Willington to Shardlow Canal Ride

We are lucky living in Derby to have the Trent and Mersey Canal within easy reach, since like many of our canals, the towpath makes for good cycling away from traffic and often through beautiful  rural scenery.  Apart from areas around the locks, the paths are flat making for easy if not rapid progress. There are some disadvantages however.  Most of the paths are narrow and surfaces may be poor especially in the winter.  However, in the warm dry days of summer a great place to ride your bike, which for preference would be a mountain bike to cope with the variable surfaces.

This ride goes for 11 miles from Willington to Shardlow, where the canal meets the Rivers Trent flowing to Nottingham and the Derwent coming from Derby.  So in fact a long ribbon of water which crosses the country from the North Sea to the Irish Sea.
We start the ride from Willington which has several nice pubs and a supermarket where you can stock up with provisions for the journey as there are few facilities apart from the excellent waterside cafe at Stenson Lock and The Bubble Inn.

This is the view from the road bridge in Willington.  On the right is the Dragon PH alongside which is the towpath.

The path from here to Stenson has a reasonably good surface as it is well walked by customers of the Dragon pub which has a large garden (right).
The lawn in the garden is artificial grass so needs no mowing - just vacuuming.

Enjoy the ride to Stenson.

The ride distance is about 11 miles but surfaces are not this good all the way

Lots of boats out on the canal in this fine summer weather.

We pass Mercia Marina which lies here on the left bank having a short length of water linking it to the canal.

Another good stop for boaters here at the Wragley Boat Stop but not easily accessible from this side of the canal without a boat.

Last bridge before Stenson.  This bridge was badly damaged by a farm tractor a few years ago, but being a listed structure, has been properly repaired.

The old lock-keepers cottage at Stanson Lock is now an excellent cafe.

View from the cafe with a volunteer from the Canal and River Trust operating the lock gates.

More workers from the C&R Trust cutting the grass on the towpath. Nice job guys.

The best bit of towpath on the Canal Network here as we approach Swarkestone Lock, where on the left is the dead leg of the old Derby Canal which one day will be restored to take the waters back into Derby and eventually rejoin them to the Erewash Canal at Sandiacre.

Swarkestone Lock where the lock keeper's cottage is now a private house.

Cross the lane by the bridge and continue on the towpath.

From Swarkestone to Weston the path is part of the National Cycle Network, which takes Route 6 from Derby into North Leicestershire and as a consequence the path though narrow, has a better surface.

We leave NCN Route 6 here at this ugly and derelict railway bridge and go straight on keeping to the canal path.

From here at Weston, a quieter stretch of canal and a good place to see the wildlife.

Very nice residence beside the canal.

Here we pass beneath the M1 Motorway.  Much nicer down here than up there!

From Weston Lock looking towards Shardlow.

 Here we are at Shardlow, once in the days of commercial canal traffic, an inland port and now still a busy place in the days of leisure boating.

 Plenty of places to have a celebratory drink as we near the end of the ride.

This is Derwentmouth, the meeting point of the three waterways.

And here is the Longhorse Bridge which spans the River Trent and is the end of our ride.  It is an important link in the cycle route from Derbyshire to Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.  The original wooden and concrete bridges which stood here were vital in the days of horse drawn barges.
Return to Derby via Ambaston (a quiet lane leading from the A6 at Shardlow) and Elvaston, where you pick up the Riverside Path into Derby itself.