this hoist that
overlooks the cut.
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An inlet from the cut near the hoist leads under a footbridge
to a relatively small sheltered area which is called Platinum
Moorings, presumably so named because it is the premier spot
in the marina and gives easy access for boaters to the canal
and rivers beyond.
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We headed around the buildings that include a restaurant and
chandlery to the main area of the marina and passed this small
traffic roundabout ornamentally decorated with anchors and an
old yacht that has obviously seen better days. I was tempted
to say it was the only boat on the island but there are many
more vessels in the vicinity.
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And some of those vessels are for sale and can be viewed from
the Boat Sales Jetty. Although we saw very few people the afternoon
was punctuated by the sound of explosions from the Chemring Defence
Group's "Fireworks Factory" a couple of miles away
at Wilne where testing was in progress.
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A closer look at some of those on sale reveals that if you're
in the market for one you'd need something in the region of £70k
for the one on the left and £50k for the one on the right.
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A spit of land at the side of the Boat Sales Jetty runs out to
a circular "island" where this pergola has been built.
Another pier called the Island Pier extends beyond the pergola
where more boats are on display and are also for sale.
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Adjacent to the pergola on the "island" are picnic
tables and crossed anchor sculptures that surely make this a
pleasant spot on a balmy summer's evening to sit with a drink
and recall tales of boating on the canals. Not so though on a
February afternoon.
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It's possible to circle the pergola but in an anti-clockwise
direction it is necessary to cross a small footbridge to reach
the end of the Island Pier, the other half of the sales area.
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Our final view from the "island" is across more piers
in the marina to the East Bank moorings. In the distance is the
Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station generating not only electricity
but also contributing more steam to the already cloud filled
sky. I don't think we'd better leave it another eleven years
before we visit Sawley Marina again but if we intend to explore
the south and east banks, we'd better choose a day under a brighter
sky!
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