A February walk along the canal that turned into magic

And yet on this February afternoon an apocalyptic-looking sky was enough to keep me interested. But then something changed and immediately magic happened. Artwork was seen over The Erewash Canal and it was like nothing that I had ever seen before.

It goes without saying that there is just something about the water, a lure that makes us want to be by the water and perhaps that could be the calming and soothing effects that it has. It could also perhaps be the interesting things that it has to offer such as views, wildlife even along with being its own world with secrets and history that are waiting to be discovered. Yes it goes without saying that away from the rushes of life the Canal network and its pathways could be a world of their own, they more than likely are although we often ignore them don’t we as we lead busy lives. Yet it was one February afternoon in which I had arrived at Shipley Lock. Of course though 2023 so far has been one with a mixed bag of weather to say the least and do not get me started on what I think of January as a month - although perhaps that is another story for another time. Either way though as the month of February arrived the lure of the water was calling me. As was Shipley Lock and it’s rather photogenic views of The Erewash Canal, a canal that stretches from Langley Mill to Trent Lock and in it’s not too distant past it would have been used by a lot of traffic bringing things along The Cromford Canal in a time when that was Navigable and onto boats at Trent Lock to be moved to other parts of the country and around the wider world. Now though the freight traffic from it’s not too distant past has gone - and instead now The Erewash Canal is used by those wanting to enjoy the outdoor life and wanting to escape the rush of the modern world, a place of sanctuary and calm is what it is now - yet it is also a home for those who live on the water and for the wildlife that lives both under or above the water.

Apolocalyptic skies

But on this particular afternoon the skies and weather were being “slightly apocalyptic” to say the least and as I glanced towards Winston, the local landmark for Eastwood and Kimberley a dark sky in the east could be seen that was menacing to say the very least. Yet towards the west the skies were clear and hints of blue could be seen, strange yes but that I suppose is the artwork that nature provides, curiosities all around as well that make us want to discover even more. As I walked along the canal towpath from Shipley Lock in the direction of Cotmanhay the canal and it’s landscape was truly alive in a unique way and as I walked the sky got even more menacing, Grey turned to black in the east which made the canal moody and eerie, ethereal in a strange way but the lure of the water and the silent magic was enough to keep me interested and wanting to find out more. As I walked towards the railway bridge that crosses The Canal, at a point before you arrive near Cotmanhay I looked towards the west and could see the split between cloud cover and blue skies, it was nothing short of magic and nothing like I had ever seen before. But was this a turning point? Perhaps it was, a short while later and I had arrived at Cotmanhay, in front of me the old pub that now sits in ruins and yet the weather changed again. Here I turned left and made my way towards the low lying parts of The Erewash Valley; thus leaving the canal behind me.

Imposing sight

The towpath now changed to a more rocky yet simple surface with less mud and to the right of me I could see the mighty and imposing Bennerley Viaduct to the right, the pathway ahead of me leading to another bridge to go underneath with the railway line above it - after I had passed underneath that bridge the next part of the walk involved walking along the valley floor, the impressive scale of Winston dwarfing me in size, but that was nothing compared to the size of nature, still though the sky was still apocalyptic and a change was beginning to happen, for now the sun was beginning to slowly set and this is where things would change. Continuing on the pathways within the Erewash Valley and observing nature such as a fox in a field, I felt at peace with the world. In the background was the hum of traffic on the A610, and the majority of drivers would have not even noticed just how beautiful the sky was turning. I knew that something spectacular was going to happen. The big question was, when it was going to happen?

By now I had got to the road, the road in question and name being Newmanley’s Road, and it was here that I turned left and walked towards the location from where I had started the walk from. The sky had now changed, gone was the doom of the apocalyptic skies that had kept me company, instead colours had appeared like the pastels on the easel of an artist. I walked down the road, quietly observing changes and over the bridge that passes over The River Erewash, a short distance later and I was on the bridge at Shipley Lock, the starting location of this walk. Yet something happened, something magical happened and as I turned back to look at The Erewash Canal and Winston the sky had exploded, I knew I had to capture what I had just seen and it was like nothing else that I had ever witnessed before. The sky had literally exploded into pink and purple hues of colour, it was more like being in an actual painting and that was just magical. For this to me had been a February walk along the canal, but it was one that had turned into magic, and that is a memory that will stay with me for the longest time, perhaps even for the rest of my entire life and I was just pleased that I had managed to capture it. Sometimes in life all you need is magic and nature, with those two things life really is fantastic. But will I see a sky like that again? I hope so.